MegaStore: Advanced Database Services for Musci Industry  
Dutch HPCN funded project, 1999 - 2000


Project description:

The MegaStore project develops some advanced, internet-based Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) services for the buyers of different goods, but mainly focused on the E-Commerce for the music and Compact Discs products. The developed system aims at the diffusion and dissemination of both the Internet-based systems and the advanced database systems developed at the University of Amsterdam, within the boundaries of the Dutch HPCN founded projects.

The Internet-based CD shopping system, called the Virtual MegaStore consists of two main components. The first component is the Internet-Shop that can be accessed by all Internet users. The second component constitutes a so-called Shop-in-a-Shop system. The shop-in-a-shop system can be installed in an existing (non-virtual) music store, and it can offer the store keeper the unique and strong ability to immediately and in run-time respond to the requests of customers visiting the music shop, through downloading the raw music data and producing the requested CDs.


Derived Applications:

Two innovative interfaces related to the MegaStore system are implemented, namely, the LuisterPaal interface and the Music Sheet application. The LuisterPaal interface provides a simplified version of the MegaStore system, while the Music Sheet application provides an extended implementation of the MegaStore general concept. The conceptual model for e-MegaStore applications shows the applicability of the comprehensive MegaStore framework to the design and implementation of similar systems in the area of manipulating multimedia large data sets. Thus, the two applications proof the general implementation approach for the MegaStore system, from which other applications that share the same characteristics can also benefit.

  • The LuisterPaal interface is a user-friendly listening booth facility, where a user can simply scan the barcode of an Album and follow a real interaction with the system. It is a self-service web interface, which enables users visiting a music store to listen to music. In order to facilitate the user interaction with the system, the listening booth interface deploys a barcode reader and a touchscreen. The system is implemented using MS platform with a back-end multi-media database and it also runs on a normal PC with a keyboard and mouse. More details ...

  • The Music Sheet is a new emerging application in the domain of music notes and their performing issues. It provides a catalog that lets retailers form different music bookstores to search for music books, retrieve music notes, and place their orders into the system. The Music Sheet designs and develops a complete system, which model the complete life cycle of music production in one general concept. The system is implemented using MS technology with a back-end multi-media database server. More details ...

References

  • A. Benabdelkader. Information Integration among Heterogeneous and Autonomous Applications, Chapter 4. (Thesis 2,512KB). ISBN: 90-5776-093-2, Febo Druk, Enschede, 2002.

  • A. Benabdelkader, H. Afsarmanesh, L. O. Hertzberger. MegaStore: Advanced Internet-based Electronic Commerce Service for Music Industry. In proceedings of 11th IEEE International Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications - DEXA'2000, Pages 869-878, London - Greenwich, United Kingdom, 2000.

  • A. Benabdelkader, H. Afsarmanesh, R. Schut, and L.O. Hertzberger. e-MegaStore concept for current music stores models: Free RecordShop, LuisterPaal, and Sheet Music. Poster in ICT KennisCongress, Den Haag, The Netherlands, September 2001.

  • A. Benabdelkader, H. Afsarmanesh, L. O. Hertzberger. The Virtual MegaStore System Implementation. Technical Report CS-99-05, Faculty of Science, Research Institute Computer Science, University of Amsterdam, 1999.

  • A. Benabdelkader, H. Afsarmanesh, L. O. Hertzberger. The Virtual MegaStore System Architecture: Analysis and Design. Technical Report CS-99-04, Faculty of Science, Research Institute Computer Science, University of Amsterdam, 1999.

Contact person

  • Ammar Benabdelkader ammar@science.uva.nl

Project members

  1. University of Amsterdam
    • Ammar Benabdelkader
    • Hamideh Afsarmanesh
    • Bob Hertzberger
  2. The Frame Holding BV
    • Jan Willem Clinge Doorenbos
  3. International Music Consortium BV
    • Frank Geerdes