[Sigiii-l] FW: Job Announcement - Metadata Support

[Richard Hill]

[Posted by request.  Dick Hill]

_____
Richard B. Hill
Executive Director
American Society for Information Science and Technology
1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510
Silver Spring, MD  20910
Fax: (301) 495-0810
Voice: (301) 495-0900 

-----Original Message-----

 

   Subject: Job Announcement - Metadata Support

 



The Information Quality (IQ) Program of the World Bank is seeking an
experienced
information analyst to provide metadata support  to institutional systems,
including the Internet Services Program (ISP) and the Enterprise Content
Management (ECM) project.    The appointment is for one year and would begin
at
the earliest on June 1, 2005 at the World Bank office in Washington, DC.

Please submit your resume to Ms. Luisita Guanlao (lguanlao at worldbank.org,
tel:
202-458-8605), Lead Information Officer, IO Program.  Ms. Guanlao will
answer
any questions about remuneration and conditions of employment.   The closing
date is  May 24, 2005.   Qualified candidates of any nationality are welcome
to
apply.

Apologies for cross posting.

                               Terms of Reference
                            ISP/ECM Metadata Support

Background

The Information Quality (IQ) Program provides metadata support  to the
Internet
Services Program (ISP) and the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) project.
By
providing this service, the IQ team is able to influence production systems
and
systems under development to maximize the quality and value of information
produced and disseminated by the World Bank.

The ISP (Internet Services Program) Metadata Team provides:
   peer review of functional requirements for new web sites or enhancement
   plans,
   compliance reviews for allowable property changes,
   definition and specification of new entities in the ISP content
management
   system,  particularly in the context of input templates used to create
   content items using the e-publish tool
   documentation of controlled entities prescribed by the logical model for
the
   content management system, including ISP Content Types,  ISP Secondary
   Content Types, Input Templates, Attributes and Control Lists.

The scope of ECM will integrate the collections in three institutional
repositories.   ECM is currently conducting a search for a product that will
support document management functionality, including  record keeping.   Each
of
the underlying systems follows a different paradigm for selecting attributes
to
describe content items.   None of the underlying systems anticipated the
need to
search for content items across systems simultaneously.

      a.  imageBank: This is a collection of key documents issued throughout
the
      project life cycle, research reports, and other reports mandated by
World
      Bank business processes.   Although control of attributes and entities
has
      been applied to imageBank throughout its history, enforcement was
variable
      and significant changes to reference data over time have not always
been
      implemented retrospectively.   Documentation exists, but may need to
be
      updated.

      b.  IRIS:  IRIS is the World Bank's electronic record keeping system.
      IRIS3 applied significant control to attributes and entities, with
      detailed documentation, but the cataloging paradigm was not equivalent
to
      the one used in imageBank, since the collections were not intended to
      overlap.     However, IRIS4 was developed with little or no control of
      attributes from an institutional perspective.   Recent issues have
      revealed that the propagation of data from one structure to another
within
      the system is also subject to too much intervention, thus resulting in
      unnecessary variation and/or corruption.

      c. CMS, the content management system under the ISP framework, has no
      recordkeeping functionality whatsoever, and the content item is
completely
      revisable.   The standardization of content types is in progress.
      However, there has been no control over attributes since inception of
the
      system.   The system doesn't enforce any degree of standardization for
a
      single attribute; the same attribute must be completely respecified in
      each content type allowed within the system.   As such, data type and
      control lists can vary for the "same" attribute from one content type
to
      another, unless this is controlled manually.   In addition, since
there is
      no documentation of attributes, end users have applied them as they
see
      fit, in some cases with conflicting meanings.   While this has no
impact
      in individual web sites, it becomes intolerable where any form of
      integration is required.   Detailed analysis will be required to
review
      actual usage and recommend methods for harmonization of attributes to
      improve integrated searching across the content management system, as
well
      as enterprise wide.


Responsibilities

The on-site Metadata Team is an advocate for institutional needs and public
user
requirements which must be balanced with business unit requirements.  As a
member of this team,  the selected candidate will provide analytical and
documentary services including, but not limited to, the following service
areas.

Metadata Support for ISP, New Web Sites or Site Enhancements

   Triage of incoming functional requirements is performed offshore.
   Recommendations for new entities are referred to the on-site team for
   approval.   Once approved, the offshore team completes the actual
creation of
   the entities and maintains the basic specifications.

   The on-site Metadata Team:
         ensures that new entities are defined in such a way that is
         sustainable, and compatible with the institutional definitions of
         content types and core attributes, when appropriate.
         consults with the Client Liaison, the web site owner, on-site
         developers, institutional list owners, or other stakeholders, as
         appropriate.
         assists the Client Liaison to prepare attribute definitions,
control
         list documentation, and refine the input template specifications
and/or
         functional requirements, as needed.
         provides documentation and ongoing coaching to the Client Liaisons
         coordinates enhancement requests for the system-wide reports, which
the
         Metadata Team uses intensively to provide the aforementioned
services.
         collaborates with the offshore Metadata Team.
         works with database team and/or ePublish team on any ISP
         metadata-related issues reported by client liaisons or client.


Metadata Support for ECM

   During the design phase, the candidate would assist other team members
to:

      Review the document management literature for best practices in
enterprise
      content management.    Compare to the paradigms for data capture in
the
      legacy systems.  Is Content Type really an entity, or should it just
be an
      attribute with a control list of values?  Is a unified repository
really
      necessary to support enterprise search?

      Participate in the development of the data flow and
entity-relationship
      models for ECM.

      Participate in the evaluation process for the ECM product (if timing
      permits).  Review the product documentation to understand what
limitations
      it may impose on the models, and adapt the model accordingly.

      Provide narrative definitions for all attributes and entities in the
data
      flow and entity-relationship models.

   As development and implementation proceed, the candidate would:

      Prepare mappings from legacy systems to the ECM target, with
      recommendations for data transformation, if necessary.

      Update the definitions as ECM is implemented for each collection.
Allow
      for institutional definitions as well as local adaptations, and track
both
      levels initially.

      Specify system-wide reports that will demonstrate actual usage.
Monitor
      these to ensure that actual implementation doesn't occur outside the
      pre-defined model.

      Analyze "new" content types that were not previously encompassed by
the
      legacy systems to determine how to fit them into ECM, if new entities
or
      attributes need to be defined, or control lists extended.

      Adapt the models to achieve balance between institutional objectives,
      local business requirements, and end user compliance.

      Negotiate definitions with all stakeholders.   Justify deviations from
the
      common data stores, core attributes, and institutional content types.


Selection Criteria:

   Masters degree in Information Science  or  Information Systems
Management,
   with a major in Database Administration.
   Minimum 5 years experience as a data administrator.
   Experience building and maintaining one or more databases in day-to-day
use
   (not just a training exercise), using ORACLE or other comparable DBMS.
   Attention to detail and clear communication in English, both oral and
   written, are critical.
   Ability to invent analytical methodology and processes, and serve as an
   intermediary between developers and clients.
   Formal training in Data Modelling, Relational Database Theory, Technical
   Writing.
   Familiarity with international development terminology and experience in
   multicultural organizations is preferable.
   Oral and written knowledge of another language also desirable, but not
   required.
   Familiarity with SQL, XML, controlled vocabularies, cataloguing,  Excel,
   Word.
   Ability to work under pressure and tight deliverable schedule.