SRU Implementors Group Meeting/Integration Workshop (March 1-3, 2006)

AGENDA: Integration Workshop, March 3, 2006

The theme of the workshop is Integrating Services - Integrating Standards. We hope to answer the question: "What are the next steps towards improving integration of services?" We think SRU will play a central role. Presentations on different aspects of the workshop theme will be followed by a panel discussions on proposals resulting from the presentations.

Abstracts

CQL (Mike Taylor)

Specifications such as OpenSearch facilitate interoperability by providing standardised syntax for
searching. But the higher goal of interoperability at the semantic level further requires a common means of
expressing rich queries. CQL (the Common Query Language of SRU) provides this.

OpenURL and COinS (Ross MacIntyre)

The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services has now been endorsed as a NISO standard (Z39.88-2004). This new standard has broadened the potential scope of OpenURL implementation beyond the scholarly information community, with the possibility of extension by registration of new formats and profiles for new domains, as well as the introduction of an XML format. Furthermore, the OpenURL Framework has separated the details of the reference and its context, known as the ContextObject, from the means of transporting it across the network, which is the OpenURL. This separation enables use of the ContextObject within other applications. For example, if a ContextObject were to be embedded in a web page other applications, such as web browser extensions (e.g. Openly's OpenURL Referrer), could provide extra functionality. This has led to the recent development of the COinS ('ContextObject in SPANs') specification, which embeds a ContextObject within an HTML `span' element.

IESR: A Registry of Collections and Services (Ann Apps)

The UK JISC Information Environment Service Registry (IESR) publicises collections of resources along with details of how to access them in a machine-readable format, aiming to assist applications such as
metasearch portals to serve their users' interests. The presentation will describe the content of IESR, captured according to a standards-based metadata application profile, and its possible position within the wider information environment sharing resource descriptions. IESR encompasses multiple service types, in both its resource descriptions and its own access interfaces. Consequent service integration issues that have become apparent during the experience of developing IESR will be discussed.

Formal Descriptions of Non-standardised Services (Van Veen)

For integration of services we are investigating which services are useful to be integrated with the results of SRU searches. We also investigate how to formalize the description of the access to these services and which parameters are needed for access to those services.

SRU Update (Janifer Gatenby)

The presentation will cover various aspects of SRU update, indicating its niche as an interactive protocol alongside other mechanisms such as the OAI PMH push mecahnism and batch loading. Interaction scenarios with SRU/SRW will be examined and the current development between OCLC and OCLC PICA will be covered.

OpenSearch, SRU and Google/Widgets: Database Considerations and Experience (Derek Lane)

Abstract: EIMS is a catalog for EPA work products, projects and data. Providing access to catalog records in an efficient and accessible fashion has required us to track emerging standards for web-based search and provide commonly accepted simple xml representations. OpenSearch, a9's evolving standard for describing simple searches, has fit into existing RSS work easily, but SRU and particularly CQL shows its z39.50 heritage by handling our requirements for multi-field search. We describe our experience implementing OpenSearch and ongoing work with SRU/Opensearch hybrids for internal search and CQL for public access. Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo have recently defined 'Widgets' and we describe our thoughts on how these fit with SRU and OpenSearch.

Library 2.0 (Ian Davis)

Fundamental to the concept of Library 2.0 is the shift from delivery of library services solely within the library building, or via the library's own web site, towards the embedding of discrete library functions within a range of contexts. This presentation and demonstration will illustrate how providing library services using  SRU and related technologies can sustain an ecosystem of new and innovative applications.

D+ : A common server for SRU and OpenURL (Morag Watson)

D+ is a software framework that brokers the searching of resources in distributed repositories. It is based on, and extends the open source SRW/U Server developed at OCLC. In addition, the server also acts as an 'OpenURL friendly' target by supporting queries conforming to version 0.1 of the OpenURL standard, rather than CQL. The presentation will demonstrate the use of both query types in the context of a resource list application using D+ as the search web service.

Metasearch and SRU: MXG, the Metasearch XML Gateway (Ray Denenberg)

Metasearch (or parallel search, federated search, broadcast search, cross-database search) refers to concurrent search and retrieval spanning multiple databases, sources, platforms, protocols, and vendors. It generally requires users to know how to select, access, and search specific databases. Metasearch research is aimed at creating an environment that helps users find what they need while minimizing what they need to know. The NISO Metasearch Initiative has been charged with identifying/developing standards/best practices to improve interoperability between metasearch engines and content providers, and identifying a simple search/retrieve protocol to help database providers more effectively interoperate with metasearching applications. The NISO committee is developing the Metasearch XML Gateway, MXG, based on SRU and CQL.

WSDL, UDDI, SOAP, REST: SOA Acronym Soup (Matthew Dovey)

There has been a lot of activity on WebServices and now Service Oriented Architectures over the last half decade. Both of these terms are not particularly well defined. WebServices might be SOAP based or REST based; the latest efforts to define Service Oriented Architectures from OASIS has a definition which could also describe CORBA and DCOM; REST itself is often vague as to its meaning (e.g. SRU whilst often described as REST is really only REST-Like!). Attempts such as the Web Service Interoperability Profile have attempted to rectify some of the interoperability issues surrounding Web Services (particularly in the Web Service Description Language), but there are still issues especially as you move higher up the Web Service stack (UDDI, WS-Addressing etc.). This presentation with attempt to describe what all these acronyms mean and which ones are "safe" or "risky" from an interoperability perspective.