The move onto different transport protocols may provide opportunities for better interoperation. Digital Library Techniques Rapid assembly of crisis simulations not only requires that the components exist, it requires that we be able to rapidly locate them and secure the rights for their use. The increasing number of resources implies that any query will discover larger and larger numbers of relevant resources. Therefore, grading the information according to its quality and fitness for use will become increasingly important. These benefits need to be extended to non-traditional digital resources, such as maps, video clips, databases, shared whiteboard sessions, CAD models, etc. that will proliferate in the future.
Research is needed in cataloging, indexing, and discovering non-traditional media.
Software components must be self-describing in order to reduce the human effort of cataloging these volatile resources. Identification systems that don't embed protocol and host information are needed to allow easier replication and migration of resources. Extensive replication and caching of resources not only optimizes use of the network, it can allow significant levels of service to continue even when a network becomes completely isolated from the rest of the world. This has benefits for mobile computing as well as offering a degree of immunity from catastrophic faults in crises. Further work on resolving such location-independent identifiers is needed.