the openurl and openurl framework: demystifying link resolution washington dc, 29 th october 2003...

The OpenURL and OpenURL Framework:Demystifying Link Resolution

Washington DC, 29th October 2003

“Link Resolvers Explained”

Oren Beit-ArieEx Libris (USA) Inc.

oren@exlibris-usa.com

The OpenURL and OpenURL Framework:Demystifying Link Resolution

Washington DC, 29th October 2003

“Link Resolvers Explained”

Oren Beit-ArieEx Libris (USA) Inc.

oren@exlibris-usa.com

© Ex Libris (USA) Inc

• Open Linking framework and Context-Sensitive Link Servers

• The role of a KnowledgeBase

• Linking beyond the Full Text

• Beyond Linking …

© Ex Libris (USA) Inc

Overview

Origins of the OpenURL

The Background:• Distributed information environments • Multiple information discovery services eg A&I databases• Rapidly growing e-journal collections• Need to interlink e-collections

The Problem:• Limitations of existing linking solutions

• Information providers – not libraries – control the links• Links not sensitive to user’s context – the “appropriate copy” problem• Links dependent on vendor agreements

The REAL Problem was…

• Libraries have no (or little) say in linking

• High maintenance of proprietary solutions

• Expensive collection not used optimally

• Users not well served

Solving the Problem

The OpenURL Framework:• No hardwired links eg from a reference to the corresponding full text

• Introduction of a new component in the link process - a Link Server (OpenURL Resolver)• OpenURL – specification for interoperability between Information Resources and Link Servers

Linking I

Source

T a r g e t s

OpenURL

Link

Server

Site Specific

A p p r o p r i a t e T a r g e t s

Link to referenced

work

reference

I

Context Sensitive

The Open Linking Flow (basic)

Link Source Link Server Menu

Link Target

Menu and services under library control

Direct Link

No Menu:

Server-to-Server

(‘API’ based on OpenURL)

For the librarian: Central administration of links (and e-journal data) Local control over what types of links are offered and to where they resolve Optimizes use of licensed resources

Benefits of OpenURL linking

For the user: Desktop delivery of full text when available electronically Expands the research horizons Consistency and accuracy of links

For the information provider: OpenURL standard for outbound linking – easy to implement No need for bilateral publisher agreements More inbound links – more traffic to site! Meets need of libraries and end users

Benefits of OpenURL linking

October 2003: 10+ commercial link server solutions; other local home-grown solutions Hundreds of resources, databases and vendors actively participate in the OpenURL framework Hundreds (Thousands) of Insititutions Houndreds of thousands (Millions) of Users are being served….

The Result

What is the context in “context-sensitive” ?

1. OpenURL –

A service-request that transports information from the link source (referrer) to the user’s (requester) Link Server (resolver)

2. Resolver’s KnowledgeBase –

Defining the library’s “collection” in order to determine appropriateness of services

Two components come into play:

Entities in ContextObject/OpenURL:• Referent (the referenced resource)• Resolver (the OpenURL resolver/link server)• Referrer (the information source)• Requester (the ‘user’)• Referring Entity (eg citing Article)• ServiceType (what is requested)

ContextObject

Descriptors:

• Identfiers

• By-Value Metadata

• By-Ref Metadata

• Private Data

Encoding:

• Key/Encoded Value (KEV)

• XML

• Others…

Transports:

• HTTP(S) GET/POST

• Others (SOAP; OAI-PMH…)

Registry

NISO AX: http://library.caltech.edu/openurl

OpenURL v1.0

OpenURL v1.0OpenURL: A suite of HTTP(S)-based methods to transport

representations of ContextObjects.

Provides:• More information about the network context more means to enable context sensitive and appropriate services• Support for multiple ContextObjects (SAP-2)• Linking beyond the Scholarly Bibliographic Information domain:

- Museum objects, Learning objects, Geo-spatial objects, video/audio,…

• Linking beyond the Scholarly Information domain:

- Cities, cars, people, companies,…

Context Sensitive Linking Framework

Source

T a r g e t s

OpenURL

Link

Server

User Specific

A p p r o p r i a t e T a r g e t s

Links to referenced

works

reference

What to Link to?

And how?

