Carpenter, McCraken, Ventimiglia, Noonan, and Walker "KBART and the OpenURL: Increasing E-Resource Use through Improved User Access "
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The document summarizes a NISO/UKSG webinar on KBART (Knowledge Bases And Related Tools) and improving access to electronic resources through the OpenURL standard. Peter McCracken of Serials Solutions discussed KBART's goals of ensuring accurate and timely transfer of metadata between publishers, link resolvers, and libraries to improve access. Thomas Ventimiglia of Princeton University explained how following KBART guidelines could reduce the challenges link resolver vendors face in processing metadata from numerous sources. Christine Noonan of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory provided the perspective of how libraries rely on accurate knowledge base data to link users to appropriate resources. Jenny Walker of CredoReference discussed Credo's participation in KBART to help users
Carpenter, McCraken, Ventimiglia, Noonan, and Walker "KBART and the OpenURL: Increasing E-Resource Use through Improved User Access "
- 1. • Introduction – Todd Carpenter, Managing Director, NISO • KBART: Improving Access to Electronic Resources – Peter McCracken, Co-founder and Director of Research, Serials Solutions, and co-chair, NISO/UKSG KBART Working Group • KBART: Benefits to Link Resolver Vendors – Thomas Ventimiglia, East Asian Library Technical Support Specialist, Princeton University Library • KBART: A Librarian’s Perspective – Christine Noonan, Hanford Technical Library, Information Services Department, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory • KBART: View from a Content Provider – Jenny Walker, Vice President, Marketing, CredoReference NISO/UKSG Webinar • April 8, 2009 KBART and the OpenURL: Increasing E-Resource Use Through Improved User Access NISO 2009 Events http://www.niso.org/news/events/2009/ • May 6 (NISO/COUNTER Webinar): COUNTER: A How-To Guide www.niso.org/news/events/2009/counter09 • May 13 (NISO/COUNTER Webinar): Usage Issues www.niso.org/news/events/2009/usage09 • June 1 (Baltimore, MD) - Assessment & Performance Measurement www.niso.org/news/events/2009/assess09 • June 10 (NISO Webinar): Interoperability Issues www.niso.org/news/events/2009/interop09 • July 9-13 (Chicago, IL): NISO @ ALA Annual 2009 www.niso.org/news/events/2009/ala09/ Please join us for the NISO/BISG Forum on Friday, July 10th! • August 12 (NISO Webinar): E-books • September 9 (NISO Webinar): Licensing Introductory Issues/SERU • October 12-13 - Library Resource Management Systems (Boston, MA) • October 14 (NISO Webinar): MARC/RDA/Bibliographic Control • November 11 (NISO Webinar): Data Systems Population/Data Migration • December 9 (NISO Webinar): ONIX-PL/ERMI Update Register for three webinars, get one free! NISO/UKSG Webinar • April 8, 2009 KBART: IMPROVING ACCESS ! TO ELECTRONIC RESOURCES Peter McCracken KBART co-chair NISO Webinar 8 April 2009 OpenURL Evolution ! The evolution of the OpenURL in use:
- 2. OpenURL Evolution ! The evolution of the OpenURL in use: OpenURL Evolution ! The evolution of the OpenURL in use: ! If links fail, patrons will turn to ! ! ! the tool that always works ! Three main problems with OpenURL today: !Bad data; Bad formatting; Lack of knowledge The Measure of Success ! Better access for patrons !Fewer false positives and false negatives ! Best-case scenario: !IF a patron is seeking an article, and her library o"ers access to it through exactly seven online resources, !THEN the OpenURL resolver returns exactly seven accurate links KBART: An Introduction ! Knowledge Bases And Related Tools ! UKSG and NISO collaborative project ! Get better data for everyone – !Those who provide data (publishers, aggregators) !Those who process data (link resolvers, ERMs, etc.) !Those who present data (libraries, consortia) "All for THOSE WHO USE DATA – library patrons ! Ensuring timely transfer of accurate data to knowledgebases, ERMs, etc.
