VERSIONING OF METADATA, INCLUDING PRESENTATION OF PROVENANCE AND LINEAGE FOR VERSIONED METADATA

• US 20130018873A1
• Filed: 07/15/2011
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Velasco, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 9,286,334 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

Metadata associated with content is versioned by receiving updated values for the metadata and storing the updated values and also previous values for metadata separately from the content, comparing the updated values to the previous values of the metadata, and determining a modification indicator for the metadata based upon the comparison of the updated values to the previous values of the metadata, where the modification indicator provides an indication of extent of differences between the updated and previous values. The modification indicator for the metadata can further be displayed to provide version information for the metadata to a user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of versioning metadata associated with content comprising:

receiving updated values for the metadata and storing the updated values and also previous values for metadata separately from the content;

comparing the updated values to the previous values of the metadata; and

determining a modification indicator for the metadata based upon the comparison of the updated values to the previous values of the metadata, wherein the modification indicator provides an indication of extent of differences between the updated and previous values.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the modification indicator for the metadata to provide version information for the metadata.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the modification indicator comprises determining a lineage value for an updated value, wherein the lineage value comprises information about a number of users associated with modification of the metadata from a previous value to the updated value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the modification indicator comprises determining a provenance value for an updated value, wherein the provenance value comprises information about a degree of difference between the updated value and a previous value.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

utilizing the modification indicator to control additional updates to metadata values based upon a comparison of the modification indicator with a threshold value.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ascertaining at least one originator of an updated value.

7. A system for versioning metadata associated with content comprising:

a database including a content module to store content and a metadata storage module to store metadata updates associated with the content stored in the content module; and

a server to access the database, the server configured with logic to;

receive updated values for the metadata and store the updated values and also previous values for metadata within the metadata storage module such that the metadata values are stored separately from the content in the database;

compare the updated values to the previous values of the metadata; and

determine a modification indicator for the metadata based upon the comparison of the updated values to the previous values of the metadata, wherein the modification indicator provides an indication of extent of differences between the updated and previous values.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the system is further configured to display the modification indicator for the metadata to provide version information for the metadata.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the determination of the modification indicator by the server logic comprises determining a lineage value for an updated value, wherein the lineage value comprises information about a number of users associated with modification of the metadata from a previous value to the updated value.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the determination of the modification indicator by the server logic comprises determining a provenance value for an updated value, wherein the provenance value comprises information about a degree of difference between the updated value and a previous value.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the server is further configured with logic to:

utilize the modification indicator to control additional updates to metadata values based upon a comparison of the modification indicator with a threshold value.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the server is further configured with logic to:

ascertain at least one originator of an updated value.

13. A computer program product for versioning metadata associated with content comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to;

receive updated values for the metadata and storing the updated values and also previous values for metadata separately from the content;

compare the updated values to the previous values of the metadata; and

determine a modification indicator for the metadata based upon the comparison of the updated values to the previous values of the metadata, wherein the modification indicator provides an indication of extent of differences between the updated and previous values.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to facilitate a display of the modification indicator for the metadata to provide version information for the metadata.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the determination of the modification indicator by the computer readable program code comprises determining a lineage value for an updated value, wherein the lineage value comprises information about a number of users associated with modification of the metadata from a previous value to the updated value.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the determination of the modification indicator by the computer readable program code comprises determining a provenance value for an updated value, wherein the provenance value comprises information about a degree of difference between the updated value and a previous value.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to:

utilize the modification indicator to control additional updates to metadata values based upon a comparison of the modification indicator with a threshold value.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to:

ascertain at least one originator of an updated value.