**This announcement is being sent to many lists; apologies in advance
for duplication.**
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lisa Schiff
California Digital Library
University of California, Office of the President
415 20th St., 4th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 587-6132
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <blocked::mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/xtf/
California Digital Library Announces New Release of the eXtensible
Text
Framework (XTF)
Oakland, CA, May 12, 2008 - The California Digital Library (CDL) is
pleased to announce a new release of its search and display
technology,
the eXtensible Text Framework (XTF)
<blocked::http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/xtf/> version 2.1
(http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/xtf/
). XTF is an open source, highly flexible software application that
supports the search, browse and display of heterogeneous digital
content. XTF offers efficient and practical methods for creating
customized end-user interfaces for distinct digital content
collections.
Highlights from the 2.1 release include:
* Extensive interface improvements, including new search forms,
built-in faceted browsing, and a new look and feel.
* Increased support for document and information exchange
formats.
* XHTML and OAI-PMH output
* NLM article format indexing and output
* Microsoft Word indexing
* Streamlined XSLT stylesheets for simpler deployment and
adaptation.
* Updated documentation that has been moved to the XTF project
wiki <blocked::http://xtf.wiki.sourceforge.net/> , allowing XTF
implementers to share solutions with entire user community.
* "Freeform" Boolean query language, offered as an experimental
feature.
* Backward compatibility with existing XTF implementations.
A complete list of changes
<blocked::http://xtf.wiki.sourceforge.net/changeLog_2.1> is
available
on the XTF Project page on SourceForge
<blocked::http://sourceforge.net/projects/xtf/> , where the
distribution
(including documentation) can also be downloaded.
Since the first deployment of XTF in 2005, the development strategy
has
been to build and maintain an indexing and display technology that is
not only customizable, but also draws upon tested components
already in
use by the digital library and search communities - in particular the
Lucene text search engine, Java, XML, and XSLT. By coordinating
these
pieces in a single platform that can be used to create multiple
unique
applications, CDL has succeeded in dramatically reducing the
investment
in infrastructure, staff training and development for new digital
content projects.
XTF offers a suite of customizable features that support diverse
intellectual access to content. Interfaces can be designed to
support
the distinct tools and presentations that are useful and meaningful
to
specific audiences. In addition, XTF offers the following core
features:
* Easy to deploy: Drops directly in to a Java application
server
such as Tomcat or Resin; has been tested on Solaris, Mac, Linux, and
Windows operating systems.
* Easy to configure: Can create indexes on any XML element or
attribute; entire presentation layer is customizable via XSLT.
* Robust: Optimized to perform well on large documents (e.g., a
single text that exceeds 10MB of encoded text); scales to perform
well
on collections of millions of documents; provides full Unicode
support.
* Extensible:
* Works well with a variety of authentication systems
(e.g., IP address lists, LDAP, Shibboleth).
* Provides an interface for external data lookups to
support thesaurus-based term expansion, recommender systems, etc.
* Can power other digital library services (e.g., XTF
contains an OAI-PMH data provider that allows others to harvest
metadata, and an SRU interface that exposes searches to federated
search
engines).
* Can be deployed as separate, modular pieces of a
third-party system (e.g., the module that displays snippets of
matching
text).
* Powerful for the end user:
* Spell checking of queries
* Faceted displays for browsing
* Dynamically updated browse lists
* Session-based bookbags
These basic features can be tuned and modified. For instance, the
same
bookbag feature that allows users to store links to entire books, can
also store links to citable elements of an object, such as a note or
other reference.
A sampling of XTF-based applications both within and outside of the
CDL
include:
* Mark Twain Project Online
<blocked::http://www.marktwainproject.org/>
(http://www.marktwainproject.org), developed by the Mark Twain Papers
Project, the CDL and the University of California Press.
* Calisphere <blocked::http://www.calisphere.org/>
(http://www.calisphere.org/), a curated collection of primary sources
keyed to the curriculum standards of California's K-12 community,
developed by the CDL.
* The Encyclopedia of Chicago
<blocked::http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/>
(http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/), developed by the
Chicago
History Museum, The Newberry Library, and Northwestern University
* The Chymistry of Isaac Newton
<blocked::http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/>
(http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/
<blocked::http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/> ) and The
Swinburne
Project
<blocked::http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/swinburne/www/swinburne/>
(http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/swinburne/www/swinburne/), Indiana
University
* Finding Aides at the New York Public Library
<blocked::http://labs.nypl.org/2007/10/30/extensible-text-framework-xtf/
(http://labs.nypl.org/2007/10/30/extensible-text-framework-xtf/)
* EECS Technical Reports
<blocked::http://sunsite2.berkeley.edu:8088/xtf/servlet/org.cdlib.xtf.cr
ossQuery.CrossQuery?rmode=btr>
(http://sunsite2.berkeley.edu:8088/xtf/servlet/org.cdlib.xtf.crossQuery
.
CrossQuery?rmode=btr), UC Berkeley
###
-----------------------------------------------
Lisa Schiff, Ph.D.
Technical Lead, Publishing
California Digital Library
300 Lakeside Drive #745
Kaiser Center
Oakland, CA 94612
510-987-0881 (t)
510-987-0243 (f)
www.cdlib.org <http://www.cdlib.org/>
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
