1 Item-level linking & OpenURL: the perspective of a database provider ACRL Information Technology Interest Group, March 11, 2003 Oliver Pesch Chief Architect EBSCO Publishing

2 Part 1 Item-level linking

3 Overview Definitions The problem Static versus dynamic links Article matching Calculating links Rights checking and context sensitivity

4 Definitions Item-level linking Providing links from a cited item to services or information relevant to that item

5 Sample search result without links

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7 Sample search result with links

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9 Facts and Figures EBSCOhost 50 full text databases 120 million records 90 million reference records 50+ secondary databases 100 million records 3 million references Over 300 million possible link points

10 Static Links Links embedded in the data Human or machine assisted matching required

11 Static Links -- shortcomings Difficult to manage and maintain Not practical for large scale application Problematic when multiple resolution Lacks context sensitivity

12 Dynamic link generation Discover links on-the-fly Use item’s metadata as basis of the link Control presentation based on the item and knowledge of the user

13 Two common techniques Matching against a knowledgebase of known article links Calculating links based templates or rules

14 Matching articles EBSCO SmartLinks uses a technology called Article Matcher/Rights Checker Knowledgebase of over 16 million article locations from 12,000 journals Intelligent matching engine Rights checking against a customer’s database and e-journal subscriptions

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16 Calculating links Using a template or set of rules to construct a link Data elements from source record used in the link Links to much more than just full text

17 Calculating links E-Journal content OPACs and A-Z lists ILL and Document Delivery Citation indexes Web search engines Link resolvers

18 Author: Narayanan, Ranga Title: Insider Trading and the Voluntary Disclosure of Information by Firms Journal: Journal of Banking and Finance ISSN: Date: Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Page: 395

19 “Check library catalog” (Innovative interfaces) “Check library catalog” (Innovative interfaces) “Check library catalog” (Innovative interfaces) “Check library catalog” (Innovative interfaces) Author: Narayanan, Ranga Title: Insider Trading and the Voluntary Disclosure of Information by Firms Journal: Journal of Banking and Finance ISSN: Date: Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Page: 395

20 “Request ILL through ILLIAD” &ISSN={ISSN}&title={JOURNAL} &aulast={AUTHOR}&atitle={TITLE} &volume={VOLUME}&issue={ISSUE}&startPage={PAGE} &SID=EBSCO:{dbCode} “Request ILL through ILLIAD” &ISSN={ISSN}&title={JOURNAL} &aulast={AUTHOR}&atitle={TITLE} &volume={VOLUME}&issue={ISSUE}&startPage={PAGE} &SID=EBSCO:{dbCode} “Request ILL through ILLIAD” &ISSN= &title=Journal of Banking and Finance &aulast=Narayanan&atitle=Insider Trading… &volume=24&issue=3&startPage=395 &SID=EBSCO:Econlit “Request ILL through ILLIAD” &ISSN= &title=Journal of Banking and Finance &aulast=Narayanan&atitle=Insider Trading… &volume=24&issue=3&startPage=395 &SID=EBSCO:Econlit Author: Narayanan, Ranga Title: Insider Trading and the Voluntary Disclosure of Information by Firms Journal: Journal of Banking and Finance ISSN: Date: Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Page: 395

21 “More information on this journal” &bquery=jn+”{JOURNAL}” “More information on this journal” &bquery=jn+”{JOURNAL}” “More information on this journal” &bquery=jn+”Journal of Banking and Finance” “More information on this journal” &bquery=jn+”Journal of Banking and Finance” Author: Narayanan, Ranga Title: Insider Trading and the Voluntary Disclosure of Information by Firms Journal: Journal of Banking and Finance ISSN: Date: Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Page: 395

22 “Search Google for author” &btnG=Google+Search “Search Google for author” &btnG=Google+Search “Search Google for author” Ranga&btnG=Google+Search “Search Google for author” Ranga&btnG=Google+Search Author: Narayanan, Ranga Title: Insider Trading and the Voluntary Disclosure of Information by Firms Journal: Journal of Banking and Finance ISSN: Date: Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Page: 395

23 Context sensitivity Use journal/ISSN lists to control presentation Presence of certain data elements required Option to hide if full text User profiles

24 Sometimes links don’t work Presentation of calculated links based on probabilities Not all articles available online Differences in editorial practices ISSN and title changes Selective coverage of some full text databases Errors

25 Part 2 OpenURL and Link Resolvers

26 OpenURL and Link Resolvers A major step toward realizing promise of linking all library’s resources OpenURL offers a low barrier for information resources to be compliant Puts the library in control

27 Overview More definitions The problem Link resolvers as a solution The knowledgebase

28 Definitions OpenURL An accepted syntax for describing an item on a URL either by including metadata or by reference using a unique identifier

29 Definitions DOI Digital Object Identifier. An “actionable” identifier that uniquely identifies a digital object such as a journal article. “Actionable” because, with a DOI a URL to an article can be created.

