April 2005 Newsletter
APRIL 21, 2005
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 3

From the Executive Director

Pennsylvania is still a very heavily forested area with an abundance of flowering trees so Spring rivals the spectacular Autumn foliage. The Spring flowers are indeed starting to show signs of life but in a blink of an eye they will be gone and summer will be here with the complaints of the bitter cold soon to be replaced by complaints of the oppressive summer heat. After living in California I am coming to appreciate yet again the tempo of life that the seasons bring with them. It is hard to keep track of the passing time and as we look forward to the task ahead we tend to forget how far we have come.

Most of us have been feeling our way through the fog without much in the way of a "garde fou" (you have to love the French term for a protective barrier) but from the look of things we are definitely on the right track. There is little doubt that the eOTD is set to become the standard descriptive language for cataloging and for this we have to thank DLIS and NATO AC/135 as well as the many early adopters that are courageously paving the way for others to follow.

In this edition of our newsletter you will find an explanation of the new eOTD Core Model. The simplicity of its design is a reflection of the hard work and creative genius of the modeling team and I would like to thank Dr. Gerry Radack and Chandrasekhar Reddy from CTC, Doug Erickson from PartNet, Dr. Don Hillman from Lehigh University, as well as Dan King and Sheron Koshy from ECCMA. Their work has been, and continues to be, exemplary and their long hours a true reflection of their dedication to the task.

The simplicity of the new eOTD model disguises its incredible versatility in allowing multiple paths to be taken to arrive at the correct concept identifier. It is the consistency of the concept identifiers that holds the key to unambiguous description.

The new eOTD model preserves the eOTD concept identifiers for classes and properties and the ECCMA Standard Class Dictionary (ESCD) or the ECCMA Standard Property Dictionary (ESDP) extracted from the eOTD will remain identical to their current format. The real difference will become apparent to those who are looking to implement identifier identification and resolution services in their cataloging applications.

Work is also progressing rapidly on the new XML formats for eOTD Implementation Guides (eOTDi-XML) and eOTD compliant catalogs (eOTDr-XML) as well as on the new open source catalog builder and the eOTD Implementation Registry and ESN Registry as supplier enablement and eOTD compliance verification tools.

All in all it has been a very busy month with much more ahead as we continue to progress the development of ISO 22745 as a new international standard for cataloging.

Respectfully submitted,
Peter Benson
Executive Director, ECCMA


eOTD Core Model
Peter Benson

A cataloging concept is any concept that needs to be encoded in a catalog; this can be a class, property, an enumerated property value, unit of measure, currency, feature or representation. Essentially any concept that is used to describe something. The key to the eOTD is that every concept has a unique identifier and this becomes the cataloging shorthand.

Lets assume you want to catalog a bolt; you would start with the name bolt and you would discover that there are several concepts that share the name "bolt"; is it a lightening bolt, a bolt of cloth, a mechanical bolt; using the definitions (images help too) you quickly establish which concept you want and the concept identifier allows you to communicate this concept to others; it is a form of technical shorthand. Anyone who receives your eOTD coded catalog can quickly and easily look up what you meant and by adding translations to the eOTD it becomes easy to ensure that your meaning does not get lost in the translation.

Critically important is the fact that the eOTD concept identifiers are in the public domain. This means that your systems and legacy data will always be protected from any licensing claims and over and above the ECCMA free resolution services you can easily create your own using a copy of the eOTD.

It really is that simple, now of course there is other information that cataloging applications need and we have assembled a good collection of these in what we refer to as the eOTD Auxiliary Model, this is where you will find the conversion tables that are used to convert units of measure, the language reference table that provides a link to the language dictionaries used for spelling and defining common terms as well as the classifications. Finally there is the eOTD Administrative Model where you will find configuration management information.

ECCMA Laboratory at Lehigh University
Donald Hillman

Activities since the last newsletter have concentrated primarily on the investigation of new search techniques for items subject to life cycle modification. Original catalog descriptions of products run the danger of becoming inaccurate or obsolete when the products have been modified. We distinguish the universal properties of an item (i.e. those that are not affected by changes) from existential properties that are affected by change. For example, a physical item can have a dimension (e.g. length) that persists throughout change, but has other properties (e.g. color) that can be affected by repainting.

This problem becomes acute when products have a long life cycle, even raising the issue of when a product is so modified as to deserve a new designation.

Other research focuses on spare parts procurement, with special reference to the case in which parts become obsolete. Under what circumstances can a part act as a functional equivalent of an obsolete part?

A third research area is the investigation of innovative search procedures that go beyond the mere matching of query terms and catalog descriptions. The emphasis here is on user feedback analysis to determine what patterns can be discerned that make a retrieved item relevant to one type of user but not so to another.

ECCMA members are welcome to suggest research areas that are of interest. Please forward suggestions to the Secretariat or directly to Donald Hillman.

ESN Registry Update
Doug Erickson, PartNET

The eOTD standardization process provides an opportunity to continue development of the ESN Registry. Some changes to the Registry, like the adoption of the latest eOTD terminology and acronyms, are mostly cosmetic. Other changes, such as the application of eOTD Implementation Guides, will have a significant positive impact on the utility and value of the Registry.

Work on the eOTD standard has also prompted the development of a series of document formats. XML documents are being defined to represent catalog data and implementation guides, in addition to the core eOTD. These specifications open the door to automated interaction with the ESN Registry. Currently, the ESN Registry supports an interactive user interface that allows people to contribute and search for information. Coupled with a well-defined communication protocol, these document formats will allow automated processes to perform these operations more efficiently, and on a much larger scale.

10th International Symposium on Codification
October 10-13 2005; Edinburgh, Scotland

On-line registration now available
335 per delegate - Serving Military, Government & Academic
650 per delegate - Industry

The Symposium On-Line Registration system is now available within an upgraded web-site which provides full details of the Symposium.

The Symposium will have a significant presence and input from ECCMA as one of the major Sponsors. We will present a number of Workshops and Seminars to provide delegates with the opportunity to look in detail at how ECCMA and the eOTD can help businesses across the globe best manage their Product Catalogues and their involvement with the Supply Chain.

The NATO Codification System is playing a vital part in helping to build synergy in the whole Supply Chain from ?Factory to Front-Line?. The Symposium will also examine all the ?cutting-edge? developments in the Logistics world from International Standards for Codification, Cataloguing and Product Data Exchange, Asset Tracking and Visibility, Cost-Effective Acquisition, Lifecycle Management and Logistics Transformation.

October is fast approaching and now is the time to ensure that you reserve your place and your preferred accommodation, which can be booked through the registration process.

More information can be found at the Symposium web site: http://www.codification2005.org

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