Grid Technology has found uses in a wide area of applications that usually
address large scale, process and data intensive problems.  We consider
metadata management (viewed as semantically meaningful resource descriptions
of learning material), crucial especially as the Grid expands to be
supplemented with capabilities towards supporting and incorporating
technologies from the Semantic Web, termed the "Semantic Grid" under the
guidelines of the Global Grid Forum (GGF).  Therefore, our effort is to bring
data-centric services adjusted to the Grid environment and to expand its
functionality in the area of resource sharing for a Self e-Learning Network.

In this deliverable, distribution aspects of SeLeNe are handled via the
proposal of a set of services that satisfy the User Requirements identified
in Deliverable 2.2. These services are based on the OGSA model layering and
aim to provide the building blocks for the formation of a set of architectural
alternatives for SeLeNe, emerging through different service placement
scenarios (discussed in Deliverable 5).  We provide a set of services
specifically designed for metadata (RDF/S) manipulation.  

Although investigated in the context of SeLeNe, much of this framework is
generally appropriate for other Grid applications that choose to make use of
RDF/S. As the spectrum of possible services is quite large and extending in
various directions (most of which today constitute individual research areas)
we provide a functional set of services that SeLeNe will specifically
concentrate on.