Storage subsystem for image and records management

Abstract

Digital storage and communications are becoming cost effective for massive collections of document images with access not only for nearby users but also for those who are hundreds of miles from their libraries. The Document Storage Subsystem (DocSS) provides generic library services such as searching, storage, and retrieval of document pages and sharing of objects with appropriate data security and integrity safeguards. A library session has three components: a manager of remote catalogs, a set of managers of large-object stores, and a manager of cache services. DocSS supports all kinds of page data - text, pictures, spreadsheets, graphics, programs - and can be extended to audio and video data. Document models can be built as DocSS applications; the paper describes a folder manager as an example. What differentiates DocSS among digital library projects is its approach to data distribution over wide area networks, its client-server approach to the heterogeneous environment, and its synergism with other components of evolving open systems.