Fedora Commons
| Company type | Open source software project |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital asset management, Digital libraries |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Founder | Cornell University Digital Library Research Group |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Digital asset management content repository framework |
| Owner | Lyrasis |
Fedora (Flexible Extensible Digital Object Repository Architecture) is a digital asset management (DAM) content repository framework designed for constructing institutional repositories, digital archives, and digital library platforms. Rather than functioning as a full-fledged management or discovery system, Fedora operates as the foundational architecture for digital repositories. Its modular construction prioritizes interoperability and extensibility by integrating data, interfaces, and executable components.
History
The Fedora Repository began as an open source initiative originally backed by DuraSpace, a nonprofit entity. Its roots trace back to research conducted at Cornell University, where the Flexible Extensible Digital Object Repository Architecture was created. Fedora organizes digital content into digital objects, drawing inspiration from the Kahn and Wilensky Framework. The project launched in 1997 with funding from DARPA and the National Science Foundation at Cornell’s Digital Library Research Group, initially implemented in Java using a CORBA-based distributed object system. Subsequently, the University of Virginia partnered with Cornell to redevelop Fedora as open source software. Fedora establishes abstractions for representing digital objects, their interconnections, and linking executable services ("behaviours") to these objects.
In 2003, Red Hat, Inc. filed for trademark protection of "Fedora" in connection with their Linux operating system. Cornell and UVA contested this claim, resulting in an agreement that permits Cornell-UVA to use "Fedora" for digital object repository software while Red Hat retains rights for operating system use.
Technology
Fedora delivers a versatile management layer for handling digital objects. Management is based on content models that represent individual data objects or collections by associating datastreams (which may be internal or external content files), descriptive metadata, system metadata (including unique persistent identifiers), and behaviors—code modules that facilitate interaction with disseminators (software processes managing datastreams). These content models function as containers that structure information for immediate application.
Two primary access services are supported by Fedora: a management client for tasks such as ingesting, maintaining, and exporting content; and API endpoints that enable customized web-based access via HTTP or SOAP protocols. It consolidates mime-typed datastreams (such as images, XML documents, and metadata) and offers tools to ingest, administer, and deliver digital objects with minimal custom coding or as a backend component for larger user interfaces.
Fedora supports the import and export of digital objects in multiple XML formats, enhancing interoperability with other systems and facilitating long-term digital preservation.
- Digital Object Model integrates metadata alongside digital content as "datastreams," independent of format or storage location. Objects may incorporate content from external repositories and represent diverse entities including texts, publications, photographs, videos, and datasets. Linked "behaviors" provide various views or dynamic content transformations.
- Relationships employ the Resource Description Framework (RDF) to express semantic links within and across objects. These relationships are stored in a semantic triplestore, enabling comprehensive queries across the repository.
- Repository Service is accessed through four core APIs: management, access, search, and metadata harvesting via OAI-PMH. The platform is designed to be scalable and adaptable, widely adopted as a foundational element in numerous applications and systems.
Fedora’s current organizational stewardship is provided by Lyrasis.
See also
Further reading
- Acs, B., and colleagues, A comprehensive method for data-intensive computing utilizing the Meandre component-based framework. Presented at Wands '10, the 1st International Workshop on Workflow Approaches to New Data-centric Science, June 2010.
- Allinson, J., Feng, Y., Constructing adaptable workflows with Fedora: The University of York's methodology. Open Repositories 2010 Conference, Duraspace User Group, July 2010.
- Baldiris, S., Avila, C., Rivera, P., Guevara, J., Fabregat, R., A web editing module designed for tagging metadata in Fedora Commons repository learning objects following DRD and LOM standards. Proceedings of the 2011 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE '11), October 2011.
- Bayliss, S., Dow, M., Allinson, J., Leveraging Semantic Web technologies to merge thesauri with Fedora for enhanced cataloguing, discovery, reuse, and interoperability. Open Repositories 2011 Conference, June 2011.
- Bayliss, S., Dow, M., Fedora repositories and Persistent Identifiers: An architectural strategy positioning persistent identifiers centrally within the content model. Open Repositories 2011 Conference, June 2011.
- Bertazzo, M., Di Iorio, A., Integrating Fedora Commons with MediaMosa for audiovisual content preservation and delivery. Open Repositories 2011 Conference, June 2011.
- Blekinge, A., Christiansen, K., Advanced Content Models. Open Repositories 2010 Conference, Duraspace User Group, July 2010.
- Curley, A., The Hydraulics Project: Enabling communities to construct a digital library through Fedora and an event-driven service-oriented messaging framework. Open Repositories 2011 Conference, June 2011.
- DiLauro, T., Selecting components for a digital infrastructure. First Monday Journal, May 3, 2004.
- Ferreira, M., Baptista, A., Ramalho, J., Establishing a foundation for automated digital preservation. Ariadne Magazine, July 30, 2006.
- Gourley, D., Battino Viterbo, P., Developing a sustainable repository infrastructure for digital humanities: Insights from the DHO experience. EuroMed'10: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Heritage, November 2010.
- Green, R., Awre, C., Waddington, S., The CLIF Project: Positioning the repository as an integral element of the content lifecycle. Ariadne Magazine, March 9, 2012.
- Green, R., The RepoMMan Project: Automating metadata creation and workflows within Fedora. D-Lib Magazine, September 2005.
- Hamer, G., Custom Rich Client, Multimedia interfaces for web and mobile platforms in Fedora and Duracloud using Adobe open source solutions. Open Repositories 2010 Conference, Duraspace User Group, July 2010.
- Kennan, M., Kingsley, D., An overview of Australian institutional repositories. First Monday Journal, February 2, 2009.
- Ludwig, J., Enke, H., Fischer, T., Aschenbrenner, A., Repository diversity and interoperability within a grid curation environment. Open Repositories 2010 Conference, July 2010.
- Puschmann, C., Reimer, P., DiPP and eLanguage: Collaborative models promoting open access. First Monday Journal, October 1, 2007.
- Salo, D., Preparing libraries to meet data challenges. Ariadne Magazine, July 30, 2010.
- Soroka, A., Employing message-driven workflows on the service bus pattern for indexing Fedora repositories. Open Repositories 2011 Conference. June 2011.
- Varanka, M., Varjonen V., Ryhänen T., Developing a publishing process support system using Fedora and Orbeon Forms: A case study. Open Repositories 2010 Conference. Duraspace User Group. July 2010.
- Webb F., Paulson J., Harvest: A digital object search and discovery platform for distributed collections featuring various file types and structures. Open Repositories 2010 Conference. Duraspace User Group. July 2010.