Potential services

Collections Rules

OpenURL

Link Server

KnowledgeBase

Link Server – The role of the KnowledgeBase

KnowledgeBase is used to determine appropriate links to targets:

Comprehensive KnowledgeBase delivered with the Link Server

Contains a set of rules for linking to different types of targets

Library “localizes” to match local subscriptions and conditions

Requires KnowledgeBase Updates

Link Server’s KnowledgeBase

The Role of the Link Server

Augmentation of data:

Dereference Identifiers and By-Reference Metadata (OpenURL v.1.0) KnowledgeBase is used to normalize and “enhance” Metadata provided by the Link Source:

The reference might not include an ISSN, yet the Target link (eg to the Publisher) often requires it Abbreviated titles Authors names

The Role of the Link Server

http://ceres.ingentaselect.com/vl=562772/ cl=61/nw=1/rpsv/cgi-bin/cgi? body=linker& reqidx=00335533(2000)L.45

Heckman, James J. Causal Parameters and Policy Analysis in Economics: A Twentieth Century Retrospective. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, v. 115, n1 (2000): 45-97.    

http://sfx.ulib.iupui.edu/sfx_local? genre=article&atitle=Causal Parameters and

Policy Analysis in Economics: A Twentieth Century Retrospective&stitle=The Quarterly Journal of Economics&date=2000&volume=115 &issue=1&spage=45&epage=97&aulast=Heckman &aufirst=James&auinit=J

OpenURL:

Link to:

• Holdings:– E-journals – OPACs– ILL/DocDel

• Extended Services– Citation Databases– Encyclopedias– Patent Databases– Search Engines– Subject Gateways– Internet bookstores– Research Tools

….. Libraries choose!

All targets must have a defined link-to syntax (which is then configured in the library’s link

server Knowledgebase)

Link Server Services

What’s missing: Targets: no link-to standard

( some adopt OpenURL as a link-to syntax)

Targets: Lacking description of collections (packages; date range; …) – missing standards ?..

Sources: good metadata

Issues

Other Needs (1)

In the beginning, most of the services provided were based on institutional affiliation (specified in the BASE_URL) More and more services and options require more granular attributes about the Requester for example:

Conditional Services (faculty; tech services; undergraduate students; …) Personalization of Services; and more …

The Requester

• Requester (User) Attributes can come through:• ‘Environment’ variables (IP-address,

cookies, certificates…)• AuthN/Z Frameworks such as

Shibboleth (Internet2/MACE project)• ContexObject’s Requester Entity (in

OpenURL v.1.0)

Other Needs (2)

• An important part of the KnowledgeBase is information about the institution’s collection:• local collection• Licensed resources• And others• Collections can be (and will be) distributed

• It is not the case that only the home Institution is responsible (licenses; creates..) for all resources that Users may have access to

We need distributed rights evaluation

CDL DoEUCDavisResources of

Information Landscape User’s Perspective

Distributed Services

UCD Link Server

merged services

CDL’s Link Server

OpenURL

OpenURL

Beyond Linking (1)

Resource for Document Delivery / ILL systems –

Query a Link Server for all electronic (and possibly also print) Holdings to facilitate docdel/ILL Especially relevant for consortia that enable direct consortia borrowing Based on a Server (DocDel/ILL) to Server (Link Resolver) query (based on OpenURL) Will make a good use of multiple ContextObjects

Central repository for ejournal subscriptions:

• OpenURL Generator

• A-Z journal title list

Utilities to export and load ejournal records (eg: full MARC) into OPAC; Portals

Research Tools:

Eg: ‘Capture Citation’ to create linkable Reading Lists (and other integrations with E-Learning Environments)

Beyond linking (2)

New challenges for Link Servers

• Use of user attributes for determination of more granular link services(Requester-entity; Shibboleth)

• Distributed KnowledgeBase and the need to determine the actual collections for any particular user, regardless of administration/licensing organizations

• More varied sources and targets – beyond linking scholarly textual information (with OpenURL v1.0)

Link Servers

Link Servers become a core component in libraries’ electronic

resources infrastructure

Oren Beit-Arie

oren@exlibris-usa.com

www.exlibrisgroup.comwww.sfxit.com

Oren Beit-Arie

oren@exlibris-usa.com

www.exlibrisgroup.comwww.sfxit.com