XML: XML: TheThe Strategic Strategic

OpportunityOpportunity

Roy TennantRoy Tennant

Challenges*Challenges* Only librarians like to search, everyone

else likes to find Our users want more information about

books Our users want services tailored to

their particular needs and desires We must do more with less Our bibliographic infrastructure is

increasingly unable to get the job done We must deal with a wide variety of

metadata systems to do our jobs* Not a complete list by any means!

Turning Challenges Into Turning Challenges Into OpportunitiesOpportunities

All of these challenges are either solved or helped by…you guessed it…XML!

How?

Key ChallengeKey Challenge

Only librarians like to search, everyone else likes to find

Key ChallengeKey Challenge

Our users want more information about books

Web Services: SOAP + Web Services: SOAP + RESTREST

SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol A lightweight way to exchange

encoded information between applications

REST (Representational State Transfer) is a URL (HTTP Get) based way of sending a SOAP request and receiving an XML-encoded response

Both Google and Amazon can be searched via Web Services

SOAP RequestSOAP RequestPOST /InStock HTTP/1.1Host: www.stock.orgContent-Type: application/soap+xml; charset=utf-8Content-Length: nnn

<?xml version="1.0"?><soap:Envelopexmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-envelope"soap:encodingStyle="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-encoding">

<soap:Body xmlns:m="http://www.stock.org/stock"> <m:GetStockPrice> <m:StockName>IBM</m:StockName> </m:GetStockPrice> </soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

SOAP ResponseSOAP ResponseHTTP/1.1 200 OKContent-Type: application/soap; charset=utf-8Content-Length: nnn

<?xml version="1.0"?><soap:Envelopexmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-envelope"soap:encodingStyle="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-encoding">

<soap:Body xmlns:m="http://www.stock.org/stock"> <m:GetStockPriceResponse> <m:Price>34.5</m:Price> </m:GetStockPriceResponse> </soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

Key ChallengeKey Challenge

We must do more with less

RSSRSS

Pick your acronym definition: Really Simple Syndication (my fave), Rich Site Summary (from Netscape), or RDF __ (for those into the RDF version of RSS)

Useful for current awareness:– Web logs (‘blogs) and blog readers– Automatic web site updates

Key ChallengeKey Challenge

Our bibliographic infrastructure is increasingly unable to get the job done

Our Bibliographic Our Bibliographic FoundationFoundation

Consists of:– MARC record syntax– MARC bibliographic elements– AACR2 application rules

Although updated on a continuing basis, still based on 30-year-old, pre-web technology

Fundamental QuestionsFundamental Questions

Does it Get the Job Done?Can We Do Better?Is Changing Worth It?

Does it Get the Job Does it Get the Job Done?Done?

The problem is… “the job” has changed…– Inventory control vs. resource

discovery– Multiple, diverse metadata

streams– Online delivery– Multiple file formats

Major mission creep with a relatively static infrastructure

Archival Systems

ElectronicElectronicresearchresearch

databasesdatabases

Institutional Institutional RepositoriesRepositories

PathfindersPathfinders

DigitalDigitalLibraryLibrary

CollectionsCollections

Non-ILS Metadata SystemsNon-ILS Metadata Systems

Silos Everywhere

!

Silos Everywhere

!

Can We Do Better?Can We Do Better?

Very likely, due to: – Major changes in computer

systems (fast processing, cheap disk, etc.),

– New technologies (the web, XML, etc.)

– Dramatically different needs– Dramatically different

opportunities

A New Bibliographic A New Bibliographic InfrastructureInfrastructure

Multiple bibliographic schemata A transfer schema Application rules Best practices Crosswalks Enrichment Services Tools

A Transfer SchemaA Transfer Schema

An XML schema for ingesting, storing, and transferring multiple bibliographic metadata packages intact

ONIXONIXONIXONIXMARCMARCMARCMARC

DublinDublinCoreCore

DublinDublinCoreCore VRAVRA

CoreCoreVRAVRACoreCore

ONIXONIXONIXONIX

MARCMARCMARCMARC

DublinDublinCoreCore

DublinDublinCoreCore

VRAVRACoreCoreVRAVRACoreCore

METSMETSMETSMETS

Metadata Encoding and Metadata Encoding and Transmission Schema Transmission Schema

(METS)(METS) Developed by the Library of

Congress and the Digital Library Federation

An XML “wrapper” for various metadata “packages”, as well as component files or the internal structure of a file

An all-purpose metadata wrapper for digital objects and the metadata that describes them

Is Changing Worth It?Is Changing Worth It? We will be able to encompass more

information from more sources We will be able to do more things for

more people and purposes We will grow to meet our

opportunities rather than allow our challenges to defeat us

Only by recreating our foundational infrastructure can we overcome our challenges and exploit our opportunities with vision and effectiveness

Key ChallengeKey Challenge

We must deal with a wide variety of bibliographic systems to do our jobs

http://repositories.cdlib.org/

http://http://dspace.mit.edu/dspace.mit.edu/

OAI-PMHOAI-PMH

A protocol for “harvesting” (as opposed to searching) metadata from content repositories

A digital library interoperability “home run”

Simple, easy to implement and understand; other uses are being layered on top (e.g., dynamic searching)

http://errol.oclc.org

Key ChallengeKey Challenge

Our users want services tailored to their particular needs and desires

XML: The Strategic XML: The Strategic OpportunityOpportunity

We are in the business of information XML provides a widely implemented

means to encapsulate, transfer, and process information

By remaking our infrastructure to take advantage of XML, we can be more efficient while being more effective

XML is to librarianship what the Internet was a decade ago — the essential strategic opportunity