Mummies On Rails

A system for recoding mummy data using a modern development framework.

Ahmad Alam, Ian Dunlop, Robert Stevens, Andrew Brass (Comp. Sci.)Jenefer Cockitt, Rosalie David, Ryan Metcalfe (KNH)

Bio-Health Informatics Group

Objective:

•Develop a system for recoding comprehensive mummy data

•The system would be on the World Wide Web – hence sharable

•Use of a modern framework –Ruby on Rails

Why document electronically?

•Access being limited

•Ageing Edwardian Records

•Difficult to analyse on paper

•Very difficult to share

The primary dataset

•Dakhleh Mummy Records Selected

•Best example that could be found

•Extremely detailed 13 pages long

•Unique and cannot be re-produced

• Ruby on Rails selected as development framework – Twitter runs on it

• Contemporary evolving framework

• Based on Model–View-Controller approach

• Drives :-• Reusability – Code re-use• Modularity• Modification• Maintainability

• Rails, database agnostic

• Manages own schema and model

• Backend database selection : MySQL

• Open source

• Most widely used (hence best supported)

• Scalable

MEPR•Introducing:

Mummy Electronic Patient Record

•Built using Rails ‘re-use’ philosophy on :-

• Active Admin – Versapay runs on it• Formtastic• Devise• Inherited Resources

Mepr•Benefits:

•Filtered Searches possible, based on multiple criterion

•Extensible/Modifiable, with relative ease

•Encourages a re-think of the meta-data being recorded

•Increased longevity – easy to store backups on media and ‘cloud’

Evolving Mepr

•Improving record structure through feedback from archaeologists

•Improving the query engine to allow for better ‘reasoning’

•Holy grail : a working Ontology based system to achieve better data integration using semantic-web methodologies

Challenges

•Ontologies: not yet main stream, performance issues, languages still developing, i.e. OWL, Sparqle.

•Open data: too many data ‘silos’ e.g. Outlook (Hotmail), Google, facebook, Amazon

•XML for formalising data – some success, Microsoft Office.

Near term Mepr development

•Project to be Open Sourced shortly

•To be placed on a GitHub repository

•Will enable other programmers to work in collaboration on the project

•Possible inclusion of other mummified records, i.e. non-Egyptian

Mepr

•Available right now:-

http://mepr.herokuapp.com/admin/loginadmin@example.com (password:password)

•Current development version:-

http://heroku.cs.man.ac.uk:3000/admin/login

•Contact ahmad.alam@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk