The CollectioOrg system is a framework for the interconnectivity between museums' knowledge domains, defining a XML scheme for museum records which combines the advantages of a structured document format with a database-enabled format. A mechanism of hyper-linking (using URNs instead of static links) between records and related museum documents (in TEI format) is used to provide a basic web service (XML-over-HTTP aka REST), allowing the inter connectivity with other departments, other museums or external providers.
The following are just a few of the features implemented:
digitization of existing and new museum records in XML format
RelaxNG is used as schema language, providing better handling and more
customization possibilities than normal DTDs
modular structure, enabling a time-line view of each record
utmost flexibility for each data type
own namespace allows for easier incorporation in heterogenous data streams
customization layer allows infinite adaption
word lists, thesauri, classification schemata in separate modules
creation and editing of documents is done with a RelaxNG enabled XML editor, online or offline, without the need for a separate data input system (all the logic resides in the schema definition)
URNs (each object has a fixed URN) provide better linking capability than fix HREF links, allowing the use of federated databases
relationships between records e.g. part-of, similar-to, copy-of etc.
hyper-linking not only between records, but also between records and related documents (inventories, museum documents, archival reports, ...) which are encoded in XML (TEI, EAD)
built on W3C, OASIS and other open standards
Topic Maps are proposed to bridge different classification schemata
instead of a central XML repository a net of federated servers "talking" to each other in XQuery via REST
making museum records accessible, searchable, re-usable and interchangeable via the internet, with the possibility to build larger entities by querying across all servers ("all roman statues from the Forum Roman in European museums")