- 3. ! Core working group chaired by me (Serials Solutions) and Charlie Rapple (TBI Communications; formerly Ingenta) !Link resolver/ERM suppliers – Ex Libris, Openly/OCLC, Serials Solutions !Publishers – Taylor & Francis, SAGE, British Medical Journal !Subscription agents/aggregators – Swets, EBSCO, Ingenta, Credo !Libraries – Edinburgh, Leicester, Cornell, Princeton, Claremont Colleges, Hanford Technical !Consortia – SCELC, California Digital Library ! Monitoring group ! More of these plus other related groups e.g. NASIG ! Anyone can join monitoring group www.niso.org/lists/kbart_interest/ KBART: The Membership (Phase I) KBART: Focusing on the Negatives ! “OpenURL’s Negatives” !Inaccurate data leads to bad links !Incorrect implementation doesn’t transfer data properly !Lack of knowledge means some vendors aren’t using it Solving the Negatives: Lack of Knowledge ! Some content providers simply aren’t aware of what OpenURL does and why it benefits them !Education & advocacy ! Follow recommendations of “Link Resolvers and the Serials Supply Chain” report; provide useful information to those content providers !How to implement correctly !O"er contacts for those needing assistance Solving the Negatives: Incorrect Implementations ! Help content providers determine what is working, and what isn’t !Cornell project to focus on source OpenURLs !Identify correct and incorrect implementations !Give opportunity for vendors to grade selves ! O"er more and better examples of OpenURL ! Standardize transfer of data within and among supply chain participants
- 4. Solving the Negatives: Inaccurate Data ! How do we handle incorrect data? !Grading? Policing? Shaming? !Biggest and most di#cult problem to solve ! Highlight to content providers how important completely accurate data is to their end users !Consider the ‘false positive’: arrrgh, that’s frustrating… !Consider the ‘false negative’: much, much worse: how would you ever know? KBART Phase I Deliverables ! Create a report that provides general guidance on problematic issues !Data problems !Incorrect implementation !Limited knowledge ! O"er best practices guidelines for how to e"ectively transfer accurate data among parties ! Provide better understanding of supply chain Thanks! ! http://www.uksg.org/kbart ! http://www.niso.org/workrooms/kbart ! Peter McCracken (NISO co-chair) !peter@serialssolutions.com "Co-founder & Director for Research, Serials Solutions ! Charlie Rapple (UKSG co-chair) !charlie.rapple@tbicommunications.com "Head of Marketing Development, TBI Communications KBART: Benefits to Link Resolver Vendors Thomas Ventimiglia Princeton University Library NISO KBART Webinar April 8, 2009
- 5. My Background #2004-2008: Part of the development team for the OCLC WorldCat Link Manager Knowledgebase " (Previously Openly Informatics’ “1cate”) #Contacted content providers, compiled title lists, wrote in-house software to process metadata. Challenges of Compiling a KB #“Order from Chaos” #Over 100 providers, 2 million records each month " This data cannot realistically be entered by hand " Each record cannot be error-checked manually each month #Computer programs must process/validate this data and put it in a single, unified DB Challenges of Compiling a KB #Each provider’s data is in a different format, with a different set of fields #Data formats can change #Large amount of work put into maintaining in- house software and writing new software when new providers are added #KBART identifies a data format that is easy to process " Code can be reused " Less code needed KBART reduces these challanges #If KBART guidelines are followed, KB vendors can spend less time writing code to convert KB data into a unified format, and more time improving the quality and accuracy of their software and data #Reduced likelihood of processing errors #Benefits all parties – better search results, better likelihood of connecting patrons to resources
- 6. Chaos: Title List Formats #Ideally, title list should be a table, so it can be imported directly into a database #In what format do we receive title lists? " Spreadsheet, XML, CSV file (good) " Web page, PDF brochure (not so good) #In a web page, data is buried in HTML " If site design changes, processing code must change " Each title may have its own webpage, in which case many separate files must be downloaded and merged into a single file #PDF: hard to extract tabular data KBART: Title List Formats #KBART recommends CSV (comma- separated-values) format " Common export format from DB and spreadsheet software #Plain text: no colors, typefaces, etc. #UTF-8 encoding: covers all languages #As a result, almost no processing needed to put the data in a tabular format Chaos: Data Fields #Some title lists lack important data fields " ISSN: More stable identifier than a title " URL: Where to access the content " Coverage dates: Tells us what’s accessible #Attempts can be made to get this data from other sources (Web, Union Catalogs), but the process is messy, time-consuming, and often inaccurate. KBART: Data Fields #KBART recommends a set of metadata fields important to the basic functions of a link resolver #Includes: " Title " Author (for books) " ISSN/ISBN " URL & Title Identifier " Coverage dates/volumes/issues " Embargo (coverage delay) " Content type (abstracts-only, fulltext, etc)
