ukoln is supported by:
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Library hacks Andy Powell, UKOLN, University of Bath [email protected] Public Library Web Managers Workshop 2004, Bath. UKOLN is supported by:. www.bath.ac.uk. www.ukoln.ac.uk. a centre of expertise in digital information management. This talk isn’t about…. …and it’s not about. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
UKOLN is supported by:
Library hacks
Andy Powell, UKOLN, University of [email protected] Library Web Managers Workshop 2004, Bath
www.bath.ac.uk
a centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk
Public Library Web Managers Workshop, 2004 2
This talk isn’t about…
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…and it’s not about
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O’Reilly ‘hacks’ series
“O'Reilly's Hacks Series reclaims the termhacking for the good guys—innovatorswho explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts,create useful tools, and come up with funthings to try on their own.”
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Library hacks• encouraging public library Web sites as
places to ‘hack’ and ‘be hacked’…• pulling other people’s sites and services
into the library Web site• pushing the library Web site and services
out into other people’s sites• interoperability• openness• standards
hack ourlibraries
hackpubliclibraries
now
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Contents• searching…
– Web services– …and the Google and Amazon APIs
• deep linking– OpenURL
• a selection of case studies as we go• impact on public library Web sites• whistle-stop tour• technical – but not too technical I hope
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Z39.50 and all that…• libraries have a long tradition of creating
and using ‘open’ standards• notably Z39.50 – search and retrieve
end-user’smachine
librarycatalogue
search request
results
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Z39.50 and all that…• libraries have a long tradition of setting
and using ‘open’ standards• notably Z39.50 – search and retrieve
librarycatalogue 2
librarycatalogue 1
librarycatalogue 3
end-user’smachine
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Libraries at the cutting edge?• Z39.50 offers a powerful distributed search
mechanism• targets (catalogues) potentially open to use from
outside the library• …not just through a Web browser but in a way
that allowed people to write their own search software
• academic libraries now see growing interest in ‘library portals’ that use Z39.50 (and other technologies) to cross-search many remote targets
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if cataloguesearch fails…
try a cross-searchof multiple catalogues
in the region
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But…• …the rest of the world didn’t implement Z39.50• in fact, much of the library world still doesn’t
support it– too hard to develop software– too complex to configure target– focus of interest shifted to the ‘Web site’
• meanwhile, on other part of the planet– the Web world recognised that focussing on the
Web browser wasn’t always enough– developed “Web services”
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What are Web services?“Automated resources accessed via the Internet. Web services are software-powered resources or functional components whose capabilities can be accessed at an internet URI. Standards-based web services use XML to interact with each other…”
“The term Web services describes a standardized way of integrating Web-based applications using the XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI open standards over an Internet protocol backbone. XML is used to tag the data, SOAP is used to transfer the data, WSDL is used for describing the services available and UDDI is used for listing what services are available. Used primarily as a means for businesses to communicate with each other and with clients, Web services allow organizations to communicate data without intimate knowledge of each other's IT systems…”
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Web services - summary
• machine (m2m) interfaces between functional components on the Web
• underpin many e-commerce activities• a whole new set of acronyms – SOAP, WSDL,
UDDI, WSRP• based on HTTP and XML (i.e. mainstream Web
pedigree)• support both informational (e.g. search) and
transactional (e.g. billing) types of service• Google and Amazon “Web APIs”…
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Google and Amazon APIs• Google and Amazon both make some of
their functionality available thru APIs• API = Application Programming Interface• Web services using SOAP• to use them you must
– register– agree to their terms and conditions– be prepared to program dynamic Web pages
(using Java, ASP, Perl, etc.)
http://www.google.com/apis/http://www.amazon.com/apis/
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What do the APIs offer?• Google
– perform searches and get back results (XML)– get cached-copy of page– spell-check (“did you mean?”)
• Amazon– title searches (all products, not just books)– ISBN searches– author searches– transaction creation (shopping carts)– transaction monitoring– (note: book results include metadata with cover image)
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Example: RDN/Google spell
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Libraries, Google & Amazon• new cross-searching possibilities…• mixing SOAP (Web services) and Z39.50
end-user
librarycatalogue
Amazon
SOAP
SOAP
Z39.50
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Libraries, Google & Amazon• new cross-searching possibilities…• or using ‘new’ SRW (Search and
Retrieve Web service) protocol
end-user
librarycatalogue
Amazon
SOAP
SOAP
SRW (SOAP)
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Embedded into library site?
end-user
librarycatalogue
Amazon
SOAP
SOAP
SOAP
RDNSOAP
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Linking and OpenURLs
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OpenURL roots• the context
– distributed information environment– multiple A&I and other discovery services– rapidly growing e-journal collection– need to interlink available resources
• the problem– links controlled by external info services– links not sensitive to user’s context (appropriate
copy problem)– links dependent on vendor agreements– links don’t cover complete collection
an academic library
perspective?
