INCORE Metadatabase Server - Technical Aspects and Constraints

The INCORE server was set up by the University of Ulster and the United Nations University to act as a central resource for academics, policy-makers and others concerned with conflict resolution and ethnicity across the globe. The server utilises Internet resources to make as widely available as possible information on ethnic conflict. However, like a lot of tools the Internet can be used for more than one purpose. In one sense it is a very flexible and open resource that allows users to log into numerous systems around the world, transferring files, searching file systems and executing programs. However once you are connected to the Internet it is also a way for other people to get into your system. If you restrict your workstation's access only to parts of the Internet , then you may find that there is a lot of useful resources and facilities that you can no longer access and use. In order to take advantage of the Internet you must be a part of it. However, as this paper will try to demonstrate, by doing this you put your computer at risk, so you need to constantly keep abreast of the security holes in the network software installed in your system and protect it. Background INCORE [2] was established by the University of Ulster (UU) and the United Nations University (UNU) to provide a systematic approach to the study of ethnic conflict and to encourage links between research, training, policy, practice and theory. The INCORE metadatabase server [3] was set up to act as a central resource for academics, policy-makers and others concerned with conflict resolution and ethnicity across the globe, but particularly to those operating in areas of conflict. It is central to INCORE's mandate that it serve those who have most difficulty in getting access to information. In this respect the Internet can be both the most and least useful medium for connecting people to information. The advantage of placing information on the Internet is that it is almost instantaneously available, uncensored, to anyone anywhere in the globe who is connected to the net. The disadvantage is that, unless one is connected to the Internet, which involves expensive hardware, technical expertise and effective maintenance, this information is inaccessible. INCORE has to be concerned not merely to provide a state of the art server but also to ensure that as much of the information as …