An introduction to the background, history, scope, and activities of the NISO Open Discovery Initiative. Part of the "Everyone's a player: Creation of standards in a fast-paced shared world" session. Presenter: Marshall Breeding

1. Introducing the
Open Discovery Initiative
North American Serials Interest Group
June 9, 2012
Marshall Breeding
http://www.librarytechnology.org/
http://twitter.com/mbreeding
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2. Library search and discovery
BACKGROUND AND ISSUES
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3. Evolution of library search
• Card Catalogs
• Online Catalogs
• Federated search tools
• Next-generation library catalogs
• Index-based discovery services
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4. ILS Data
Online Catalog
Search:
Scope of Search
• Books, Journals, and
Search Results Media at the Title Level
• Not in scope:
– Articles
– Book Chapters
– Digital objects

5. Discovery Interfaces ILS Data
Digital
Search: Local Collections
Index
ProQuest
Search Results
EBSCOhost
Federated
Search
Engine
…
MLA
Bibliography
ABC-CLIO
Real-time query
and responses

6. Index-based Discovery ILS Data
Digital
Search: Collections
Consolidated Index
ProQuest
Search Results EBSCOhost
…
MLA
Bibliography
ABC-CLIO
Harvesting and indexing performed in advance

7. Citations > Full Text
• Citations or structured metadata provide
key data to power search & retrieval and
faceted navigation
• Indexing full-text of content amplifies
access
• Important to understand depth indexing
– Currency, dates covered, full-text or citation
– Many other factors

8. Need to bring Order to Chaos
• Important space for libraries and
publishers
• Discovery brings value to library collections
• Discovery brings uncertainty to publishers
• Uneven participation diminishes impact
• Ecosystem dominated by private
agreements
• Complexity and uncertainty poses barriers
for participation
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9. Library Perspective
• Strategic investments in subscriptions
• Strategic investments in Discovery Solutions to provide access
to their collections, including access to electronic resources
• Require comprehensive representation of resources in
discovery indexes
– Problem with access to resources not represented in index
– Encourage all publishers to participate and to lower thresholds of
technical involvement and clarify the business rules associated
with involvement
• Need to be able to evaluate the depth and quality of these
index-based discovery products
• Facilitate a healthy ecosystem among publishers, discovery
service providers, and libraries

10. Collection Coverage?
• To work effectively, discovery services need to
cover comprehensively the body of content
represented in library collections
• Why do some publishers not participate?
• Is content indexed at the citation or full-text
level?
• What are the restrictions for non-authenticated
users?
• How can libraries understand the differences in
coverage among competing services?

11. Evaluating the Coverage of
Index-based Discovery Services
• Intense competition: how well the index
covers the body of scholarly content stands
as a key differentiator
• Difficult to evaluate based on numbers of
items indexed alone.
• Important to ascertain how your library’s
content packages are represented by the
discovery service.
• Important to know what items are indexed by
citation and which are full text

12. OPEN DISCOVERY INITIATIVE
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13. ODI Pre-History
• June 26, 2011: Exploratory meeting @
ALA Annual
• July 2011: NISO expresses interest
• Aug 7, 2011: Proposal drafted by
participants submitted to NISO
• Aug 2011: Proposal accepted by D2D
• Vote of approval by NISO membership
• Oct 2011: ODI launched
• Feb 2012: ODI Workgroup Formed 13

14. Organization
• Reports in NISO through Document to
Delivery topic committee (D2D)
• Staff support from NISO through Nettie
Lagace
• Co-Chairs
– Jenny Walker (Ex Libris)
– Marshall Breeding (Library Consultant)
• D2D Observer: Jeff Penka (OCLC)
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15. Balance of Constituents
Libraries
Marshall Breeding, Vanderbilt University Anya Arnold, Orbis Cascade Alliance
Jamene Brooks-Kieffer, Kansas State University Sara Brownmiller, University of Oregon
Laura Morse, Harvard University Lucy Harrison, College Center for Library
Ken Varnum, University of Michigan Automation (D2D liaison/observer)
Publishers
Lettie Conrad, SAGE Publications Linda Beebe, American Psychological Assoc
Beth LaPensee, ITHAKA/JSTOR/Portico Aaron Wood, Alexander Street Press
Jeff Lang, Thomson Reuters
Service Providers
Jenny Walker, Ex Libris Group David Lindahl, University of Rochester (XC)
John Law, Serials Solutions Jeff Penka, OCLC (D2D liaison/observer)
Michael Gorrell, EBSCO Information Services
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16. ODI Project Goals:
• Identify … needs and requirements of the three
stakeholder groups in this area of work.
• Create recommendations and tools to streamline
the process by which information
providers, discovery service providers, and
librarians work together to better serve libraries
and their users.
• Provide effective means for librarians to assess the
level of participation by information providers in
discovery services, to evaluate the breadth and
depth of content indexed and the degree to which
this content is made available to the user.

17. Subgroups for Info Gathering
• Level of Indexing
• Library Rights
• Technical formats
• Usage Statistics
• Fair Linking
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18. Specific deliverables
• Standard vocabulary
• NISO Recommended Practice:
– Data format & transfer
– Communicating content rights
– Levels of indexing, content availability
– Linking to content
– Usage statistics
– Evaluate compliance
• Inform and Promote Adoption
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19. Timeline
Milestone Target Date Status
Appointment of working group December 2011
Approval of charge and initial work plan March 2012
Agreement on process and tools June 2012
Completion of information gathering October 2012
Completion of initial draft January 2013
Completion of final draft May 2013
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20. Next steps
Summer-Fall 2012:
• Determine processes & tools
• Gather information from stakeholders
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21. Connect with ODI
• ODI Project website:
http://www.niso.org/workrooms/odi/
• Interest group mailing list:
http://www.niso.org/lists/opendiscovery/
• Email ODI:
odi@niso.org
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