About
What is GAMS?
GAMS is an OAIS compliant asset management system for the management, publication and
long-term archiving of digital resources from the Humanities. It enables scholars,
researchers and students to manage and publish resources from projects with permanent
identification and enriched with metadata.
Design and development of GAMS are
carried out by the Centre for Information Modelling in cooperation with multiple
partners inside and outside the university, with regards to the specific requirements of
humanistic research.
The repository is fully OAIS (Open Archival
Information System)-compliant and covers the full life cycle of digital objects from
receiving the SIP (submission information package), archiving the AIP (archival
information package) and delivering the DIP (dissemination information package) to the
public.
With regard to the archived data we work towards the FAIR data
principles: "data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and
Re-usable".
What technologies are used?
GAMS was conceived and developed on the basis of the Open-Source project Fedora (Flexible Extensible Digital
Object Repository Architecture) and has been continuously improved in the course of
cooperative projects, addressing the specific needs of university research. A Java
application for object management and data curation was developed: This Cirilo Client
offers applications which are particularly suited to being used as tools for mass
operations on Fedora repository objects, such as ingest or replacement processes. It
also fulfills a lot of functions with regards to metadata enrichment and quality control
of the resources.
Further integral technologies include Apache Cocoon, Blazegraph, Apache Lucene, Apache Solr, PostgreSQL and Loris IIIF image server. Special
attention is paid to the platform independence and open source policies of the included
software.
Which data formats are accepted?
GAMS is based on XML (eXtensible Markup Language) -based standards and technologies for
data storage and representation. If the data in question does not conform to any
XML-based international standard, the repository will implement suitable workflows for
the conversion of the content in agreement with the project partners.
The main
focus of the data collection is on textual resources, the preferred format for which is
XML. For text and metadata, the Centre uses (among others) the following standards: TEI (Text Encoding Initiative), LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects), DC (Dublin Core), METS/MODS (Metadata Encoding and
Transmission Standard/Metadata Object Description Scheme), RDF (Resource Description Framework), SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization
System). This list of preferred formats is reflected in the use of dedicated content models for the respective
standards. The Cirilo Client then checks the well-formedness of the XML and
validates the document against the given schema to ensure conformity.
The JPEG,
JPEG2000 (Joint Photographic Experts Group), PNG (Portable Network Graphics) and TIFF
(Tagged Image File Format) standards are accepted as formats for images; lossless
formats are preferred for long-term preservation. The selection of the format, the
necessary quality and the metadata contained for the respective project is made in
consultation between the repository and the depositor. If necessary, the repository can
carry out or advise on a conversion.
We are convinced that only by using a limited
number of formats and technologies and applying standardized workflows can a repository
be maintained over a long period of time and assume responsibility for the long-term
archiving of resources. The strictly limited selection of accepted formats, which is
based on criteria such as openness, human and machine readability and long-term
viability, means that risky processes such as necessary format migration can be
minimized. Nevertheless, technical developments that could result in the obsolescence or
security-relevant changes to the formats used are closely monitored as part of
preservation planning and, if necessary, converted to a different format better
suited to preservation needs.
How can data be deposited, which data is collected?
Data can be deposited mainly in the context of a collaborative research project. Each
project is accompanied throughout its duration by a metadata manager who oversees the
workflow, data modelling, ingest and publication. This approach guarantees high data
quality suitable for both publication and long-term archiving. At the same time,
continuous supervision from ingest to publication avoids many pitfalls. Ideally, all
important points are already defined in the data management plan at the beginning of the
cooperation project.
The research data come from all humanities disciplines.
Particular emphasis and expertise is placed on the topic of digital scholarly editions
based on XML/TEI and corresponding visualisation and processing, i.e. the source
material "text" in any form.
If one would like to deposit new data in GAMS, the
logical path is therefore a joint funding application with the Centre for Information
Modelling. For the transfer of already existing data, an estimate of the effort and thus
of the costs can be made at the Centre if there is appropriate expertise to be able to
integrate the data.