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The problem• the context
– distributed information environment– multiple A&I and other discovery services– rapidly growing e-journal collection– need to interlink available resources
• the REAL problem– libraries have no say in linking– libraries losing core part of ‘organising information’
task– expensive collection not used optimally– users not well served
an academic library
perspective?
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The solution…
• do NOT hardwire a link to a single service on the referenced item (e.g. a link from an A&I service to the corresponding full-text)
• BUT rather– provide a link that transports metadata
about the referenced item– to another service that is better placed
to provide service links
OpenURL
OpenURLresolver
(link server)
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Non-OpenURL linking
link destination
resolution of metadata into a link(typically a URL)
A&I service document deliveryservice
link source
link to referenced work .reference
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OpenURL linking
link source.
user-specific
resolution of metadata &identifiers into services
reference OpenURL OpenURLresolver
provision of OpenURL
link linkdestination
link linkdestination
link linkdestination
link linkdestination
transportation of metadata & identifiers
context-sensitive
A&I service document deliveryservice
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Example 1• journal article• from Web of Science to ingenta Journals
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button indicatingOpenURL ‘link’
is available
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OpenURL resolver offeringcontext-sensitive links,including link to ingenta
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also links to other servicessuch as Google search for
related information
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Example 2• book• from University of Bath OPAC to Amazon
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button indicatingOpenURL ‘link’
is available
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OpenURL resolver offeringcontext-sensitive links,
including link to Amazon
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also links to other servicessuch as Google search for
related information
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Summary…ISI Web of Science
University of Bath OPAC
OpenURL resolver
ingenta
Amazon
OpenURL Source OpenURLResolver OpenURL Target
deeplinks
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Is this relevant to PLs?
“It's probably safe to predict that, within another year/acquisition cycleor so, *lack* of OpenURL support will be the exception for any academiclibrary/consortium that licenses full-text resources (that is, OpenURLsupport will be the rule), and there will be growing penetration of OpenURLresolvers within public libraries that license full-text resources.”Walt Crawford, RLG
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OpenURL & PLsA&I services
Universitylibrary catalogues
OpenURLresolver
Publiclibrary
catalogues
Amazon
Document supplyservices
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Case study 1• Stories from the Web• a children’s book-related Web site• deep linking to public library catalogue
http://www.storiesfromtheweb.org/
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potentiallink to book
in public librarycatalogue
(or Amazon)
link tomore info
potentiallink to author search
in public librarycatalogue
(or Amazon)
note: SfW subscription bylibrary authority so someknowledge about where tolink to
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potential forpulling in
metadata andcover art
via AmazonAPI
…and formaking into
link toAmazon or
PL catalogue
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Case study 2• a “book group”• deep linking into library catalogues from
a book group Web page
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link toAmazon
…potential
link to bookin public library
catalogue
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Case study 3• LibraryLookup• deep linking into library catalogues using
a browser ‘bookmarklet’
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http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/stories/2002/12/11/librarylookup.html
select linkto findnearest
library catalogue
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drag thislink to your
browsertoolbar
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note that theISBN is
embeddedinto the URL
click‘bookmarklet’
to link tolibrary catalogue
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Case study 4• blogs, books and libraries• deep linking into library catalogues from
a book-related blog
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many blogscontain
referencesto favorite
books or currentreading material
…typically withlinks thru to
Amazon
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the Bookwatchservice analyses
hundreds of blogsand counts links
to particularbooks at Amazon,based on the ISBN
…then provides
ranked lists, pullingin ‘book’ metadata
and cover artusing the Amazon
Web services
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Deep linking into libraries• all these case studies demonstrate a potential
desire to deep link into the library catalogue• using http: URL links• typically based on the ISBN for a book (or the
ISSN for a serial?)• but… all are faced with the same “link
problem”…– a hardwired link to one particular library or bookstore
may not be the ‘best’ link for everyone who clicks on the URL
– therefore, OpenURLs might be a good solution
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Does deep linking work?
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Hmmm… not always
http://www.foursite.somerset.gov.uk/cgi-bin/viewpoint_server.sh?enqtype=SECOND&enqpara1=RESULT&rcn=0002180472&media_code=1&sec_code=&authorlist=&filename=&page=&no_of_results=14&type=ISBN&sec_stng=&media_stng=&authorpage=&subsearch=&searchtype=&hitcount=
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Conclusions• having a successful Web presence is about
more than having a successful Web site• need to embed your services into other
people’s sites• the key technologies for doing this are:
– Web services (SOAP)– blogs and RSS (not talked about today)– deep linking– OpenURL
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Recommendations• public library Web sites need to embed
and be embedded• the space where books and catalogues
meet blogs (and RSS) and ‘search engines’ appears to be very fertile – public libraries need to be in that space or users will go elsewhere
• maintain a watching brief on OpenURLs and their potential impact
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Questions?