[DDI-users] DDI-XML generating "wizard"?

[Katherine McNeill-Harman]

Stefan,

I too agree that this is a big issue and one that I hope the Usability and Outreach Group (of which you and I are members) will be working on because knowledge of xml is a barrier to adoption.

The closest example that I can give is the Dataverse Network Software, the DDI-based software developed at the Harvard-MIT Data Center (formerly known as VDC).  The newest version has a data upload/deposit system that includes a web form with fields with common names (e.g. title, investigator, unit of analysis, etc.) that data depositors fill in when they add a study; this then maps to DDI elements and creates a DDI file behind the scenes (which then creates the catalog record for the study).

Kate McNeill-Harman

-----Original Message-----
From: ddi-users-bounces at icpsr.umich.edu [mailto:ddi-users-bounces at icpsr.umich.edu] On Behalf Of Wendy Thomas
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 5:00 PM
To: Data Documentation Initiative Users Group
Subject: Re: [DDI-users] DDI-XML generating "wizard"?

Stefan,

This has always been a BIG item on our wish list. I think the closest
thing for DDI 1 was the NESSTAR publisher, but that really isn't a
web-based entry form. Others, like UKDA may have a limited form for their
basic contents...I seem to recall a rumor but may be hallucinating.

So the bad news is that I can't provide you with a usable answer right
now, but can assure you that with the Tools Group and with DDI 3.0 in its
final months prior to publication, there is hope.

As for the site you mentioned. I've notified the tech person to see what
the problem is. I'll send a note to the list when its up again. I think it
may be a DNS issue, but I'm not sure.

Wendy



On Tue, 8 Jan 2008, Stefan Kramer wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> Does anyone know of a tool that consists of a web form, or a series of web
> forms (a la software "wizard"), that would allow a user -- such as a
> faculty member submitting a dataset to a repository, or a graduate
> assistant preparing a number of datasets for ingesting into a repository
> -- who has no knowledge of, or probable technical interest in, the DDI to
> fill in the metadata about their dataset(s); and when the form is
> submitted, it would generate the DDI XML, which someone else in their
> organization might then process further, or which the user might then,
> without having to be concerned about its internal structure, upload into a
> repository?
>
> Of the tools listed at http://www.ddialliance.org/related/tools.html,
> ODODO sounds promising in that it supposedly allows "users to ... export
> XML files according to the DDI specification," but it's been unavailable
> for several weeks now; I just sent an inquiry about future availability.
>
> Thanks in advance for any pointers.
>
> --
>  Stefan Kramer
>  Social Science Data Librarian
>  Social Science Library & Information Services
>  Yale University
>  140 Prospect Street
>  P.O. Box 208263
>  New Haven, CT 06520-8263, USA
>  Tel.: +1 (203) 432-6121
>  E-mail: stefan.kramer at yale.edu
>
> _______________________________________________
> DDI-users mailing list
> DDI-users at icpsr.umich.edu
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>

Wendy L. Thomas                          Phone: +1 612.624.4389
Data Access Core Director		 Fax:   +1 612.626.8375
Minnesota Population Center              Email: wlt at pop.umn.edu
University of Minnesota
50 Willey Hall
225 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
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