Deconstructing Cataloging
A Web Services Approach to
Bibliographic Control
Thomas Hickey
T. Hickey Access 20022
What is Deconstruction?
• Allowing access to what are now monolithic systems
• Do it using standard protocols
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Why?
• Metadata being created in many places
• Even within libraries– Digitization projects seldom involve
cataloguers– MARC21 isn’t used
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Why Not?
• How things work now– Tech processing departments– Books, serials
• Limitations– MARC21– Cataloguers– Integrated library systems
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How could we do it differently?
• Deconstruct integrated systems
• Expose the pieces with Web services
• Move metadata with standard protocols
• Goal: use Web services
to build new, flexible systems
create metadata anywhere
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What are Web Services?
• Machine-to-machine communication• Run over standard Web protocols
– XML syntax, HTTP packaging
• Several approaches– REST
• Representational State Transfer
– SOAP• Simple Object Access Protocol
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REST
• REST is simplest– Send an HTTP request– Get back a response (XML, HTML)– Examples
• Web browser• OpenURL• Z39.50 as a Web service: SRU
http://sfx.bath.ac.uk/sfxmenu?genre=book&isbn=1234-5678
http://www.kb.nl/cgi-zoek/srw.pl?query=test&maxRec=10&recSchema=dc_record
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REST: OAI-PMH
• Now in version 2.0
• Allows synchronization of databases
• Other services can be layered– ODL: Open Digital Libraries– XTCat name authority service
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SOAP is more complex
• Simple Object Access Protocol
• Z39.50 as a SOAP service: SRW– http://www.loc.gov/z3950/agency/zing/srwu/wsdl/zing_srw_binding.wsdl
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What Could be Deconstructed?
• Classification services
• Name authority services
• Catalogue subsets
• Search (via SRU/SRW)
• Holdings
• Duplicate resolution/FRBR
• Rights management
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An Example: ePrints UK
• Records harvested from archives
• Web services to enhance metadata
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Institutionale-printarchives
Non-institutionale-printarchives
Personale-printarchives
SubjectClassification
Service
NameAuthorityService
CitationAnalysisService
RDNGateway/portal
Service
RDNGateway/portal
Service
RDNGateway/portal
Service
OAI-PMH
SOAP
SOAPHTTPZ39.50
e-Prints UK
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Web Services for ePrints UK
• Personal name authorities
• Subject classification
• Citation analysis
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Subject Classification Service
• Receives metadata, full text
• Sends back– List of DDC numbers, captions– Subject headings
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Classification Service
DocumentText
Metadata
PDF Document
e-Prints UK
ClassificationService
ClassificationMetadata
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Name Authority Service
• Receives metadata record, full text
• For each name, sends back – Authorized form– URI representing persona
• If in interactive mode:– List of possibilities
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Example: XTCat
• Experimental Theses Catalog
• Union catalog of thesis and dissertation metadata
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Example: XTCat
• Records extracted from WorldCat
• Available via OAI-PMH– Separate ‘set’ for electronic theses
• We harvest from other repositories
• Integrate with existing records
• Allow re-harvesting (e.g. by VTLS)
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FRBR Services
• Send in list of metadata records– Get back FRBRized list– Get back Uri's to works
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Other Considerations
• More complicated flows
• Services in records
• Getting Google in the picture
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Two-Way flows
• Union catalog could harvest– Integration done for union catalog
• Local systems could harvest– Use enhanced record
• All movement with OAI-PMH
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Embedding Services in Records
• Name authority
• Library– Providers– Requests
• Records stand on their own
• Allow branding
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Allowing General Web Harvesting
• HTML Tree
• Services lead back to libraries
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Questions?