30 Definitions CrossRef A collaborative service created and maintained by publishers for the purpose of facilitating reference linking. Registration of article metadata, URLs and DOIs A lookup service used by publishers and link servers for discovering DOIs A service for resolving a DOI into a URL

31 Definitions Source (link) An online service where the user finds an item-level link. Target (link) The site or service that is being accessed when the user clicks a link

32 Ehost DBs Ehost DBs Ehost EJS Google ISI British Library British Library Gale Publisher sites ingenta Many resources from many vendors

33 Ehost DBs Ehost DBs Ehost EJS Google ISI British Library British Library Gale Publisher sites Publisher sites ingenta Some link to selective resources User

34 Ehost DBs Ehost DBs Ehost EJS Google ISI British Library British Library Gale Publisher sites Publisher sites ingenta Some link to selective resources User

35 Ehost EJS Google ISI British Library British Library Gale Publisher sites Publisher sites ingenta Links inconsistent and management complex Ehost DBs Ehost DBs

36 Ehost DBs Ehost DBs Ehost EJS Google ISI British Library British Library Gale Publisher sites Publisher sites ingenta With LinkSource: More comprehensive, easier to manage Link Server

37 Ehost DBs Ehost DBs Ehost EJS Google ISI British Library British Library Gale Publisher sites Publisher sites ingenta User A A Library subscribes Pay per view $$$

38 Ehost DBs Ehost DBs Ehost EJS Google ISI British Library British Library Gale Publisher sites Publisher sites ingenta Appropriate copy linking User A A Library subscribes Pay per view $$$ Link Server

39 What is a Link Server? An OpenURL resolver that… Takes a citation as input Enhances the incoming metadata Looks up full text links in a database of links Calculates additional links based on rules and templates Applies filters and other rules to determine if a link should show or not Displays a menu of links for the user All this controlled by the institution

40 Rule-based Links Library’s Collections Global Collections OpenURL Database of links Link Server CrossRef PubMed etc. 2. Enhance metadata 1. Ingest OpenURL request. 3. Look for full text links in database of links, such as CrossRef or EBSCO Article Matcher 4. Calculate Rule-based links 5. Apply filters to eliminate unwanted links 6. Prepare and present link menu

41 Demonstration EBSCOhost: ord=academic ord=academic FirstSearch:

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47 Link resolver knowledgebase Determines how good a link resolver is: Knowledge on how to make links Knowledge how to control links Information kept up-to-date

48 Rule-based Links Library’s Collections Global Collections OpenURL Database of links Link Server CrossRef PubMed etc. The knowledgebase Database of article links and matching logic. Rules and templates for linking to various targets E-journals, aggregations and other content the library holds Title lists, coverage and embargo information for aggregations and packages

49 Controlling the link Choose appropriate targets to link to Customize the URLs Customize link text and/or icon Apply filters to control display Local collection(s) Global collection(s) Apply additional rules to control display Hide if full text Specify required fields Use groups or profiles to create link sets

50 Myths and confusions… Q: “Will LinkSource be able to find an article on my hard drive?” A: No, link resolvers are not search engines and do not search for full text. Links to articles are either stored in a database like CrossRef or can be calculated.

51 Myths and confusions… Q: “Will my link resolver search the entire internet for full text?” A: No, link resolver’s ability to “discover” full text is not based on a traditional searching. The scope of the discovery is the institution’s pre-selection of link targets with known link syntax.

52 Myths and confusions… Q: “After the link resolver has search the entire internet, how does it know which full text is appropriate to show?” A: Again, the internet is not searched. The institution picks the full text targets to link to. A common technique of controlling the links is through a list of titles (ISSNs) that the institution determines are appropriate for that target.

53 Myths and confusions… Q: “How does OpenURL know where all my full text is?” A: The OpenURL ‘standard’ is merely an accepted syntax for carrying citation information on a URL. When an OpenURL is passed to a link resolver, the link resolver uses the institution’s choice of targets to determine which links to show.