<div dir="ltr">Dear DDI Community,<br><br><p class="MsoNormal">The DDI Alliance is pleased to announce a preliminary <span>Quarter 1 Development Draft</span><span> of</span><span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#14c9529356f6113a__msocom_1" name="14cfc414fcfa8c57_14ce7d64a651419e_14ce71102f4f1ac7_14ce26a0a1d9ca08_14ce2659f130116f_14ce1540522b2c75_14c9529356f6113a__msoanchor_1" target="_blank"></a><span> </span></span></span>the first components of DDI Lifecycle-MD<span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%"><span></span></span></span>, the new DDI specification that is model-driven (MD), sometimes called DDI4. The comment period for the Q1 Draft is now open. Information on the review process is available from the <a href="https://ddi-alliance.atlassian.net/wiki/display/DDI4/DDI+4+-+Comment+and+Review" target="_blank">DDI4 - Comment and Review page</a>. That page contains a link to comment instructions and to the release package itself -- see the box labeled Current Review in the middle of the page. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">DDI is transitioning to a model-driven specification to
support new content and domains, to provide needed flexibility in rendering and
packaging, and to ensure a sustainable development process for DDI going
forward. The model will enable use-case driven "functional views" of
the full model so that prospective DDI users can receive only the subset of DDI
classes they need for a specific task or function (e.g., create a simple
codebook). The transition also includes moving to a fully automated production
framework to create the specification, bindings, and documentation. More information about the <a href="http://www.ddialliance.org/work-products-of-ddi-alliance" target="_blank">DDI work products</a> and how they all fit
together is available.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">This release represents the first of several
quarterly
releases, each of which will build on previous releases. The Q1 Draft
includes the class descriptions and diagrams for several of the basic
parts of the model. We are currently working out minor issues with
results of the XML and
RDF/OWL implementations. These will be released separately when
available.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">We are eager to obtain feedback from the DDI
community in order to improve what we have and to validate our approach. The
comment period is open until May 22, 2015, and we hope to hear from you.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p>Mary <br><div><br>-- <br><div>Mary Vardigan<br>Director, DDI Alliance<br>Assistant Director, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)<br>P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106<br>Phone: <a href="tel:734-615-7908" value="+17346157908" target="_blank">734-615-7908</a><br>Fax: <a href="tel:734-647-8200" value="+17346478200" target="_blank">734-647-8200</a><br></div>
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