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

Jeanne M. Spicer spicer at pop.psu.edu
Thu Jan 10 09:17:06 EST 2008


We would appreciate hearing more on this topic at PSU.  Our Simple 
Online Data Archive for Population Studies (SodaPop) is a hybrid site that 
uses the Plone Content Management System for the study documention that 
points to  a SAS-based system for the actual data storage and extracting.

Since Plone pushes out XML anyway, one of the items on our 'future 
development' list is to modify the Plone data entry forms to include DDI 
lite fields, create codebooks and expose the xml to federated searches. 
Maybe MIT did our work for us!

Is anyone else using Plone for content management in this context?

Jeanne Spicer
Manager, Data Management and Programming Services
Population Research Institute / Social Science Research Institute
Penn State University
813 Oswald Tower
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 863-8321
(814) 863-8342 (fax)
spicer at pop.psu.edu


On Thu, 10 Jan 2008, Katherine McNeill-Harman wrote:

> 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
>> http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/mailman/listinfo/ddi-users
>>
>
> 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
> _______________________________________________
> DDI-users mailing list
> DDI-users at icpsr.umich.edu
> http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/mailman/listinfo/ddi-users
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> DDI-users mailing list
> DDI-users at icpsr.umich.edu
> http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/mailman/listinfo/ddi-users
>


More information about the DDI-users mailing list