Sample deposition agreement
Sample data management plan
How are data continuously curated and preserved?
The stored research data are secured for at least 10 years in accordance with the research data policy of the University of Graz and the requirements of most
funding bodies. A very high level of data curation is normally achieved by monitoring
data creation. All data are subject to the same regulations for long-term preservation.
The development and maintenance of the project-specific web interfaces for the
presentation and analysis of the data is in any case secured for the duration of the
cooperation. We already try to take into account in the development that these will
remain continuously available and usable even after the end of the funding period and
are currently achieving good results in this respect. However, in the fast-changing
world of web development and in the event of security problems, no further guarantees
can be given. This affects however only the project-specific web interfaces; the data
itself remains unaffected and available in any case.
For the addition or revision
of existing data and interfaces, a customized estimate for the necessary effort must be
carried out individually.
Further information on how data is preserved for the
long term can be found in the Preservation
Plan.
Commitment to Open Access
We support open access to all sources of human knowledge and cultural heritage (cf.
Berlin Declaration
and Open Access Policy of the University of Graz). In order to realize the vision
of a globally accessible representation of knowledge, it must be sustainable,
interactive, transparent and openly accessible. For this reason, the data available via
GAMS is published - in agreement with the depositors - under the most open Creative Commons license possible (CC-BY
or CC-BY-NC). The derived Dublin Core metadata are licensed under CC0.
If the
research data is sensitive data (e.g. personal data), the repository ensures that such
data sets are not accessible or only accessible with appropriate protective measures
(e.g. anonymisation) (cf. privacy policy of the
University of Graz).
Should the repository become aware of a violation of
intellectual property or personal rights in the context of the data made available,
access to the data sets concerned will be blocked immediately and the depositors will be
informed in order to take appropriate steps.
How can the data be accessed?
For users, usually the first point of access will be the graphical user interface
created specifically for the project in question. It will offer suitable ways of
interacting with the data in question. In addition, you can browse the Fedora backend at
https://gams.uni-graz.at/archive/search.
To systematically harvest or integrate
data, use our OAI-PMH interface at
https://gams.uni-graz.at/oaiprovider and query it according to the PMH (cf. the
documentation here). Currently, the following metadata prefixes are supported: oai_dc (Dublin
Core), oai_openaire (OpenAIRE
Guidelines), oai_edm (Europeana Data Model)
and oai_tei_cmdi (Component Metadata).
With regard to images, all image data stored in the
repository can be delivered via a IIIF-compatible
image server. To this end, use the syntax https://gams.uni-graz.at/iiif/{object
PID}/{image PID}/{IIIF query}, e.g. https://gams.uni-graz.at/iiif/o:sis.2-10%2FIMAGE.1/100,1000,2880,2000/pct:15/0/default.jpg.
In agreement with the partners, data can also be contributed to various aggregation
services like Europeana, CorrespSearch, Pelagios or Nomisma, CLARIN VLO
or OpenAIRE. The legal status of the data and objects in question are clarified
with the project partner; usually all resources are available under a non-commercial
Creative Commons license (Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0). The Centre also offers consulting and expertise in
the fields of IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) and licensing.
How are data objects persistently identified?
Internally, data objects go by a persistent identifier (PID) in the form of a standardized project related permanent link. In addition, the infrastructure includes a Handle server, offering the possibility to assign an identifier in this system (prefix 11471).
What does the workflow and data life cycle in GAMS look like?
The following figure illustrates the data life cycle in the GAMS repository.
Is GAMS a trusted digital repository and how is it certified?
GAMS was first certified as a trusted digital repository in alignment with the principles of the Data Seal of Approval in 2014. Since 2019 we carry the CoreTrustSeal. In 2020, GAMS was officially recognized as a CLARIN B Centre. GAMS is also registered with the Registry of Research Data Repositories and OpenDOAR.
Where can I learn more about the infrastructure?
Extensive documentation can be found on this site https://gams.uni-graz.at/docs.
Release: 2018
Last Update: 2023-11-17