NSSDC's Java Inventory (JIN)

By Edwin Bell

NSSDC has had a number of databases through the years that have supported the tracking of archived media. Because the bulk of the data in the past was held on various forms of tape media, the database (known currently as IDA, for Interactive Digital Archive) was designed around data held in that form. This Oracle database has been adapted several times over the years to track additional off-line digital data, held on floppy disks and CD media, but has never lost its emphasis on data held on tape. In addition, analog off-line media for which the NSSDC is responsible (e.g., photographs, microform) have not been able to be tracked in the same database. (Our tracking of on-line and near-line data has been described elsewhere.)

While NSSDC is making great strides to make more data available on-line, there is still, and will be for some time, a need to better track the older data on more traditional media. Consequently a more versatile database is being developed which will allow NSSDC to be more efficient in its tracking of off-line media. The name of this Oracle database and its accompanying software interface is JIN (Java INventory) and it will be an integrated piece of NSSDC's larger NIMS (NSSDC Information Management System), of which the NSSDC Master Catalog and the Personnel Information Management System (PIMS) are a part.

The design of this new database system is intended to anticipate the need for archival media of different forms, both digital and analog, and be easily extensible. It is also designed with the requirement that it be capable of interacting with NSSDC's other inventory systems (e.g. the Data Ingest and Online Access System - DIOnAS). This additional capability will ultimately enable users to query one virtual system (N-DIS - the NSSDC Data and Information System) and locate, retrieve and/or order their data of choice.