Application of the Peer-to-Peer Paradigm in Digital Libraries

We present the architecture of a largely distributed Digital Library that is based on the Peer-to-Peer computing paradigm. The three goals of the architecture are: (i) increased node autonomy, (ii) flexible location of data, and (iii) efficient query evaluation. To satisfy these goals we propose a solution based on schema mappings and query reformulation. We identify the problems involved in developing a system based on the proposed architecture and present ways of tackling them. A prototype implementation provides encouraging results.