- 7. Chaos: Dates #Content providers often use the date format that appears on the cover of the print edition #Dizzying array of formats " Language variations: April vs. !" " Numerical date variations (Is 1/4/09 Jan 4 or Apr 1?) " Many other designators (“Summer”, “1st Quarter”, “Pentecost”) #These variations may all appear within the same title list KBART: Dates #Dates should be in YYYY-MM-DD format " YYYY-MM and YYYY fine for lower-frequency publications #If a journal is covered up to the present, the coverage end fields may be left blank " KB will still be current when new issue is released Other Recommendations #Data should be updated each month " Or as often as it changes, if less frequent #Data should be posted to an FTP site " Preferable to emailing between individuals " Can be harvested automatically #Designated contact person on both provider and vendor ends Role of Content Providers #KBART will likely not be a burden to content providers " Many of these recommendations are already being practiced to some degree #By making small adjustments to the way data is presented, providers will increase the chances that their online holdings are accurately conveyed to customers
- 8. Thank you! 29 KBART – A Librarian’s Perspective NISO/UKSG KBART Webinar April 8, 2009 Chrissie Noonan Hanford Technical Library, Information Services Department, PNNL Contact Information: Christine.Noonan@pnl.gov; 509/372-7424 PNNL-SA-65722 My Background Electronic Resources Management Team Lead, Emerging Technologies Team Lead Experience with collection development, acquisitions, licensing, end-user and staff training and education, usability and website management, and research consultation NISO KBART Core Working Group Member LITA Education Committee Member Today’s Environment 10+ years of increasing acquisition and use of electronic products in libraries 98% Collection Development budget The 3 Ps Pricing Packaging Platform We need to: Link resources in a meaningful way Optimize the accessibility and use of resources
- 9. What does the Library do? OpenURL link resolver which is registered with variety of providers Customize and manage resources in the link resolver’s KB on an ongoing basis Access limitations Current subscriptions Cancellations Archival access Consortia arrangements Etc What is a knowledge base? Database, “the brain” Contains information about web resources e.g., what journals are accessible in ProQuest’s Research Library How you would link to articles in them Identifies resources a library leases, owns, or activates Not just journals! May include print or other non-electronic resources May include free, trial, or open access online resources Why do we care about the knowledge base? Makes the connections Knows where the “stuff” is Directs traffic to library-specific resources Only place the user can get to the “appropriate copy” “Hell is the place where nothing connects.” – T.S. Eliot When linking goes wrong The elusive needle GIGO – Garbage in, garbage out Wrong metadata Poor linking Darned ISSN and title changes Link does not resolve to the right target Dead end Why can’t you find the needle? Outdated data!!!
- 10. Why KBART? Why now? UKSG research report – Link Resolvers and the Serials Supply Chain Highlighted many issues including Lack of awareness of OpenURL capabilities Impacts quality and timeliness of data provided to link resolver knowledge bases Undermines the potential of the sophisticated technology Unique partnership between US and UK entities Mission Guidelines Education Information How will KBART impact libraries? Empowerment of library staff Education Tools and resources FAQs Presentations Easy to understand terminology Better understanding of the OpenURL supply chain Improved data accuracy and increased reliability of linking from, within, and between OpenURL compliant products Normalization of package names, date representation, title list formats, etc Resolution of errors Maximized usage of electronic products Improved user experience Final Thoughts Online collections will continue to increase Increased metadata accuracy and transfer rates are crucial Standards and best practice guidelines Joint efforts further our ability to get everyone at the table to solve some problems! Thank you! 40
- 11. Jenny Walker Credo Advisory Board KBART – April 8th, 2009 What is Credo Reference • Online, full-text reference service • Over 390 authoritative titles • 3,000,000+ entries • 60+ publishers • Thoughtful integration Integration with other library resources •Metasearch via Z39.50 and XML Gateway •Customisable links to local and 3rd party resources •Inbound linking via persistent URLs •OpenURL linking – Credo as Link Resolver Source – Credo as Link Resolver target Credo as Link Resolver Target •Increases tra#c to Credo •Many of the Credo reference resources are available direct from the publisher or from other aggregators – Need to link to the ‘appropriate’ copy •Credo title lists available on Credo Web site (on request) – Link Resolver providers can download in order to update their knowledge bases
- 12. Some Issues to address to meet KBART guidelines •Format of data (+ standard heading for the title list) •General vs Specialist Reference titles •Selective titles from Credo
- 13. Summary •Credo welcomes the KBART initiative – Standardized procedures and formats – Trusted source of information •Credo will make necessary changes to meet the KBART recommendations Thank you! Jenny Walker Questions? All questions will be posted with presenter answers on the NISO website following the webinar: http://www.niso.org/news/events/2009/kbart09/ KBART and the OpenURL: Increasing E-Resource Use Through Improved User Access