OpenURL and Link Resolvers

ADL Seminar, Beijing 8/14-16/06 OpenURL and Link Resolvers

OpenURL and Link Resolvers

Advantages and Challenges

Weiling LiuDirector, Office of Libraries TechnologyUniversity LibrariesUniversity of Louisville


Introduction

How to locate a copy of an article? Select a database that provides full-text Search the database for the article Search OPAC to find out if it is available in print when it

is not available online Fill out a form to get it through interlibrary loan when it

is not available online nor in print locallyChallenges for end-users: Different user interface and various search capabilities Changes of institutional subscriptions Changes within aggregated collections

OpenURL and Link Resolver came into place for removing these barriers


Objective

To share my reading and understanding about OpenURL Link Resovlers, their advantages and challenges in practice, and our implementation experience at University of Louisville


Outline What is OpenURL and Link Resolver? OpenURL Link Resolver mechanism Advantages A Case Study Challenges Implementation of a Link Resolver (SFX) at the University of Louisville Summary and Conclusion


What is OpenURL?

A framework, NISO standard (ANSI/NISO Z39.88 – 2004)It includes two parts:

1. syntax for packaging metadata and identifiers describing information objects

2. syntax for pointing to a user-specific resolver that can accept this packaged data, combine it with user information, and resolve the data into actual links


What Is a Link Resolver?A link resolver accepts an OpenURL as input

and interprets it, applying “as much logic as they can” and then offering “the user a menu showing a range of possibilities” and services

Source (OpenURL

Link)Link

Resolver

Menu of services (Targets)


OpenURL Link Resolver

(Server)

[Central Knowledge

Base]

Link Target- Library OPACs

Link Target- E-ResourcesLink Target

- Inter Library Loan

Link Resolver – where context-sensitive linking service is

processed

Target – where linking lands (must have a link-to syntax that

supports the service)

Link Target- Web search Engine

OpenURL Sources•A&I databases•E-Journal Articles (References)•E-print archives (OAI)•Electronic theses and dissertations (ETD)•Library OPACs•Local data repositories

OpenURL Link Resolver Mechanism

Source – where linking starts (must be OpenURL

enabled)


Examples - OpenURL(line break is added for readability)url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_tim=2003-0410T13%3A57%3A15TZD&url_ctx_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&ctx_id=10_1&ctx_tim=2003-04-10T13%3A56%3A30TZD&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1045%2Fjuly99-caplan&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.aulast=Caplan&rft.aufirst=Priscilla&rft.issn=1082-9873&rft.volume=5&rft.issue=7/8&rft.date=1999&rft.atitle=Reference+Linking+for+Journal+Articles&rfe_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1045%2Fmarch2001-vandesompel&rfe_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rfe.genre=article&rfe.aulast=Van+de+Sompel&rfe.aufirst=Herbert&rfe.issn=1082-9873&rfe.volume=7&rfe.issue=3&rfe.date=2001&rfe.atitle=Open+Linking+in+the+Scholarly+Information+Environment+using+the+OpenURL+Framework&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fdlib.org%3Adlib


Examples – Link ResolverThe examples from California Institute of Technology demonstrate that besides full text service, a link resolver can also direct a user to the following: Library’s Catalog Holdings Inter-Library Loan Reviews (e.g. Amazon) Abstracts Reference Management (e.g. EndNote) Web Services (e.g. Library’s FAQ) Web Search (e.g. Google)http://library.caltech.edu/openurl/Documents/Demo.htm


AdvantagesFor users: “Complete coverage” for the user (Turner,

2004), which avoids “dead ends” (Schneider 2001)

“Appropriate copy” (McDonald, 2004)For Library staff: Decreasing the time spent by ILL in filling

items that the library does have access to, or redundant article copies

More statistics can be gathered, thus increase the use of those less popular ones


A Case StudyA study conducted at California State University shows: End-user perceptions: More Full text Librarian perceptions: More Accurate Results “For many librarians and end-users, all of it is SFX. They most often encounter problems that have nothing to do with the system itself, but those problems nevertheless help erode confidence in the system, driving down its perceived success” (Wakimoto, 2006)


ChallengesChallenges: Objects with ID (ISSN, ISBN, or DOI) vs. without ID Different Levels of OpenURL Compliance

Out-bound linking available from All items (e.g. Wilson) Non-full text items only (e.g. EBSCO)

In-bound linking to a target at Database level (e.g. LEXIS-NEXIS) Journal level (e.g. ERIC Full Text*) Volume level (e.g. Haworth Press **) Issue level or article level with DOI (e.g. University

of Chicago Press ***,† ) Article level (e.g. EBSCOhost ****)

Subscribed Resources vs. Free Resources


Examples - Wilson


Examples - EBSCO


Challenges (continued)

What Librarians Need to Do: More Full Text Collections Good OpenURL Compliant Resources Up-to-date Central Knowledge Base (CKB) Service Menu Customization User Education What to Consider When Acquiring/Developing an OpenURL Link Resolver


What to Consider When Acquiring/Developing an OpenURL Link Resolver Flexibilities for Service Menu Customization CKB Update Frequency Number of Databases (sources and targets) Supporting titles with or without IDs (e.g. ISSN, ISBN) OpenURL COinS

Challenges (continued)


Implementation of SFX at UofLUniversity of Louisville (UofL) Libraries Six libraries Integrated Library System (ILS): Voyager Collections: 2 million volumes Electronic Resources:

Database: more than 200 E-Journal: about 20,000 titlesJournal Finder – SFX link resolver

Acquiring system in May 2004 “Soft” launch in Noember 2004 Full launch in July 2005 Currently 66 targets (30,660 links) are activated in CKB


SFX Link Resolver- A-Z List


SFX Link Resolver- Category


SFX Link Resolver- Citation Linker


SFX Link Resolver- Service Menu

Shown all the time


Summary and Conclusion “the promise of the OpenURL is tantalizing indeed” (Grogg, 2006.) Such seamless integration of resources is so conceptually simple, but robust, scalable, open systems of reference linking are enormously complex. By providing OpenURL linking services, “librarians and vendors are under increasing pressure from their constituents to provide yet more full text with 100 percent seamless accuracy.” (Wakimoto, 2006)


References and Readings Grogg, Jill E. "Thinking About Reference Linking." Searcher 10.4 (2002):56-61. Grogg, Jill E. "Introduction." Library technology reports 42.1 (2006):5-7. Van de Sompel, Herbert and and Patrick Hochstenback. "Reference Linking in a Hybrid Library Environment, Part 1: Frame works for Linking." D-Lib magazine 5.4 (1999) McDonald, Steven and Van de Velde, Eric F. "Resource Integration in the Library: The Lure of Linking." Library journal 129.6 (2004):32-34. Turner, Steven. "Resource Integration in the Library: Link-Resolvers and Federated Searching." Mississippi libraries 68.3 (2003):63-66. Schneider, Karen G.. “SFX: a Linkalclous Service.” American Libraries 32.6 (2001):118-119. Wakimoto, Jina Choi; Walker , David S. and Dabbour, Katherine S. “The Myths and Realities of SFX in Adcdemic Libraries.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 32.2 (2006):127-136. http://www.niso.org/committees/committee_ax.html http://library.caltech.edu/openurl/StandardDocuments/KEV_Guidelines-20041209.pdf http://library.caltech.edu/openurl/Standard.htm http://www.niso.org/standards/standard_detail.cfm?std_id=783 http://ocoins.info/


THANK YOU!

Weiling [email protected]

[email protected]

OpenURL and Link Resolvers

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