Using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Online scholarly publishing is revolutionizing scholarly communication, and the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is among those protocols leading the way in the transformation process. OAI enables access to Web-accessible material by harvesting (or collecting) the metadata descriptions of the records in an archive so that services can be built using metadata from many archives. Through a series of case studies, Cole and Foulonneau guide the reader through the process of conceiving, implementing and maintaining an OAI-compliant repository. Its applicability to both institutional archives and discipline based aggregators are covered, with equal attention paid to the technical and organizational aspects of creating and maintaining such repositories.

Reviews

[A]n impressively substantial work on the central mechanism of scholarly communication. It abounds with extensive insights and information, applicable to institutional archives, discipline-based aggregators and other new services. * Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Resear *
Published by Libraries Unlimited in its Third Millennium Cataloging series, this book provides an authoritative guide to the practicalities and benefits of using OAI-PMH in the context of the long-established discipline of descriptive cataloguing. This hybrid approach produces a densely packed yet well-organised textbook describing how the OAI-PMH protocol can support such basic cataloguing goals in novel ways to enable wider interoperability in digital library systems and to promote wider sharing and discovery of electronic resources metadata. Authors Timothy Cole and Muriel Foulonneau share considerable theoretical and practical expertise in the fields of digital library systems and metadata and have collaborated at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) on a high-profile metadata harvesting project for leading US research universities' libraries. . . . This is a closely argued, detailed guide to implementing and deriving maximum benefit from the OAI-PMH protocol, covering the period up to the end of 2006, written by two specialists with both a theoretical and also a strong practical grasp of the subject. It can be positively recommended to digital library designers and cataloguers involved in such implementations and aggregation service projects. * Program *

Author Bio

Timothy W. Cole is Mathematics Librarian and Professor of Library Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Muriel Foulonneau is Visiting project coordinator for the CIC-OAI metadata portal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.