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Executive Summary

The OpenURL framework helps libraries improve services to their patrons by enabling a system of intelligent linking among Web-based resources. An OpenURL carries metadata about the object to which it refers rather than a fixed location on a server. With the help of OpenURL, citations link to available copies of an online copy of the full text of an article or other services such as the location and availability of the library’s print copy. Other services enabled through OpenURL include document delivery, interlibrary loan requests, purchase through online book sellers, or any other means of providing access to an electronic or physical copy of the item.

What It Is

OpenURL describes a syntax that provides the underlying framework for context-sensitive linking. The OpenURL framework extends the classic notion of static linking, as seen with Web hyperlinks, to an environment where the links perform different services depending on the context of the link and the status of the user. A static link in a citation, can point to exactly one copy of the full text of an article. Journal articles, however, tend to be offered by multiple publishers and aggregators. One of the major problems that academic libraries face involves connecting their users to the appropriate versions of content. Links in citations need to lead users to the version of the full text of the corresponding article to which the library subscribes and not to the many other versions that might exist but are not accessible.

The OpenURL framework relies on a link resolver, typically managed by a library, that offers a selection of services based on the subscriptions to content resources purchased by the library. Link resolvers operate through the use of a database that describes the holdings of the library and the items available within each of its subscriptions.

The common approach to implementing URL involves presenting a button in a bibliographic citation that when pressed presents a menu of options available to the user in that context. Most publishers and aggregators of electronic content now provide the ability to present an OpenURL button, as an OpenURL source. OpenURL target resources have a predictable syntax for deep linking directly to specific items.

The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services has been ratified as a NISO (National Information Standards Organization) standard, with the formal designation ANSI/NISO Z39.88-2004.

What Can Be Done With It

Libraries can implement an OpenURL link resolver to provide a simple interface to thier users for finding full text and other services.

Examples

Several companies offer OpenURL-based link products:

OhioLink, a consortium of academic libraries in Ohio created thier own link resolver called OLinks.

Who Should Be Using It

OpenURL link servers find greatest use among large academic libraries with increasing adoption by mid-sized and small academic libraries. Any library with large collections of electronic content will find OpenURL-based link resolvers an important component of thier environment for providing access to these resources.

Related Technologies

Digital Object Identifier or DOI. A system for assigning persistent identifiers to documents.

CrossRef, a DOI registry maintained by a consortium of publishers, often used in conjunction with OpenURL resolvers.

More Information

Chudnov, Dan. "Library Geeks 001: Fun with OpenURL" [Interview with Ross Singer] 7 August 2006, (http://onebiglibrary.net/geeks/episode/001-fun-with-openurl).

Hickey, Thom and Jeff Young, OpenURL for the Reptilian Brain (http://outgoing.typepad.com/outgoing/2006/03/openurl_10_for_.html).

Singer, R. (2006). Helping you buy: link resolver tools. Computers in libraries, 26(2), 15-.

Van de Sompel, Herbert and Oren Beit-Arie. Open Linking in the Scholarly Information Environment Using the OpenURL Framework. D-Lib Magazine, 7(3): March 2001.

Young, Jeff. 6 Questions - A simpler way to understand OpenURL 1.0: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.

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