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21 April 2005
Taking aim at deep linking problems with OPAC directory services
Posted by Justin Leavesley at April 21, 2005 08:59 AM
As Paul Miller writes here, taking the library experience to where the user is rather than expecting the user to come to the library, virtually or physically, can be extremely beneficially. His experience of using tools to deep link into library systems is unfortunately not unique though,
For various reasons, though, a number of the libraries listed on Jon's pages don't work. In many cases, it would appear that they've upgraded or changed their software since being listed. For the user, this failure is frustrating and a disappointment. It also, I would think, negatively affects their perception of the library in question rather than of Jon or his tool.
Whilst it is true that where the 'blame' rests should absolutely not be a concern of the user, there must be a concern for institutions who find themselves linked to by third parties in this way. LibraryLookup provides an innovative and valuable tool... when it works. Jon has done all of us a service by creating it. It would appear, though, that the libraries listed on his page have not necessarily been informed of their inclusion, and it is they that attract the opprobrium of users when it doesn't work.
As more library services become available for linking to, and they become a more important route into the library (see Richard’s blog), the problem of control and quality is only going to get worse. Even now there are a surprising number of systems that link, or try to link, deeply into the library OPAC, for example www.redlightgreen.com, OCLC WorldCat, WhichBook.net and many different bookmarlets or browser plugins.
How does a library inform these third parties of a change to their systems? In most cases the library doesn’t even know there is another system depending on the exact syntax of their OPAC url! Let alone being able to inform them of changes.
For the third-party system there is an expensive array of changing urls and syntaxes to be maintained.
At Talis we didn’t feel this was a very scalable solution to our customers needs. So, working with partners RLG (RedLightGreen), the Talis Research group, as part of the Silkworm project, have built a prototype OPAC deep linking directory. RLG is now using the directory live for a subset of its OPAC links.
The directory provides a single point of control and change. It hides the details of both physical location (i.e. URL) and syntax from the linking client (such as RLG). This way the client doesn’t need to know if the OPAC is a Talis OPAC or another vendors OPAC, it just links, using OpenURL and the library ID. The library can now mange the migration of systems by simply updating the directory entry as needed. Talis is looking to work with other vendors to ensure the best coverage and quality for the entries as possible. Commercial access to the directory will be available via the Talis Developer Network
Libraries increasingly want to expose far more than just the OPAC interface to the world, so the Talis directory is not limited to OPAC linking. For example, z-targets or web services for access to borrower details could be added to the directory. We will be talking more about this at the Talis Research Day.
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» Hiding the complexity of deep links into our databases? from CIE Thoughts
In a previous post, I talked about the growth of tools such as LibraryLookup, which link deeply into our library catalogues. As discussed in the post, there is a growing problem in keeping these tools aware of changes to... [Read More]
Tracked on April 21, 2005 01:12 PM
