OpenURL and LinkFinderPlus

John Millerjsmiller@ku.eduUniv. of Kansas SCVUGM 2004

Why, What, and How?

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Outline the problems & opportunities

behind OpenURL and LFP definitions & the basic process maintenance activities and goals why things don’t always work a look at LinkFinderPlus (LFP) 4.0

admin client in action

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The problems: #1 It is too complicated -- and

requires too much redundant work -- to find a citation and then ALSO find the item it cites this was true in print, and is perhaps

even more so with electronic journals

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The problems: #2 User expectations for speed and

convenience of access are higher than previously perhaps unreasonably so, but

nevertheless they are true for faculty and staff, but

especially so for students

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The problems: #3 Repositories of electronic journals

have widely varying, proprietary ways of linking to individual issues and articles there is no adopted standard for how

to ask a site for a specific article

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The problems: #4 E-Journal numbers and uses are

growing far faster than most libraries’ ability to deal with them via normal library tech services processes you can’t just all of a sudden catalog an

extra 1,000 journals when you license a new journal package, let along keep track of exactly what issues you have access to

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The Opportunities:

1. To deliver everything to the desktop, wherever that desktop is

--“I love not having to come to the library”

2. To offer a linear sequence of services from full text online to interlibrary loan of text that automatically offers the user less-good choices whenever the best choices are not available

-- never leave them without positive options

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A Possible Solution: Combine the following:

a standard for passing citation data via a URL support of that standard and creation of links based

on it by A&I and other citation services software that translates data in the standard’s syntax

into each site’s proprietary syntax for retrieving an issue or article and creates links based on it

software to manage local electronic journal access information (i.e, what titles, what years, etc.)

a frequently-updated source of library-specific access information, including that for large e-journal aggregators

Link standard

Link Resolver:

Knowledge Base + Parsing Rules

+

E-serials service

+

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+

OpenURL

LinkFinderPlus

SerialsSolutions

+

KU’s path:

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Definitions ... Source:

item info + OpenURL construction + outward linking mechanism = “OpenURL-enabled”

In other words, what you are linking FROM

Site: In LFP terms, the provider of the full text or other

service that you are linking TO Target:

Generically, what you are linking TO Specifically, in LFP, a specific item (i.e., e-journal title)

at a particular Site

site:

Johns Hopkins University Press

journal:

Mediterranean Quarterly

ISSN: 1047-4552

target:

Mediterranean Quarterly

@ Johns Hopkins University Press

coverage: 01/01/1999 - present

active

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Definitions ... Link Resolver:

Knowledge Base: what journals, targets, and sites exist and to which ones do I have access

Parsing rules and programs: turn the Source’s OpenURL into a Site’s proprietary language

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Definitions: OpenURL What is it?

an open standard, created originally by Herbert Van de Sompel (and called “SFX”), and now revised & maintained by a NISO committee

a syntax for packaging metadata and identifiers describing

information objects for pointing to a specific resolver that can accept the

data and resolve the data into actual links a base URL + a query just a string of characters

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start with a simple citation:

title: Axis of Evil: Threat or Chimera?author: Charles V. Penasource: Mediterranean Quarterly, 2002,

vol. 13, no. 3, summer, pp. 40-57.database: CSA: Worldwide Political Science

Abstracts

which becomes

http://lfp.diglib.ku.edu/lfp/LinkFinderPlus/Display?sid=CSA:polsci-set-c&genre=article&atitle=Axis+of+Evil%3A+Threat+or+Chimera%3F&aulast=Pena&title=Mediterranean+Quarterly&volume=13&issue=3&date=2002&issn=1047-4552&spage=40&epage=57

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http://lfp.diglib.ku.edu/lfp/LinkFinderPlus/Display??sid=CSA:polsci-set-sid=CSA:polsci-set-c&genre=article&atitle=Axis+of+c&genre=article&atitle=Axis+of+Evil%3A+Threat+or+ChimeraEvil%3A+Threat+or+Chimera%3F&aulast=Pena&title=Mediterr%3F&aulast=Pena&title=Mediterranean+Quarterly&volume=13&issanean+Quarterly&volume=13&issue=3&date=2002&issn=1047-ue=3&date=2002&issn=1047-

4552&spage=40&epage=574552&spage=40&epage=57

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http://lfp.diglib.ku.edu/lfp/LinkFinderPlus/Display?sidsid=CSA:polsci-set-c&genregenre=article&atitleatitle=Axis+of+Evil%3A+Threat+or+Chimera%3F&aulastaulast=Pena&title=Mediterranean+Quarterly&volumevolume=13&ississueue=3&datedate=2002&issnissn=1047-4552&spagespage=40&epageepage=57

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sid=CSA:polsci-set-cgenre=articleatitle=Axis of Evil: Threat or Chimera?aulast=Penatitle=Mediterranean Quarterlyvolume=13issue=3date=2002issn=1047-4552spage=40epage=57

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Process: from the user’s perspective

find a citation in a database click on LFP link see a list of links to possible sites

and services full text, abstract, TOC, OPAC search, ILL

form, etc. choose a link and follow it arrive at the end of the link

Source• Index Citation

• Catalog Record

• Footnote

Link Resolver: Parser + Knowledge Base

Target• Full Text

• Service

• Database21

Source• Index Citation

• Catalog Record

• Footnote

Link Resolver: Parser + Knowledge Base

Target• Full Text

• Service

• Database

Target• Full Text

• Service

• Database

Target• Full Text

• Service

• Database

Source• Index Citation

• Catalog Record

• Footnote

Source• Index Citation

• Catalog Record

• Footnote

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OpenURL syntax

Target syntax

Source• Index Citation

• Catalog Record

• Footnote

Link Resolver: Parser + Knowledge Base

Target• Full Text

• Service

• Database

The Parser’s Role:

