Why Should Publishers Implement the OpenURL Framework?

Andrew K. Pace

Head, Systems

NCSU Libraries

andrew_pace@ncsu.edu

Why Should Publishers Implement the OpenURL Framework?

How I learned to stop worrying, and love standards.

Andrew K. Pace

Head, Systems

NCSU Libraries

andrew_pace@ncsu.edu

Or, How about “because.”

Is “because” good enough for you?

What, me worry?

Acknowledgments• Herbert Van de Sompel and Oren Beit-Arie• Pat Harris and October Ivins, NISO• Craig Van Dycken, John Wiley & Sons• Terry Hulbert, Institute of Physics Publishing• Jenny Walker, Ex Libris• Eric Van de Velde, Calif. Inst. Of Technology• CrossRef, Openly Informatics, Ex Libris and

everyone else who has written or spoken about OpenURL

“How come stealing from one book is

plagiarism, and stealing from many

is research?” - Alfred E. Newman

OpenURL

• Why a standard?

• Why the OpenURL standard?

• Why do libraries care so much?

• Why should publishers care as much as libraries do?

• How easily can it be done?

Why a standard?

• Because doing something uniformly across your own platform is NOT a standard,

• and because wide adoption of a single solution is NOT a standard,

• and just because yours is better than anyone else’s does not mean that it is any good.

It’s gotta be a standard

THE PLAYERS• Libraries• Library system vendors• Middleware vendors• Scholarly publishers• Commercial publishers• Journal aggregators• A&I services• Standards bodies

“Linking systems are indeed technically complex, but above all they are organizationally complex.”

Priscilla Caplan, FCLA

“A Lesson in Linking,”

Library Journal netConnect, Fall 2001

Why the OpenURL standard?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all

full-text links are not created equal.”

“We must all hang together, or assuredly

we shall all hang separately.”

Why CrossRef / DOI, too?

The wonderful thing about standards is

there are so many to choose from.

appropriate copy = best copy

Why do libraries care so much?

• “I need 5 articles”• “Can I get this citation

online somewhere?”• “These journals are

most important to my subject area…”

• “What do you mean books and articles aren’t both in there?”

NCSU Libraries 2003

• 255 Online Databases from ~ 70 providers• Over 5000 full electronic journals• 30,700 activated titles in our SFX Knowledge

Base– 12,735 distinct ISSNs

• Before SFX Implementation, “EJournal Finder” was searched 350,000 times in one year; 40% more than the year before

• $9M annual collections budget– $6M for serials

• $3.9M for print serials

Why should publishers care as much as libraries do?

• What goes around, comes around

• MetaSearch needs standard data too

• The Value Proposition: if libraries want it, our providers should offer it

Reciprocity Works

• The Web is a reciprocal environment

• If libraries and users want it, and OpenURL increases incoming traffic, it’s a win for everyone

• Publishers must be sources and targets

Libraries Comparison Shop

• Shrinking budgets• Increasing sophistication• System development must

match development needs• ERM System evaluation

OpenURL Compliant?

Killing Two Birds with One Stone

• Minimal metasearch records • Cross-fertilization• Developmental dove-tailing

How easily can it be done?

• “The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services, Part 1: ContextObject and Transport Mechanisms”, which defines the general framework to bundle specific packages of contextual metadata and transport them over a network. It introduces the Registry to hold core properties of concrete instantiations of the general framework.

• The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services, Part 2: Initial Registry Content.” which details core properties that can be used in actual instantiations of the general framework. This Part can be used by Communities to implement an instantiation of the OpenURL Framework. Other Communities may use this Part as a guideline for the definition and implementation of other instantiations.

1) Better technical infrastructure

2) Happier libraries and satisfied users

3) More use of content through exposure of target information in the OpenURL framework

It’s Library Science, not Rocket Science

• When, not if

• How, not why

• How many, not who

Thank you.

Andrew K. Pace

North Carolina State University Libraries

andrew_pace@ncsu.edu