The Resource Discovery Network and OAI

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The Resource Discovery Network and OAI

• Andy Powell
• UKOLN, University of Bath
• a.powell_at_ukoln.ac.uk
• www.ukoln.ac.uk

UKOLN is funded by Resource The Council for
Museums, Archives and Libraries, the Joint
Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the
Higher and Further Education Funding Councils, as
well as by project funding from the JISC and the
European Union. UKOLN also receives support from
the University of Bath where it is based.
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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
• 30,000 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

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

RDN ResourceFinder
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Implementation

• implementation not tied to particular subject
  gateway software
• 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
• Perl scripts will be made 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
• intend to 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
• now need to
• finalise repository code and deploy with all
  gateways
• develop (or find) OAI service provider code
  (gatherer)
• transition cross-searching service to use central
  database

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URLs

• RDN Web siteltwww.rdn.ac.ukgt
• paper about use of OAI by subject
  gatewaysltwww.rdn.ac.uk/publications/www10/gt
• these slidesltwww.rdn.ac.uk/publications/articles.
  htmlgt

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