RDN, e-Prints UK and NOF-Digitise: a (very) small sample of UK OAI activity

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RDN, e-Prints UK and NOF-Digitise a (very) small
sample of UK OAI activity

• Andy Powell
• a.powell_at_ukoln.ac.uk
• UKOLN, University of Bath
• THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL JISC/CNI CONFERENCE
• June 2002

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About the RDN

• Resource Discovery Network (RDN)
• co-operative network of subject gateways
• BIOME (health, medicine and life sciences)
• EEVL (engineering, maths and computing)
• HUMBUL (humanities)
• PSIgate (physical sciences)
• SOSIG (social science, business and law)
• databases of descriptions of high quality
  Internet resources and other services
• 50,000 records in total
• funded by JISC for UK HE and FE

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About the RDN

• subject-focused communities
• cataloguers (subject specialists)
• end-users (community-oriented collaborative
  services)
• individual Web interfaces but shared policy
  framework
• collection development
• cataloguing guidelines
• technical standards and interoperability
• IPR
• DC metadata (with some extensions)

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Searching using Z39.50
HUMBUL
EEVL
PSIgate
BIOME
SOSIG

• central cross-searching service based on Z39.50
• but...
• performance issues
• difficult to build flexible browse interface
• so... looking for a record sharing solution

RDN ResourceFinder
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Sharing using OAI
HUMBUL
EEVL
PSIgate
BIOME
SOSIG

• gather records using OAI
• central database of all RDN records using
  Cheshire software
• basis for central search, browse interface and
  other services (e.g. Web index)

RDN ResourceFinder
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Sharing and searching
HUMBUL
EEVL
PSIgate
BIOME
SOSIG
OAI

• central database of all RDN records available for
  searching using Z39.50
• e.g. offered as part of the Renardus European
  subject gateway pilot service

RDN ResourceFinder
Z39.50
Renardus cross-search
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Implementation

• implementation not tied to particular subject
  gateway software
• repository built from two Perl scripts...
• first provides record conversion from gateway
  format to OAI XML format
• second supports the OAI protocol
• very simple repository
• records stored in UNIX filestore as XML files
• sub-directories for each OAI set
• gatherer based on Southamptons Perl modules -
  Perl scripts freely available

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Issues - record richness

• default unqualified DC record format in OAI is
  broadly in line with RDN records
• but...
• does not support full richness of RDN records,
  e.g.
• can not indicate the subject classification
  scheme in use
• need to investigate whether specific RDN record
  format is required

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Issues - branding

• need to indicate ownership of records
• need to brand records appropriately in central
  search/browse results
• can use the OAI ltaboutgt section as follows
• dccreator - the name of the cataloguer (author
  of the record)
• dcpublisher - the name of the gateway that
  originally made the record available
• dcrights - a simple rights statement about the
  record

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Issues - how open?

• RDN records not freely available to anyone
• open protocol/standard but closed service
• can use standard HTTP authentication methods to
  restrict access
• IP address checking
• HTTP basic authentication (username and password)
• SSL

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Conclusions

• OAI protocol met a requirement already identified
  by the RDN to move from searching to sharing
• repository code deployed at all RDN gateways
• gatherer running centrally importing records
  into Cheshire database
• now need to
• investigate requirements for richer record format

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e-Prints UK

• 2 year project funded by JISC
• access to eprints via existing RDN services
• harvesting metadata from OAI-compliant eprint
  archives in the UK (and elsewhere)
• automatically enhanced metadata records based on
  Web services offered by
• OCLC (name authority and subject classification)
• University of Southampton (citation analysis,
  OpCit)

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e-Prints UK architecture
e-print archives
Institutional e-print archives
Personal e-print archives
Non-institutional e-print archives
OAI-PMH
Web services offered by OCLC
Subject classification service
e-Prints UK
Name authority service
SOAP
Citation analysis service
Web service offered by Southampton
SOAP Javascript/HTTP Z39.50
end-user services thru the RDN
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NOF-Digitise Programme

• programme of 149 digitisation projects
• funded by New Opportunities Fund, 50M, 2001 -
  2004
• creation of innovative on-line learning resources
  
• three broad themes cultural enrichment,
  citizenship, and re-skilling
• can expect 1,000,000 items digitised during life
  of programme

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NOF-Digitise and OAI

• considering use of OAI-PMH to create single point
  of search across all projects...
• ...and to expose NOF-digitise outputs to other
  OAI service providers
• not likely to be mandatory but some interest by
  projects in use of OAI-PMH already

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Open Archives Forum

• European Union IST accompanying measure
• partners
• Humboldt University, Berlin
• IEI-CNR, Pisa
• UKOLN, University of Bath
• started autumn 2001

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project objectives

• provide focus for dissemination
• encourage collaborative development of software
• support European liaison with OAI
• exchange information
• evaluate open archives approach

build community of interest
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further information

• OA-Forum Web siteltwww.oaforum.orggt
• UKOLN OA-Forum Web siteltwww.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/
  oa-forum/gt
• for more info, contact Leona Carpenteroa-forum_at_uk
  oln.ac.uk

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