Leaving Blackboxes Behind: benefits and challenges of running in-house developed e-resource management and discovery systems. Slides of the presdentation at ELAG 2016 in Copenhagen by Evelyn Weiser and Annika Domin, Leipzig University Library, Germany

1. Leaving Black Boxes Behind
benefits and challenges
of running in-house developed
e-resource management and discovery systems
Evelyn Weiser
Annika Domin
Leipzig University Library
2016/06/08 ELAG 2016 | Copenhagen

2. Outline finc
amsl
index
administration
interface
1. project finc
open source discovery and commercial aggregated index
2. project amsl
open source electronic resource management
3. aggregated index
renewal or do-it-yourself?
4. aggregated index
building our own
5. synergy effects
index administration with amsl
Part 1:
Projects and Background
Part 2:
A Metadata Source’s
Lifecycle

3. Outline
Part 1:
Projects and Background
Part 2:
A Metadata Source’s
Lifecycle
Contract NegotiationLicensing Request Evaluation Technical Implementation Selection Processing and Update Catalogue
1. Licensing Request
2. Contract Negotiation
3. Evaluation
4. Technical Implementation
5. Selection
6. Processing and Update
7. Catalogue

4. Part 1:
Projects and Background

5. finc
amsl
index
administration
interface
2011 - 2013 : Project finc
development of resource discovery systems based on VuFind for 11
university libraries in Saxony
integration of heterogeneous data sources as well as Ex Libris’ Primo
Central index
first finc catalogue went live in March 2012
establishment of the finc user community in September 2015

6. finc
amsl
index
administration
interface
development of an electronic resource management system based on the
editor OntoWiki and linked data technologies
management of contracts, licences, holdings, contact details in RDF
integration of external bibliographic and organisation data
amsl went into live operation in 4th quarter of 2014
2013 contd : Project amsl

7. finc
amsl
index
administration
interface
licence for Primo Central was to expire mid-2015
evaluation of the index led to the question:
Is it possible, with moderate expense and with no qualitative or
quantitative restrictions, to build an aggregated index on our own?
2014 : Reconsidering the aggregated index

8. finc
amsl
index
administration
interface
motivation and goal:
greater transparency and more options for action
● sources
● quality
● indexing
● processes
● currentness
● coverage
2014 : Reconsidering the aggregated index

9. finc
amsl
index
administration
interface
Q3 / Q4 2014 evaluation of available metadata sources,
preliminary talks with providers
January 2015 decision to build our own aggregated index
Q1 / Q2 2015 technical realisation
April 2015 go live
2014 contd : Project finc AI - aggregated index

10. finc
amsl
index
administration
interface
2016 : Index administration using amsl
20 participating libraries
70 metadata sources
5000 collections
⇒ complex administration
⇒ amsl as management backend for the index

11. Part 2:
A Metadata Source’s Lifecycle

12. Licensing
Request
Documentation of potential metadata
sources in amsl from the very beginning.
Licensing Request

13. Metadata usage terms need to be included into the
licensing agreement.
Contract
Negotiation
Contract Negotiation
Taken from http://www.nationallizenzen.de/tools/al-musterlizenz
Licensing Request

14. A metadata test set needs to be evaluated both
bibliographically and technically.
Evaluation
Contract Negotiation EvaluationLicensing Request

15. The individual download and
normalization routines need to be
implemented.
Technical
Implementation
Contract Negotiation Evaluation Technical ImplementationLicensing Request

16. Contract Negotiation Evaluation Technical Implementation
metadata in
processing
format
download and
normalization
Technical
Implementation
XML/DC
XML/propr.
JSON/
JATS
XML/
JATS
OAI HTTP FTP DVD
Provider
JSON/
DC
CSV/
propr.
The individual download and
normalization routines need to be
implemented.
Licensing Request

17. Selection
Contract Negotiation Evaluation Technical Implementation Selection
Participating libraries can
select the collections they
want to display in their
catalogue frontends.
Licensing Request

18. The metadata is processed for the aggregated
index update.
Processing and
Update
Contract Negotiation Evaluation Technical Implementation Selection Processing and UpdateLicensing Request

19. Processing and
Update
Contract Negotiation Evaluation Technical Implementation
Provider
holdings
files
metadata in
processing
format
amsl
solr
metadata +
licensing
information
web catalogue
download and
normalization
enrichment with library
and licensing information
conversion to
solr format
Selection Processing and UpdateLicensing Request

20. The new metadata is available in
the web catalogue.
Catalogue
Contract Negotiation Evaluation Technical Implementation Selection Processing and Update CatalogueLicensing Request

21. Conclusion:
Benefits and Challenges

22. !
Challenges
increased staff requirement and
capacity building
project management and
cross-departmental cooperation
awareness-raising
for effort and expense
transition from project
to operational business
Benefits
vendor independence
software tailored to our needs
more options for action
active support of open standards
capacity building

23. !
Challenges
increased staff requirement and
capacity building
project management and
cross-departmental cooperation
awareness-raising
for effort and expense
transition from project
to operational business
Benefits
vendor independence
software tailored to our needs
more options for action
active support of open standards
capacity building

24. Any questions? Please feel free to contact us!
Leipzig University Library, Germany
http://ub.uni-leipzig.de
http://finc.info
http://amsl.technology
Code on Github:
Python:
https://github.com/ubleipzig/siskin
Go:
https://github.com/ubleipzig/span
OAI-Harvester:
https://github.com/ubleipzig/metha
Leander Seige
Head of IT
seige@ub.uni-leipzig.de
Evelyn Weiser
Head of e-resources
weiser@ub.uni-leipzig.de
Annika Domin
amsl ERMS
domin@ub.uni-leipzig.de