Translation

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“Routine” maintenance and setup

Activate and deactivate targets manually or via batch activation

Add journals and targets to sites either manually or via bulk load

Use existing service types to create Extended Services

e.g., Voyager OPAC search Create new, custom Extended Services

e.g., ILL form or database search Customize the interface via XSLT

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Maintenance and development goals

To provide additional custom services To make the system easier to use and less

confusing for our users To keep KB up-to-date in an efficient manner To make things work right (or, at least,

better) by correcting errors by correcting omissions by working around bugs or inadequacies in the

system

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For everything to work perfectly ...

Source database has correct, complete citation

OpenURL created by source is complete and accurate

The site / journal (i.e. target) exists in the KB

E-journal ISSN and/or TITLE in the KB matches that in the incoming OpenURL

Current local library holdings are correctly reflected on the target record in the KB

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For everything to work perfectly ...

LFP’s parsing and translation is correct The site is up and operating The site recognizes and authenticates the

user The site processes the incoming message

correctly

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Some factors that affect success

Knowledge Base & Parsing Not all e-journal sites exist in the KB Not all journals exist in the KB Activations may be inaccurate or out-of-date Some sites that exist do not work due to

incorrect or incomplete parsing Target sets for some sites are incomplete

and/or inaccurate

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Some factors that affect success

Knowledge Base & Parsing, cont. Creating new e-journal sites locally is

reasonably difficult Inadequate parsing of elements for External

Services Source

OpenURL omits elements that are important to some sites, e.g. GENRE

Data put in wrong OpenURL elements Extraneous data put into OpenURL elements

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Some factors that affect success

Target Ability to correctly authenicate user Ability to link to individual issue or article

between the Source and Link Resolver

on the way to Extended Services

Source• Index Citation

• Catalog Record

• Footnote

Link Resolver: Parser + Knowledge Base

Target• Full Text

• Service

• Database

When can we step in and affect the

process?

augmenting the KB

altering the parsing in

SOME cases

SysAdmin customizatio

n

modifying incoming activation

data

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SerialsSolutions XML Data

Knowledge Base

Site ID clean-up program

Local custom XML file

Target Activation Process

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What does the site ID cleanup program do?

changes some site IDs to those of others for the same site that work better

removes redundant sites changes textual dates to real dates

e.g. “3 years ago”, “6 months ago”

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What’s in the custom local XML file?

consolitations where SS has two sites, the KB one e.g., ACS current and archive sites,

APS journals current and backfile sites missing site / target matchups

e.g., for us, PsycArticles new sites that we have access to, but

which aren’t yet in the SS file (rare)

Source• Index Citation

• Catalog Record

• Footnote

Link Resolver: Parser + Knowledge Base

Standard

Target

pre-processor

Extended

Service

Perl - PHP - etc.

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Linking Process

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What does the pre-processor do?

supplies GENRE value when missing removes initial articles from TITLE moves some data from one element

to another for some database gathers custom info for ILL form writes a log entry for statistics and

reporting

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Significant improvements in LFP 4.0 KB maintenace now in-house at Endeavor former 3-type division of sites merged into one

formerly “Agg_”, “JS_”, and XML sites -- only XML sites could have targets added to them

all sites now can have targets added to them can pass optional OpenURL elements to Extended

Services -- a great improvement over 3.5 online usage reporting 552 new sites and thousands of new targets in KB many sites work now that did not work before, or

now work better than before

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Other changes in LFP 4.0

now Unicode UTF-8 compliant online aggregator configuration web, rather than Windows/ODBC admin

client many, many sites have new SITE_IDs

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New or remaining deficiencies ...

“SID” (system ID) still is not available to Extended Services

Despite additions, KB still lacks many sites and thousands of targets for existing sites example of a bad cases for targets:

Lexis-Nexis Academic: 3,164 in SerialsSolutions DB, 1,492 in LFP KB BUT, there were only 1,157 in version 3.5, so it’s

better

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New or remaining deficiencies ...

when selecting a journal online for a new target, ISSNs do not appear

online usage reports are very limited MS Access reports promised “soon” large number created for version 3.5 earlier

this year: e.g., “Active Targets”, “Links Followed”, “Links Presented”, “Audit-no Links Presented”

can’t sort columns in the web client promised for version 4.1

Example of

“Sites Followed”

query:

KU

Jan-June, 2004

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Personal view of LFP’s status: It’s getting better, but still has a ways to go to completeness, accuracy, and especially up-

to-dateness of the KB continues to be the biggest problem

bringing maintenance inhouse and unifying the 3 types of sites was an essential step

Initially lacked reporting capabilities, but now quite a bit is available a lot of data is retained in the Oracle tables

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Web admin client needs improvement just to bring it back to the level of the Windows client quite a bit slower and more cumbersome to

use do custom queries in Access to find out most

things Cooperation between Endeavor and

agents such as SS needs to be improved -- or an alternative found

Personal view of LFP’s status:

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a quick look at some LFP 4.0 administrative web client screens ...

Admin client front page

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list of sites

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list of journals - subheadings

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list of journals - individual titles

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base info for a site

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info for a single journal

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targets for a selected site

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info for a single target

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Extended Service set-up

page

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Detail of Extended Service

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Some Examples

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Questions?