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OAI Updates

06May2004: Finally, OAI-PMH Metadata for the Small Site

If you run a small site like BillsWrite, just over 100 files, setting up a small digital library to offer metadata is overkill. Now we can use this new software to provide the metadata keys for smart searching. Searching based on metadata, key descriptors selected by the author, is more effective because it accurately represents the author's intent.

From the OAI mailing list:
We are pleased to announce the release of the OAI Static Repository and Static Repository Gateway Specification.

The OAI Static Repository provides a simple approach for exposing relatively static and small collections of metadata records through the OAI-PMH, without the complexity of implementing an OAI-PMH server. A Static Repository is an XML file containing metadata records and repository information that is made accessible at a persistent HTTP URL. A Static Repository Gateway provides intermediation for one or more Static Repositories by responding to OAI-PMH requests using data from the Static Repositories.

To coincide with the release of this specification, the Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library announces an update of their Static Repository Gateway software. The overview and installation instructions are available from SourceForge.
The code can be downloaded from SourceForge Projects Srepod.

28Jan2004: Eprints User's Handbook

From: Stevan Harnad [harnad@ecs.soton.ac.uk]
To: EPrints Underground List [eprints-underground@ecs.soton.ac.uk]

This is to announce the Eprints User's Handbook. The Handbook was commissioned by the Open Society Institute and written by Dr. Les Carr, Southampton University.

The Handbook is designed for all Eprints Users:

Especially important are the strategic suggestions for implementing a systematic institutional self-archiving policy. Feedback is invited. The Handbook will be continuously expanded in response to queries and suggestions from users.


27Jan2004: OAI Service Providers: SciTech and SocSci/Humanities

Part I: Science and Technology," _Library Hi Tech News_ 20 no. 9:
Part II: Social Sciences and Humanities," _Library Hi Tech News_ 20 no.10:

Enjoy (again)!
/Gerry gerrymck@iastate.edu

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16Jan2004: A Survey of Digital Library Aggregation Services

Subject: [OAI-general] Announcing "A Survey of Digital Library Aggregation Services"
       Date:  Fri, 16 Jan 2004 07:46:09 -0500
       From:  "David Seaman" 
       Organization: Digital Library Federation

***Cross-posted announcement -- apologies for duplication***

"A Survey of Digital Library Aggregation Services."
By Martha L. Brogan.
Digital Library Federation, Council on Library and Information
Resources: Washington DC, December 2003.

http://www.diglib.org/pubs/brogan/
[And available in print, 1st quarter 2004]

This 100-page report, commissioned by the DLF, provides an overview of a
diverse set of more than thirty digital library aggregation services,
organizes them into functional clusters, and then evaluates them more
fully from the perspective of an informed user.

Most of the services under review rely wholly or partially on the
Protocol for Metadata Harvesting of the Open Archives Initiative
(OAI-PMH). Each service is annotated with its organizational affiliation,
subject coverage, function, audience, status, and size. Critical
issues surrounding each of these elements are presented
in order to provide the reader with an appreciation of the nuances
inherent in seemingly straightforward factual information, such as
"audience" or "size."

David Seaman
Executive Director, Digital Library Federation
Council on Library and Information Resources
1755 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
tel: 202-939-4762
fax: 202-939-4765
e-mail: dseaman@clir.org
web: http://www.diglib.org/

15Jan2004: NISO-Sponsored INFO URI Scheme is Information Gateway to the Web

Subject: [OAI-general] info URI scheme update
Date:    Thu, 15 Jan 2004 10:51:20 -0700
From:    herbert van de sompel 
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
To: OAI-general ,
    OAI-implementers 

	++Apologies for cross-posting++

NISO-Sponsored INFO URI Scheme is Information Gateway to the Web

Publishing and Library Communities Join Forces to Facilitate and Expedite
Representation of Standard Identifiers such as Library of Congress
Control Numbers on the Web.

