Unit 10: Data Standards and Silos

Name these standards...







The readings this week focused on standards for data related to the management and use of electronic resources. Data standards facilitate cross-system data transfer, and storage of data. This takes us back to last week's unit, and Tim Jewel. Based on research by Tim Jewel indicating that libraries were growing their own ERMS, the DLF started the Electronic Resource Management Initiative. The major goal of the initiative was to develop a standard to keep track of licensing details. The readings this week discuss some of the standards that arose through groups like DLF and NISO, and where they are used in the life-cycle of an electronic resource.

Paushan Yue's article "Standards for the Management of Electronic Resources (ER)" starts with a look at the DLF ERMI. Tim Jewel's research into use of homegrown ERMs, and the Web Hub that he set up with Adam Chandler of Cornell University, prompted some big group meetings that included librarians, publishers, PAMS, vendors, and subscription agents. Everyone agreed that standards were needed in order for ERMS to be effective. DLF ERMI was formed to develop standards and define functional requirements for ERMS

In addition to DLF ERMI, Yeu talked about subsequent standardization initiatives for ERM:

• ONIX (Online Information Exchange)--Commonly used in the publishing trade. Adopted as standard for license information
• XML based Metadata--Identifying objects, making bibilographic MARC data into XML data. Library of Congress standards include MARCXML, MODS, and MADS
• OpenURL--Standard for dynamic linking, getting users to the right copy of content. Has sources, target and link resolver.
• NISO Metasearch Initiative--improving cross database searching.
• International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) Revision--Unique identifiers are needed for electronic resources. The ISSN had flaws: was not being universally used by publishers, and dealing with the issue of format. ISO working group trying to fix those problems.
• COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked ER)--An international effort to track online usage. Vendors who meet COUNTER guidelines can register themselves as COUNTER compliant.

Oliver Pesch, Chief Stratagist at Ebsco Information Services, writes about the "information supply chain," where information about e-resources is transferred across multiple systems. Some of this information includes pricing information, holdings details, bibliographic elements and rights and permissions. In order for this information to be interoperable, it is necessary to avoid proprietary data formats.
Pesch provides detailed figures of the life cycle of an electronic resource, the information detail for each phase in the life cycle, and the standards being used to store and transfer the information. Life cycle phases include:

• Acquire (Title lists, license terms, order information, etc.)
• Provide access (A to Z lists, Proxy, Catalog, Link resolver etc.)
• Administer (Usage rights and restrictions, claims, holdings changes)
• Support (contacts, troubleshooting)
• Evaluate (Usage data, costs data)
• Renew (Title lists, business terms, invoices)

ONIX is big for lots of things--license terms, pricing info, title lists, MARC is used for bibliographic records, SERU for license Terms (SERU! a return visit from Unit 4), OpenURL for linking, ICEDIS for order and invoice information, COUNTER and SUSHI for usage data.

We read an article about COUNTER, which discussed some future directions for COUNTER, such as a JUF (Journal Use Factor) which would take usage measurements and use them to calculate a journals relevance and popularity.

References:

1. Todd Carpenter (2008) Improving Information Distribution Through Standards. Presentation at ER&L 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/20877 2. Oliver Pesch “Library Standards and E-Resource Management: A Survey of Current Initiatives and Standards Efforts.” The Serials Librarian, Vol 55 No 3, 2008, pp 481-486.
3. Paoshan W. Yue “Standards for the Management of Electronic Resources” in Mark Jacobs (Ed) Electronic Resources Librarianship and Management of Digital Information: Emerging and Professional Roles, Binghamton NY: Hayword pp155-171.
4. Peter T. Shepard (2010) “Counter: Current Developments and Future Plans.”Chapter in The E-Resources Management Handbook. (2006-present) Editor Graham Stone, Rick Anderson, Jessica Feinstein. http://uksg.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1629/9552448-0-3.23.1

Images:
ONYX image: By Simon Eugster --Simon 14:41, 11 April 2006 (UTC) (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
COUNTER image: By Biol (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Shirtless Mark Twain: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Twain-Shirtless-ca1883.jpg
SUSHI: By Lionel Allorge (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Applecore: By Philippe Proulx (Own work (Photo personnelle)) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons