Synchronized Content and Metadata Management in a Federation of Distributed Repositories of Chemical Learning Objects Sergio Tasso 1 , Simonetta Pallottelli 1 , Osvaldo Gervasi 1( ✉ ) , Razvan Tanase 1 , and Marina Rui 2 1 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Perugia, via Vanvitelli, 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy {sergio.tasso,simonetta.pallottelli,osvaldo.gervasi}@unipg.it, tangent.jotey@gmail.com 2 Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, via Dodecaneso, 31, 16146 Genoa, Italy marina@chimica.unige.it Abstract. The paper deals with the synchronization mechanism among the servers of a federation of distributed repositories for the constant updating of the didactic-scientific material, its properties and its locations. A shared metadata database is the synchronization point of reference and it allows to improve performance in terms of searching and downloading. The proposed federation is meant to deal with a large variety of different contents though the discussed prototype implementation is concerned with scientific and educational subjects in particular. Additional elements of evaluation are the capability of enhancing collaboration and fault tolerance. Keywords: Repository · Synchronization · Learning objects · Content sharing 1 Introduction Thanks to their advanced tools and interoperable environments, the new technologies, make available, any time and any place, learning object [1, 2] and repository facilities needful both for training and information. The content, repository platforms and e-learning systems can share in these envi‐ ronments, are manifold. For our job, it is particularly interesting to note that repository platforms, because of their powerful and flexible structure, allow a full management of Learning Object Metadata (LOM). In the current view, the e-learning content design implies the application of a devel‐ opment model featured by material serialization, which has the ultimate goal of obtaining self-consistent learning units (typically learning objects) in SCORM format. In this context it suits the Glorep system [3], which, in order to facilitate the learning objects (LOs) phases production, proposes a shared and distributed solution for the education content, aimed at reuse, after a suitable classification and indexing [4, 5]. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 O. Gervasi et al. (Eds.): ICCSA 2017, Part III, LNCS 10406, pp. 14–28, 2017. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62398-6_2