computer science

SWORD (protocol)

SWORD (protocol) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SWORD (protocol) rather than just read about it. In short: SWORD (Simple Web-service Offering Repository Deposit) is an interoperability standard that allows digital repositories to accept the deposit of content from multiple sources in different formats (such as XML documents) via a standardized protocol. In the same way that the HTTP protocol allows any web browser to talk to any web server, so SWORD allows clients to talk to repository servers.

Key takeaways

SWORD (protocol) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SWORD (protocol) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SWORD (protocol) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SWORD (Simple Web-service Offering Repository Deposit) is an interoperability standard that allows digital repositories to accept the deposit of content from multiple sources in different formats (such as XML documents) via a standardized protocol. In the same way that the HTTP protocol allows any web browser to talk to any web server, so SWORD allows clients to talk to repository servers. SWORD is a profile (specialism) of the Atom Publishing Protocol, but restricts itself solely to the scope of depositing resources into scholarly systems.

History The first version of the SWORD protocol was created in 2007 by a consortium of UK institutional repository experts. The project to develop SWORD was funded by the JISC and managed by UKOLN. An overview of the initial development of SWORD is given in "SWORD: Simple Web-service Offering Repository Deposit." The standard grew out of a need for an interoperable method by which resources could be deposited into repositories. Interoperable standards existed to allow the harvesting of content (e.g. Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) or for searching (e.g. OpenSearch) but not for deposit. Between the original release in 2007, two subsequent projects were undertaken until 2009 to further refine the version 1.0 specification and perform advocacy work. The resulting release was numbered 1.3. Further descriptions of the work is available in Lewis et al., "If SWORD is the answer, what is the question? Use of the Simple Web service Offering Repository Deposit protocol." In 2011 a new project began to extend the "fire and forget" approach of the SWORD 1.x specification into a full CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, Delete) interface, and the result was a new version (designated 2.0). This was followed by extensive development work on client environments in several programming languages, and incorporation into the development of several Jisc-funded efforts.

Use cases Many different use cases exist where it may be desirable to remotely deposit resources into scholarly systems. These include:

Deposit to multiple repositories at once. Deposit from a desktop client (rather from within the repository system itself) Deposit by third party systems (for example by automated laboratory equipment) Repository to repository deposit

Implementations Three categories of implementation exist: repository implementations for existing repository servers, client implementations that can be used to perform SWORD deposits, and code libraries to assist in the creation of new SWORD clients or servers.

SWORD-compliant repositories The following digital repositories are SWORD compliant:

arXiv Dataverse DSpace EPrints Fedora HAL Hyku Intralibrary (project deprecated) Microsoft Zentity (project deprecated) MyCoRe

SWORD clients EasyDeposit Open Journal Systems Pressbooks client

SWORD code libraries PHP SWORD client library Ruby SWORD client library Java SWORD client and server library Python client library Python server library and SWORD 2.0 reference implementation Python library providing both client & server implementations of SWORD 2.0 protocol. An implementation of this library may be found in Jisc's Publications Router python code base.

Other resources The SWORD Course

References

External links swordapp.org

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SWORD (protocol)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SWORD (protocol) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SWORD (protocol) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SWORD (protocol) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SWORD (protocol)

In research: SWORD (protocol) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SWORD (protocol) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SWORD (protocol) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer standards, Jisc, XML-based standards, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SWORD (protocol) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SWORD (protocol) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SWORD (protocol) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SWORD (protocol) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SWORD (protocol) in simple terms?

Why does SWORD (protocol) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SWORD (protocol)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SWORD (protocol).