Applying the Zachman Framework Data Dimension to Determine Content of a Digital Library

Abstract

The paper describes how the Data dimension in Zachman Framework is applied to determine the contents in the design of a collaborative digital library for school projects. Zachman Framework abstracts the characteristics and features of the digital library based on six artifacts, Motivation, Data, People, Process, Place and Time, as well as explains their structures and processes from the perspectives of the planner, owner and designer of the digital library. Information obtained from multiple data gathering techniques helps to populate the requirements of these perspectives to ascertain the design details of the digital library’s scope, business and system model. Planner’s perspective of the Data dimension describes the digital library resources in various media types and format. The owner’s perspective describes the subject scope, collection and resource criteria. The designer’s perspective defines the metadata profile for the digital objects resource description. These perspectives are used in the implementation of a collaborative digital library of historical resources at the physical design layer, as well as in the modules and subsystems.