Summary

Although the client/server model of the WWW can survive with weak support for metadata, P2P architecture must have a mature metadata model to succeed. To date, P2P frameworks have developed their own metadata model that is typically domain-specific, already leading to fragmentation. Efforts like the Edutella project are working toward building a common data model, leveraging standards such as XML, RDF and DAML to solve this problem. The key metadata and P2P framework issues are

• Describe resources clearly and concisely using a standardized model (such as RDF).

• Define the unique ontology for the domain with standards in mind (DAML, OIL).

• Don't let history repeat itself HTML and the WWW can give us insight into the challenges to be faced if the metadata problem is not addressed.