OpenURL
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand.(August 2008) |
An OpenURL is similar to a web address, but instead of referring to a physical website, it refers to an article, book, patent, or other resource within a website.
OpenURLs are similar to
Libraries and other resource centers are the most common place to find OpenURLs because an OpenURL can help Internet users find a copy of a resource that they may otherwise have limited access to.
The source that generates an OpenURL is often a bibliographic citation or bibliographic record in a database. Examples of these databases include Ovid Technologies, Web of Science, Chemical Abstracts Service, Modern Language Association and Google Scholar.
The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has developed standards for OpenURL and its data container as American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard ANSI/NISO Z39.88-2004. OpenURL standards create a clear structure for links that go from information resource databases (sources) to library services (targets).
A target is a resource or service that helps satisfy a user's information needs. Examples of targets include full-text repositories, online journals, online library catalogs and other Web resources and services. OpenURL knowledge bases provide links to the appropriate targets available.
History
OpenURL was created by
In 2005, a revised version of OpenURL (version 1.0) became ANSI/NISO standard Z39.88-2004, with Van de Sompel's version designated as version 0.1. The new standard provided a framework for describing new formats, as well as defining XML versions of the various formats.[2]
In 2006 a research report found some problems affecting the efficiency of OpenURL linking and recommended the creation of a group to establish best practice solutions. The
In June 2006,
http://www.openurl.info/registry
.[8]In 2022, OCLC updated its OpenURL Registry webpage to state that the registry is no longer supported or maintained, saying it had been an "experimental research project" and "research prototype application".[9] The standard registry URL now redirects to an archived version of the site, described as "the Frozen (deprecated) version of the Registry for the OpenURL Framework".[10]
Standards
- NISO OpenURL version 0.1 (2000-05-16)
- NISO OpenURL version 1.0f (2003-03-18)[11]
- ANSI/NISO Z39.88-2004[12]
- ANSI/NISO Z39.88-2004 [R2010][8]
Use
The most common application of OpenURL is to assist in the resolution of a request for a web resource (such as an online article). An OpenURL includes information about the referenced resource itself, and context information — both the context in which the OpenURL occurs (for example, a page of search results from a library catalog) and the context of the request (for example, the particular user making the request). If a different context is expressed in the URL, a different copy ends up resolved to. Changes in context are predictable, and do not require the original creator of the hyperlink (for example, the journal publisher) to handcraft different URLs for different contexts.
For example, changing either the base URL or a parameter in the query string can mean that the OpenURL resolves to a copy of a resource in a different library. So the same OpenURL, contained for instance in an electronic journal, can be adjusted by any library to provide access to their own copy of the resource, without completely overwriting the journal's hyperlink. The journal provider, in turn, is no longer required to provide a different version of the journal, with different hyperlinks, for each subscribing library (See also COinS).
Format
An OpenURL consists of a base
http://resolver.example.edu/cgi?genre=book&isbn=0836218310&title=The+Far+Side+Gallery+3
is a version 0.1 OpenURL describing a book.[11]
http://resolver.example.edu/cgi
is the base URL of an example link-server.
In version 1.0, this same link becomes somewhat longer:
http://resolver.example.edu/cgi?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:book&rft.isbn=0836218310&rft.btitle=The+Far+Side+Gallery+3
The above query string consists of the following key-value pairs:
ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004
– specifying the ContextObject versionrft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:book
– specifying the metadata format for the referent (in this case, a book)- Fields from this format describing the referent object:
rft.isbn=0836218310
– the ISBN identifying the bookrft.btitle=The+Far+Side+Gallery+3
– the title of the book
Keys always consist of safe characters and are not encoded, but values are URL-encoded.
Applications and tools
Several companies market link server systems. Some
Open-source link resolvers include CUFTS and
OpenURL is usually implemented by information providers by dynamically inserting an appropriate base URL into web pages sent to an authenticated user. OpenURL COinS is a specification that allows free services like Wikipedia to provide OpenURLs by cooperating with client side software agents. Federated search software presents OpenURL links in record fields by employing the library's subscriber links to link servers facilitating access to full-text resources from bibliographic record hyperlinks.
See also
References
- ^ McDonald, John; Van de Velde, Eric F. (April 2004). "The lure of linking". Library Journal. 129 (6): 32–34.
- .
- NISO.
- ^ "NISO IOTA Improving OpenURLs Through Analytics". openurlquality.org.
- . Retrieved 2022-11-21.
- ^ "OCLC Designated Maintenance Agency for OpenURL Standard" (Press release). Bethesda, Maryland: NISO. 2006-06-22. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
- ^ . Retrieved 2022-11-21.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-09-23. (122 pages)
- ^ "OpenURL Registry". OCLC Research. 2022-06-08. Archived from the original on 2022-06-11.
- ^ Young, Jeff (2021-08-31). "OpenURL-Frozen". OCLC Research. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
- ^ a b Van de Sompel, Herbert; Hochstenbach, Patrick; Beit-Arie, Oren (2003-03-18). "OpenURL Syntax Description, version OpenURL/1.0f - 2000-05-16 (OpenURL 0.1 Standard)" (PDF). OpenURL/1.0f - 2000-05-16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-09-23. [1] (9+1 pages)
- ^ "ANSI/NISO Z39.88-2004 (R2010) The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services". National Information Standards Organization. 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
Further reading
- .
- "OpenURL COinS: A Convention to Embed Bibliographic Metadata in HTML". stable version 1.0. Archived from the original on 2014-09-13.
- Trainor, Cindi; Price, Jason (October 2010). "Rethinking Library Linking: Breathing New Life Into OpenURL". Library Technology Reports (LTR) - Expert Guides to Library Systems and Services. ALA TechSource. Vol. 46, no. 7 (1st illustrated ed.). American Library Association. ISBN 0-83895813-3. (38 pages)
External links
- Registry for the OpenURL Framework – ANSI/NISO Z39.88-2004
- OpenURL standardization committee - archives of [email protected] mailing list
- Umlaut