Finding Pearls using OAIsterAn Introduction to an Open Archives Search Tool and a Discussion of Possible Uses

Presenter: Phil Hewitt

Presentation Outline• Objectives• What is OAIster?• Why Use OAIster?• How to Use OAIster (2)

▫ Example Searches• How Can I Use OAIster for My Job? (2)• Why am I talking to you about OAIster? (3)• Problems with OAIster• Questions/Comments/Ideas/Heckles• Similar Resources• Contact Information• References/Further Reading

Objectives• Attendees will be able to:

▫Discuss what OAIster is and how it can be used.

▫Use OAIsters search tools effectively.

▫Understand how OAIster may be used in LTS.

▫Core objective: Discuss OAIster in context of larger concepts (Open Access) and similar resources.

What is OAIster?• Started at UMich (’02), obtained by OCLC (’09)

▫Now Part of WorldCat, permanently free per agreement.

• A metadata harvester; more simply put – a metasearch of the “deep web” – key is interoperability▫Trying to be a one stop shop for publicly avail. Dig. Lib.

resources.• Contributors (digital repositories) upload metadata

in a common format (OAI-PMH)• OAIster-only OCLC site became available in Jan. ‘10• Web site: http://www.oclc.org/oaister/

Why Use OAIster?• Collection of more than 23 million records• More than 1,100 contributors, including: LoC Digitized

Collections, RePEc, Highwire Press, Project Muse, Hathi Trust (UMich LR) and Internet Archive (Google Books) ▫ Full list of contributors:

http://www.oclc.org/oaister/contributors/default.htm • Single, easy-to-use search interface• Open Archives/Open Access are continually expanding

sources of information.• Good for locating gray literature - conference papers,

white papers, reports – as well as multimedia files and anything else a DR/IR might hold.

Advanced Search Screen• Available at: http://oaister.worldcat.org/advancedsearch

Search Capabilities•Cannot add/remove databases• 14 Search fields:

• Keyword, Title, Author, Data Contributor, Content Type, Language Phrase, Notes, Publication Date, etc.

• Can limit by year range• English or Non-English language• Resource Type:

• Audio, Dataset, Image, Text, Video

Example Search• Looking for a specific edition of a work •Darwin – The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals - 1890 D. Appleton ed.

•How to Use OAIster (Freely Available Site)

Search Screen in FirstSearch• Path - Electronic resources > Database Finder > Article First

Search Capabilities• Similar to freely available site, few more options.• Can browse indexes (Very Useful).• Expert Search, for those of us who loved Dialog.• Can use proximity operators.• Can combine previous searches.

Example Search•Mexican Immigrants and Labor•Change “Search in Database” Dropdown to OAIster•Kw: Mexic* immigra* and su=labor (browse to ensure subject)•Sort by Date/Source ; Limit by SH, Author, Yr., or Language ; Related Subjects•Be careful! – Not all metadata are created equal – If using indexes - may have low recall due to lack of subjects, pub. date, etc.

•How to Use OAIster (FirstSearch)

How Can I Use OAIster for My Job?Answering Reference Queries• Some Examples

▫ Humanities Art Images – e.g. “Great Altar of Zeus” – not available in Art &

Architecture Complete or Camio Is available in AICT via OAIster

▫ Business/Economics Working Papers – Includes RePEc, Works from Institutional

Repositories, Some Pre-Print from Presses• In general

▫ Images, Audio, Video, Datasets Great resource for obscure questions related to these document

types.▫ Remember – 23 millions records, 1100 contributors!

Recommendation – try searches that you find relevant. Incorporate into your toolkit – Open Access and IR/DRs will continue to grow in importance.

How Can I Use OAIster for My Job? (cont.)• Missing Books

▫ Search OAIster to see if book is available online before recommending ILL.

