XML at the ADC: Steps to a Next Generation Data Repository

The staff of the Astronomical Data Center at GSFC (ADC, http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov) is involved in a research project to define the XML format for the metadata of an astronomical repository and for large data tables. In the process, an XML tool box is being developed for importation, enhancement, and distribution of published data and their metadata documents. There is now a working draft Document Type Definition (DTD, http://messier.gsfc.nasa.gov/xml/dataset.dtd) which specifies the required elements of content and their attributes. The documentation for each data set will be viewable in several different styles via eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT, (http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt) scripts. The ADC is actively creating designs for the flow of data through automated pipelines from authors and journal presses into an XML archive, as well as data retrieval through the web via the XML Query Language.