Bethesda, MD - January 14, 2004 - Working under the auspices of the
National Information Standards Organization (NISO), a joint task force of the
publishing and library communities has developed and published a Uniform Resource
Identifier (URI) scheme aimed at the identification of information assets.

Information assets should be interpreted rather broadly to include, for example,
documents and terms from classification schemes.  The INFO URI scheme is a
consistent and reliable way to represent and reference such standard identifiers
as Dewey Decimal Classifications on the Web so that these identifiers can be
"read" and understood by Web applications.

Led by four NISO members and associates-Los Alamos National Laboratory,
Online Computer Library Center(OCLC), Elsevier, and Manifest Solutions-
the initiative builds on earlier consultations with representatives from
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF). An Internet-Draft for the INFO URI scheme was first published
Sept. 25th, 2003 and a revision published Dec.5th, 2003
(see .

Herbert Van de Sompel, Digital Library Research & Prototyping at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory's Research Library, stated, "A good example of the problem
that the INFO URI scheme solves involves PubMed identifiers: unique numbers
assigned to records in the PubMed database maintained by the National Center for
Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of the National Library of Medicine.

PubMed identifiers originated prior to the Web, so they are not URIs. As such
they do not exist naturally in the Web infrastructure because the Web only
recognizes URIs as a means to identify information resources.  So Web applications
cannot use PubMed identifiers, and hence cannot reference PubMed records that
are identified by them.  The solution is to turn PubMed identifiers into
URIs.

The INFO Registry enables the registration of public namespaces of standard
identifiers; NCBI registered its PubMed identifier namespace under the INFO
Registry-their namespace is pmid-so we can now talk about the record with the
PubMed identifier '12376099' in URI terms as "

"The goal of INFO is to act as a bridging mechanism to the Web by providing a
lightweight means for registering public namespaces used for the identification
of information assets," said Tony Hammond, Advanced Technology Group at
Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical
information products and services.

"We see INFO as an enabling technology for the library, publishing and media
communities-a way to facilitate and speed the growth of the Web as a truly
global information place beyond a basic document repository.

The Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, and NASA are
among those organizations that have already registered public namespaces
with the INFO Registry."

"There are different ways to represent these identifiers on the Web," explained
Pat Harris, NISO's Executive Director, "but the INFO URI scheme really simplifies
matters. As a Web user, you aren't likely to see the scheme in action
on your screen-for example, , because it's an
under-the-hood way of communicating the identity of an information asset
to a Web application."

The INFO Registry is now available online at  for
receiving new registrations. This Registry contains all the information
needed by Web applications to make use of INFO namespaces. Each Registry entry
defines the namespace, the syntax, and normalization rules for the representing
INFO identifiers as URIs, and gives full contact information for the
namespace authority for that entry. Moreover, the INFO Registry is readable by
both humans and machines alike.

For more information about the INFO URI scheme, see the FAQ at
 .

About NISO

NISO, a non-profit association accredited by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI), identifies, develops, maintains, and publishes
technical standards to manage information in our changing and ever-more digital
environment. NISO standards apply both traditional and new technologies
to the full range of information-related needs, including retrieval,
re-purposing, storage, metadata, and preservation. www.niso.org

Press Contact: Maryann Karinch (pr@karinch.com), T:  970-577-8500

* Both Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and Uniform Resource Names
(URNs) are types of URIs.  While URLs are locators, or addresses, on the Web, URNs
are names on the Web.  The INFO URI scheme is a special type of URN which
complements regular URNs but is designed to be simpler and more convenient both
to manage and to use.

--
Herbert Van de Sompel
digital library research & prototyping
Los Alamos National Laboratory - Research Library
+ 1 (505) 667 1267 / http://lib-www.lanl.gov/~herbertv/

"met gestreken jeans de dansvloer penetreren"
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Open Archive Initative Links

Science and Technology from _Library Hi Tech News_ 20 no. 9:
Social Sciences and Humanities from _Library Hi Tech News_ 20 no.10:

This information courtesy of François Schiettecatte via the OAI mailing list.

"As a quick reminder, the following databases are searchable on my.OAI:"

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