The document summarizes the work of the NISO Open Access Metadata and Indicators working group, which aims to develop a standardized set of metadata elements to clearly indicate the accessibility permissions and licensing terms associated with open access content. The working group is co-chaired by representatives from PLoS, CrossRef, and SPARC and involves participants from various organizations. It conducted an information gathering phase and released an initial draft for public comment in January 2014. The draft recommends using XML tags like <free_to_read> and <license_ref> to transmit accessibility and licensing data for open access articles in a way that is useful for both humans and machines. The goal is to reduce confusion about open access rights and permissions as

1. NISO Open Access Metadata & Indicators
Heather Reid, Copyright Clearance Center
NISO Annual Meeting & Standards Update
ALA Mid-Winter,
January 26th 2014

2. Background
• Working group launched by NISO in late 2012
• Co-chaired by Cameron Neylon (PLoS), Ed Pentz
(CrossRef), Greg Tananbaum (representing SPARC)
• Goal is to develop standardized set of metadata elements
tying accessibility permissions to a piece of content in a
manner useful to humans and machines

3. Who’s Involved: Working Group
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American Chemical Society (ACS): John Ochs
Copyright Clearance Center: Heather Reid
Creative Commons: Timothy Vollmer
EDItEUR: Tim Devenport
Ex Libris, Inc. Christine Stohn
Indiana University Bloomington Libraries: Julie Hardesty
International Association of STM Publishers: Eefke Smit
Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC): Ben Showers
Kennisland: Paul Keller
Reed Elsevier: Chris Shillum
Social Science Research Network: Gregg Gordon
The Wellcome Library: Cecy Marden
University of Birmingham: Jill Russell

4. Why is This Necessary?
Growth of OA + More Funder Mandates + Hybrids =
Lots of OA papers with different associated rights and
responsibilities =
Confusion concerning who can do what when

5. Audience Segments
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Readers
Authors
Publishers
Funders
Search engines/discovery services
Academic Libraries

6. Current Status and Roadmap
Approval of Proposal
Appointment of Working Group
Approval of Initial Work Plan
Completion of Information Gathering
Completion of Initial Draft
Release of Initial Draft
for Public Comment (30 days)
• End of Public Comment Period
• Consideration of public comments
• Completion of Final Draft
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January 2013
February 2013
March 2013
June-July 2013
October 2013
January 2014
February 2014
March 2014
Spring 2014

7. <free_to_read> Tag
• Indicates content can be read or viewed by any user
without payment or authentication
• Simple attribute of “yes” or “no”
• Optional start and end dates to accommodate embargoes,
special offers, etc.
<free_to_read="no" start_date="2014-02-3” end_date=”201502-03"/>
<free_to_read="yes" start_date="2015-02-3”/>

8. <license_ref> Tag
• Content of this tag would include a stable identifier
expressed as an HTTP URI
• URI would point to license terms that are human and/or
machine readable
• Multiple URIs can be listed if article exists under specific
license for certain period of time and then changes
<license_ref start_date="2014-0203">http://www.psychoceramics.org/license_v1.html</license_ref>
<license_ref start_date="2015-0203">http://www.psychoceramics.org/open_license.html</license_ref
>

9. Benefits of Successful Implementation
Growth of OA + More Funder Mandates + Hybrids =
Lots of OA papers with different associated rights and
responsibilities =
Confusion concerning who can do what when
+
OA Metadata Indicator =
Transmittal of an article’s openness in a manner that
makes discovery, tracking, readership, and (hopefully)
reuse straightforward

10. Draft Recommendation
• Available at:
http://www.niso.org/workrooms/oami/

11. Thank You
Heather Reid, Copyright Clearance Center
hreid@copyright.com