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This article will be of interest to librarians, particularly those in consortia that are evaluating OpenURL link resolvers. This case study contrasts WebBridge (an Innovative Interface product) and LinkSource (EBSCO's product). This study assisted us in the decision-making process of choosing an OpenURL link resolver that was sustainable to maintain and, most importantly, made it easier for users to access the full text of an article. This case study does not propose that one product is superior to another; however, the criteria and methods used to evaluate the products will be of use to those seeking to improve user access. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – This paper's purpose is to describe an investigation of whether the addition of an interlibrary loan link as an option in the OpenURL link resolver menu has an effect on interlibrary loan requests for articles. Design/methodology/approach – Four years of link resolver clickthrough data were analyzed in conjunction with ten years of interlibrary loan article request data. Findings – The data showed that requests to ILL increased at first, then fell, and then rose again. There is a correlation between link resolver clickthroughs and ILL requests. Research limitations/implications – This paper employed data gathered over a longer time period than previous research on this topic and thus provides a broader exploration of the effect of providing links to ILL through a link resolver. While most OpenURL clickthrough data employed in research are gathered from the SFX OpenURL resolver, here the authors used WebBridge. Originality/value – This paper offers an example of how non-SFX institutions can employ clickthrough data to explore issues such as user behavior with regard to ILL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviewed link resolver success comparing 360 Link and a local implementation of WebBridge. Two methods were used: (1) comparing article-level access and (2) examining technical issues for 384 randomly sampled OpenURLs. Google Analytics was used to collect user-generated OpenURLs. For both methods, 360 Link out-performed the local implementation of WebBridge. 360 Link provided more direct article access and demonstrated fewer technical issues for theOpenURLs tested. 360 Link also provided management of target syntaxes, which created time savings. The assessment outcome for a local instance of WebBridge may not translate to other WebBridge implementations. The methods employed could be used to compare any link resolvers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (KBART) is a project concerned with the optimal implementation of the OpenURL specification. As a collaborative effort between the United Kingdom Serials Group (UKSG) and the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and co-chaired by presenter Peter McCracken, its goal is to establish best practices to be used by content providers, aggregators, electronic resource management (ERM) system vendors, and libraries. Their concerted efforts are ultimately there to improve access to electronic resources for the end user, that is, the library patron. The KBART working group is identifying and pointing out problems in the use of OpenURL to those who provide the data and is further engaged in education and advocacy to assist the involved parties in finding solutions to those problems. A report is in progress that includes best practice recommendations on what type of data to provide and how to deliver the data. There are also topics under discussion related to error reporting, the methods of educating the involved parties, and how to incorporate the specific needs of individual libraries. The report to be delivered by the KBART working group is well under way but remains at the same time open for discussion and future input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (KBART) is a joint project between the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and the UK Serials Group (UKSG) that is now underway with a focus on improving the functioning of OpenURL by providing standards for the quality and timeliness of data provided by publishers to knowledgebases. In this presentation Peter McCracken, Co-founder of Serials Solutions, provided an overview of KBART and discussed the future plans of this new initiative. A major goal of KBART is to develop a best practices guide that can be used by content providers as they focus on quality control as it relates to the data they provide to the knowledgebase. By bringing together librarians, publishers, aggregators, and e-resource and access management services (ERAMS) vendors the hope is that the real beneficiaries will be library patrons. Several problems that impact the ability of users to get to full-text content include OpenURL data errors and syntax errors. Peter provided an overview of the problems facing library patrons, the various factors that can lead to errors in the knowledgebase and what the KBART project may be able to do to contribute to better data for everyone. The various groups are meeting monthly and presentations are planned at several national-level conferences. KBART will be successful if it results in better data for everyone including those who provide it, those who process it, those who present it, and those who use it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation and widespread adoption of the OpenURL standard has improved the visibility, and therefore the usage, of libraries' online holdings, although there are some times when OpenURLs fail to resolve. To better understand why problems occur and encourage network-level solutions, librarians at Cornell University have begun working on a study of OpenURL metadata quality. Their goal is to create a systematic approach to assessing and validating metadata quality so that libraries and content providers may collaborate on solutions for metadata problems. One member of this project team, Glen Wiley, shared details about the types of problems this approach seeks to remedy and the status of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OpenURL is a valuable tool within library communities because it offers a gateway to the rapidly growing online information sources otherwise disconnected. However, the access it provides is not, as it is often billed, seamless. Reference librarians at Adelphi University were concerned that students were having difficulty retrieving full text articles via our link resolver and that distinctions between the various resources included in the OpenURL process was unclear. To examine these and other issues we designed a usability study with four objectives: (1) to measure the relative success of student use of OpenURL to link to full text; (2) to evaluate, edit, and improve an existing OpenURL instructional guide; (3) to explore additional ways of promoting effective use of the link resolver; and (4) to seek new methods of advancing information literacy skills. Within the investigative process, the researcher concluded that student difficulties might well be addressed by building scaffolding into the OpenURL results page. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LibX (http://libx.org/) is an open source Firefox extension that provides direct access to library resources in multiple ways: through a toolbar, a context menu, and via cues that LibX places into web sites a user visits. A LibX edition integrates support for the resources to which a particular user community has access, including the library OPAC, databases, and their OpenURL link resolver. As one of its features, LibX supports the fast (one-click) retrieval of known items. such as research articles. This frequent task is automated by exploiting Google's Scholar service as a hidden backend that is used for searches. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of LibX in retrieving known items that were listed as references in a sample of articles in four widely read journals. We conclude that LibX's matching algorithm can lead the user to an accessible copy of an item on average in 81% of cases with a negligible number of irrelevant items retrieved. As a result, LibX can dramatically reduce the time spent on known item searches [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interview with Oren Beit-Arie, Chief Strategy Officer at Ex Libris Group, describes various products related to OpenURL technology, context-sensitive linking, metasearching, electronic resource management systems, and digital collections such as SFX, Primo, MetaLib, Verde, and DigiTool. doi:10.1300/J383v04n03_05 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]