OAIS Use Cases

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Use Cases

• UC-1 Ingest

• UC-2 Archival Storage

• UC-3 Data management

• UC-4 Administration

• UC-5 Preservation Planning

• UC-6 Access

Organization

The Use Cases are based on the same broad categories as the OAIS Functional Entities. Like the latter, use cases are organized into hierarchy with high-level scenarios broken down into more specific tests (sub- and sub-sub-cases).

To facilitate cross-references and links, each case has been assigned an alpha-numeric code: the alpha prefix designates its type (UC = use case), the number establishes its position in the hierarchy.

Template

The following template was created to capture each use case scenario:

Summary

• Number: UC-x.x.x, unique tracking number assigned to the use case.

• Name: descriptive name assigned to requirement.

• Context: links to higher-level cases, if applicable.

• Sub-Use Cases: links to lower-level cases, if applicable.

• Overview: brief description of the scenario.

• Actors: the main actor(s) involved in the scenario.

Description

• Preconditions: other use cases whose completion is a precondition for the current case.

• Trigger: the event that initiates the current case.

• Successful outcome: the outcomes of a successful resolution of the scenario.

• Steps: step-by-step breakdown describing the scenario as leading to a successful outcome.

• Exceptions: other possible variations, including unsuccessful outcomes ("Scenario B", "Scenario C" etc).

Documentation

• Citations: quotes from requirement sources explaining the need for a use case or describing one or more of its components

• Diagrams: work-flow or other diagrams illustrating the scenario.

Notes

• Notes: any additional information or issues related to the use case

Notes and Discussion

• in the case where the diagrams and the text in the reference model report don't match, the diagrams were taken as the authoritative representation of the OAIS model.

• One criticism of the ISO-OAIS is that it tends to blur the distinction between Actors and Functions. In many instances it uses the name of a function to describe an actor role. In our first iteration of use cases we will use the ISO-OAIS as literally as possible which means that some actors are named with the original verb/noun structure (e.g. 'Receive Submission', 'Coordinate Updates'). In a later iteration of the use cases we expect to rename these actors using an adjective/noun structure (e.g. Submission Receiver, Update Coordinator).