HILT : High-Level Thesaurus Project M2M Feasibility Study: [Final Report]

The project was asked to investigate the feasibility of developing SOAP-based interfaces between JISC IE services and Wordmap APIs and non-Wordmap versions of the HILT pilot demonstrator created under HILT Phase II and to determine the scope and cost of the provision of an actual demonstrator based on each of these approaches. In doing so it was to take into account the possibility of a future Zthes1-based solution using Z39.50 or OAI-PMH and syntax and data-exchange protocol implications of eScience and semantic-web developments.
It was agreed that the primary concerns of the study should be an assessment of the feasibility, scope, and cost of a follow-up M2M pilot that considered the best options in respect of:
o Query protocols (SOAP, Z39.50, SRW, OAI) and associated data profiles (e.g. Zthes for Z39.50 and for SRW);
o Standards for structuring thesauri and thesauri-type information (e.g. the Zthes XML DTD and SRW version of it and SKOS-Core2);
The study was carried out within the allotted timescale, with this Final Report submitted to JISC on 31st March 2005 as scheduled. The detailed proposal for a follow-up project is currently under discussion and will be finalised – as agreed with JISC – by mid-April. It was concluded that an M2M pilot was feasible. A proposal for a follow-up M2M pilot project has been scoped, and is currently being costed.