Extensible information model for shared scientific data collections

An information model is defined to support sharing of composite-media scientific data. The model consists of data objects and links. Data objects are associated with descriptors which contain all the metadata related to the object. A novel aspect of the information model is that both the data and metadata associated with a data object can be in structured or semistructured form. The links in the model are typed, and contain several built-in types such as resolution and derivation link types, to adequately model object relationships in scientific data. The model is extensible in the sense that users are allowed to define new object types and new link types. At the San Diego Supercomputer Center, we are currently investigating issues in providing the necessary infrastructure to implement this model.