This presentation was provided by Marshall Breeding, Independent Consultant and Founder of Library Technology Guides; Co-Chair, ODI Working Group, at the 2012 NISO Standards Update at ALA.

1. 1
Introducing the
Open Discovery Initiative
NISO Update Session: What the Future Entails for
Library Systems
Marshall Breeding
http://www.librarytechnology.org/
http://twitter.com/mbreeding Sunday, June 24, 2012

2. BACKGROUND AND ISSUES
Library search and discovery
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3. Evolution of library search
• Card Catalogs
• Online Catalogs
• Federated search tools
• Next-generation library catalogs
• Index-based discovery services
3

4. Online Catalog
• Books, Journals, and
Media at the Title Level
• Not in scope:
– Articles
– Book Chapters
– Digital objects
Scope of Search
Search:
Search Results
ILS Data

5. Discovery Interfaces
Search:
Digital
Collections
ProQuest
EBSCOhost
…
MLA
Bibliography
ABC-CLIO
Search Results
Real-time query
and responses
ILS Data
Local
Index
Federated
Search
Engine

6. Index-based Discovery
Search:
Digital
Collections
ProQuest
EBSCOhost
…
MLA
Bibliography
ABC-CLIO
Search Results
Harvesting and indexing performed in advance
ConsolidatedIndex
ILS Data

7. Citations > Full Text
• Citations or structured metadata provide
key data to power search & retrieval and
faceted navigation
• Indexing full-text of content amplifies
access
• Important to understand depth indexing
– Currency, dates covered, full-text or citation
– Many other factors

8. Need to bring Order to Chaos
• Important space for libraries and
publishers
• Discovery brings value to library collections
• Discovery brings uncertainty to publishers
• Uneven participation diminishes impact
• Ecosystem dominated by private
agreements
• Complexity and uncertainty poses barriers
for participation
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9. Library Perspective
• Strategic investments in subscriptions
• Strategic investments in Discovery Solutions to provide access
to their collections, including access to electronic resources
• Expect comprehensive representation of resources in
discovery indexes
– Problem with access to resources not represented in index
– Encourage all publishers to participate and to lower thresholds of
technical involvement and clarify the business rules associated
with involvement
• Need to be able to evaluate the depth and quality of these
index-based discovery products
• Facilitate a healthy ecosystem among publishers, discovery
service providers, and libraries

10. Collection Coverage?
• To work effectively, discovery services need to
cover comprehensively the body of content
represented in library collections
• Why do some publishers not participate?
• Is content indexed at the citation or full-text
level?
• What are the restrictions for non-authenticated
users?
• How can libraries understand the differences in
coverage among competing services?

11. Evaluating the Coverage of
Index-based Discovery Services
• Intense competition: how well the index
covers the body of scholarly content stands
as a key differentiator
• Difficult to evaluate based on numbers of
items indexed alone.
• Important to ascertain how your library’s
content packages are represented by the
discovery service.
• Important to know what items are indexed by
citation and which are full text

12. Some Key Areas for
Publishers
1. Expose content widely
2. Trust
3. “Fair” Linking
4. Usage reporting

13. Need healthy ecosystem
among discovery service
providers, libraries and
content providers

14. OPEN DISCOVERY INITIATIVE
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15. ODI Pre-History
• June 26, 2011: Exploratory meeting @
ALA Annual
• July 2011: NISO expresses interest
• Aug 7, 2011: Proposal drafted by
participants submitted to NISO
• Aug 2011: Proposal accepted by D2D
• Vote of approval by NISO membership
• Oct 2011: ODI launched
• Feb 2012: ODI Workgroup Formed 15

16. Organization
• Reports in NISO through Document to
Delivery topic committee (D2D)
• Staff support from NISO through Nettie
Lagace
• Co-Chairs
– Jenny Walker (Ex Libris)
– Marshall Breeding (Library Consultant)
• D2D Observers: Jeff Penka (OCLC)
Lucy Harrison (CCLA)
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17. Balance of Constituents
Libraries
Publishers
Service Providers
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Marshall Breeding, Vanderbilt University
Jamene Brooks-Kieffer, Kansas State University
Laura Morse, Harvard University
Ken Varnum, University of Michigan
Anya Arnold, Orbis Cascade Alliance
Sara Brownmiller, University of Oregon
Lucy Harrison, College Center for Library
Automation (D2D liaison/observer)
Lettie Conrad, SAGE Publications
Beth LaPensee, ITHAKA/JSTOR/Portico
Jeff Lang, Thomson Reuters
Linda Beebe, American Psychological Assoc
Aaron Wood, Alexander Street Press
Jenny Walker, Ex Libris Group
John Law, Serials Solutions
Michael Gorrell, EBSCO Information Services
David Lindahl, University of Rochester (XC)
Jeff Penka, OCLC (D2D liaison/observer)

18. ODI Project Goals:
• Identify … needs and requirements of the three
stakeholder groups in this area of work.
• Create recommendations and tools to streamline
the process by which information providers,
discovery service providers, and librarians work
together to better serve libraries and their users.
• Provide effective means for librarians to assess the
level of participation by information providers in
discovery services, to evaluate the breadth and
depth of content indexed and the degree to which
this content is made available to the user.

19. Subgroups for Info Gathering
• Level of Indexing
• Library Rights
• Technical formats
• Usage Statistics
• Fair Linking
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20. Specific deliverables
• Standard vocabulary
• NISO Recommended Practice:
– Data format & transfer
– Communicating content rights
– Levels of indexing, content availability
– Linking to content
– Usage statistics
– Evaluate compliance
• Inform and Promote Adoption
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21. Timeline
Milestone Target Date Status
Appointment of working group December 2011
Approval of charge and initial work plan March 2012
Agreement on process and tools June 2012
Completion of information gathering October 2012
Completion of initial draft January 2013
Completion of final draft May 2013
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22. Next steps
Summer-Fall 2012:
• Determine processes & tools
• Gather information from stakeholders
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23. Connect with ODI
• ODI Project website:
http://www.niso.org/workrooms/odi/
• Interest group mailing list:
http://www.niso.org/lists/opendiscovery/
• Email ODI:
odi@niso.org
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