• Training tool for students – further IL▫ Relates to Standards 1 and 2 of

ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards (pp. 8-10) Standard 1 – Performance Indicators 2 & 3 Standard 2 – Performance Indicators 1 & 3

▫ Understanding of deep web▫ Location of and familiarization with Digital Repositories▫ Place OAIster on E-book page & Database page?▫ Lifelong learning – open access!

• Why use RePEc, etc., when you can use OAIster?▫ Why search one open-access repository when you can search

multiple at the same time?

Why Am I Talking to You about OAIster?•Penn State incorporated searching Google

Books into their ILL workflow▫High satisfaction rate (99%); Limited to pre-

1923▫Coopey (2009).

•Question: Is this the best way to find freely available resources?▫Use of only one database seemed limited

Looked into fed. search – not cost effective Started to use OAIster – great success!

Why Am I Talking to You about OAIster? (cont.)• Great Success defined: Sharon produced report

of pre-1923 LMC titles requested more than twice.

• Using OAIster, found digitized version for EVERY item requested thus far (14 items searched – small sample size)

• What’s this mean?▫Can add electronic access to Bibliographic record▫Can search OAIster before fulfilling request

Could save time and money (unproven)▫Decreased handling of older materials.

Why Am I Talking to You about OAIster? (cont.)

• Examples of Records in the Catalog:▫152.4 D228e 1873▫158.2 D34p

• What might the work flow look like for this process?ILL/LMC search for pre-1923 books before fulfilling –

If found, send link to patron, ensure satisfaction.E-mail inlog@lehigh.edu w/ Call #, URLTech. services ensures accuracy, adds into catalog

• Really, a simple, quick process – not overwhelming.• Self-reporting – usage will initiate the process.

Problems with OAIster• Update Schedule• Missing Resources• Is Google Scholar Better for articles?

▫ See Norris, M., et al. (2008).• Why not just use WorldCat, since OAIster results are

included in search?▫ WorldCat results will have greater recall – bib. records and

open access.▫ OAIster results will have greater precision – mostly open

access.▫ Minor difference for some searches– example, when you

know the title, author, etc.▫ Major difference when searching by keyword, indexes.

E.g. Kw: mexic* immigra* and su=labor 603 results in WorldCat and 191 results in OAIster. Internet Resources – WorldCat: 114 OAIster: 144 Not all of OAIster records are in WorldCat! Why? Who knows!

Questions/Comments/Ideas/Heckles • Do you think OAIster could

be useful for reference interactions? For ILL/LMC processes?

• If so, what way (FirstSearch, WWW, via WorldCat) would you access OAIster?

• Are students familiar with Open Access?

• Feel free to discuss!

Similar Resources• Open DOAR – Dir. of Open Access Repositories

▫ Uses Google search – indexed by Google• ROAR - Registry of Open Access Repositories

▫ Provides info. about repositories – how often they update, size of collection, etc.

• DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals▫ Available through our E-resources page

• Google Scholar▫ Supposedly best recall for Open Access

articles (indexing of OAI-PMH)• Google Books

▫ OAIster > Google Books as long as IA continues to update?

• WorldCat – elinks update▫ LU LTS can add capability of linking to

freely available resources▫ Thanks to Jean for making me aware of this!

• Moving forward – work towards JHU cat.?▫ ILS GUI w/ API feeds?

Contact Information•Phillip Hewitt, Cataloging Intern

▫x284@lehigh.edu or phillip.hewitt@gmail.com

•Thanks for listening.

•Feedback is appreciated!

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References/Further Reading• Coopey, B. (2009). Utilizing Google Books to fulfill

interlibrary loan requests. PaLA Bulletin. Nov./Dec. 2009. 17-18.

• Fielding Graduate University Library Staff (2010, June 16). Library Videos. OAIster database. Video retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL5co_Ex2RE

• Norris, M., Oppenheim, C., & Rowland, F. (2008). Finding open access articles using Google, Google Scholar, OAIster and OpenDOAR. Online Information Review, 32(6), 709-715.