Working Group Connection, April 2023: Projects via Information Discovery & Interchange Topic Committee

Chair of the IDI topic committee is: Robert Boissy (Springer Nature). 

Access & License Indicators Revision

Working Group Web Page
Publication: NISO RP-22-2021, Access & License Indicators (2021 Revision)

The Access License and Indicators (ALI) Recommended Practice was first published by NISO in 2015 with the goal to standardize and communicate bibliographic metadata that describe the access rights status of journal articles and their license details.  The specification gained adoption and use via the ANSI/NISO JATS vocabulary and the Crossref metadata schema.

This 2021 revision extended the RP to add metadata and indicators that would allow metadata users, such as content platforms, to filter or target subsets of license information. This filtering or sub-setting would enable applications to determine whether their users can share a specific journal article version – or elements thereof – under specific contexts (e.g., sharing in researcher collaboration groups or on public profiles). 

Communication of Retractions, Removals, and Expressions of Concern (CREC)

Co-chairs: Caitlin Bakker (University of Regina), Rachael Lammey (Crossref)
Working Group web page
Work Item Approved by NISO Voting Members

Retracted research is published work that is withdrawn, removed, or otherwise invalidated from the scientific and scholarly record. Although relatively rare, retracted research—including unsupported or fabricated data, fundamental errors, and unreproducible results—can be inadvertently propagated within the digital scholarly record through citations. The CREC Recommended Practice is intended to help address this problem, by clearly identifying parties involved in the retraction process, along with their responsibilities, actions, notifications, and the metadata necessary to communicate retracted research.

CREC is an output of both the recent Sloan Foundation-funded project, Reducing the Inadvertent Spread of Retracted Science (RISRS) and the 2021 NISO Plus conference, where this topic was one of three highlighted by attendees as of highest importance. CREC will be consistent with existing guidelines, such as those published by the Council on Publishing Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Council of Science Editors (CSE). 

The working group is currently winding down from the “information gathering” (Phase 1) period detailed in the work plan. Both the Publisher and Aggregator workflow subgroups are finishing up their assignments and will be dissolved as the group is now preparing the initial draft for the Recommended Practice, which is anticipated to be made available for public comment during Summer 2023.

Co-chair Caitlin Bakker provided an update on the Working Group's efforts in the NISO Update at NISO Plus in February. CREC was the topic of NISO's Open Teleconference in April. Also in April, co-chair Rachel Lammey presented a session entitled Reducing the Risk of Propagating Retracted Research with NISO's Todd Carpenter at the UKSG conference.

Flexible API STandard for E-content NISO (FASTEN)

Co-chairs: Josh Weisman (Ex Libris), Christopher Carvey (Queens Library)
FASTEN Working Group Web Page

The FASTEN Working Group's NISO Recommended Practice is intended to modernize library-vendor technical interoperability using RESTful Web service APIs and standard mobile application intent calls and solve the problem of multiple vendor methods for integration with discovery platforms, OPACs, patron accounts, etc. Currently, each individual implementation provides a different patron experience which makes it difficult for new users to adopt e-content, and for libraries to support all the variances. The Working Group relied on the Queens Library API Requirements for its initial discussion points and liaised with the BIC LCF to ensure communication in development. 

The tasks undertaken by the Working Group included analysis of user and developer "pain points" and examination of existing library-vendor communication toolsets for potential overlap. The group output includes a foundation API set that the library industry can build on to fulfill an array of user and library needs related to authentication, finding and using various types of content and other functional considerations. Implementation of the recommendations should ultimately result in users experiencing quicker response times, more flexible item discovery and delivery options, improved information on resource availability, and seamless integration of electronic and physical resources. 

It is hoped that the final document can be made available for topic committee review and NISO publication in the summer.   

Interoperable System of Controlled Digital Lending (IS-CDL)

Co-chairs: Jennie Rose Halperin (Library Futures), Allen Jones (The New School)
Working Group Web Page
Work Item Approved by NISO Voting Members

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded NISO a grant of $125,000 in 2021 to support the development of a consensus framework for implementing controlled digital lending (CDL) of book content by libraries.  Libraries exist to serve their communities, to distribute information and knowledge of all kinds to users of many types, abilities, and resources; circulation of content in all formats is a core feature of what libraries exist to do, and they have been doing so legally for centuries. CDL is an emerging “lend like print” approach, which enables libraries to loan digital versions of their print books while using technical controls to ensure a consistent “owned-to-loaned” ratio. This allows a library to lend the exact number of copies of a specific title it owns—-regardless of format—-with controls to prevent users from redistributing or copying the digitized version. 

The Working Group began its work in January 2022. It included subgroups discussing circulation, interlibrary loan, digital objects, and sharing digital assets.  These examined and analyzed existing models that describe the similarities and differences between CDL and traditional circulation and ILL and identified gaps in the understanding of CDL applications.  Since late last year, it has been working to draft its output Recommended Practice which will describe systems interoperability requirements, identify changes needed to existing library protocols and standards, and recommend model processes for library staff. It is expected that this draft Recommended Practice will be available for public comment sometime during Summer 2023. 

Rob Cartolano, Sebastian Hammer, Allen Jones and Nettie Lagace presented the project at the Charleston Conference in November; Allen Jones updated on the project as part of the NISO Update at NISO Plus in February; and Allen Jones, Nettie Lagace, and Michael Rodriguez presented the project at ER&L in March.

Knowledge Bases And Related Tools (KBART) Standing Committee

Co-chairs: Noah Levin (Springer Publishing), Andrée Rathemacher (University of Rhode Island)
Contact KBART Chairs for endorsement approval
KBART Web Pages
Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (KBART) Recommended Practice (NISO RP-9-2014)

KBART is a NISO Recommended Practice that facilitates the transfer of holdings metadata from content providers to knowledge base suppliers and libraries. Knowledge bases are widely used to support library link resolvers and electronic resource management systems. The first iteration of the KBART Recommended Practice, which focused on journal holdings, was published in 2010; a 2014 "Phase II" revision extended support to metadata for e-books, conference proceedings, consortial subscriptions and some open access publications. Starting in early 2020 the KBART Standing Committee has been hard at work on research and actions around elements of its Phase III work with subgroups addressing areas of work such as clarifying the recommendations, revamping the mission statement, determining new types of material to support (such as video) and thus any required new fields, and creating a new file guide.  The endorsement process continues as approved providers are added to the KBART Registry, although a new validator application under development may help speed this process further. 

From the Working Group: "One thing we keep in mind as we revise KBART, and which we like to remind others, is that KBART is not intended to provide comprehensive descriptive metadata for content, a task more suited to MARC, for example. KBART aims to provide the metadata needed to identify the correct copy of an e-resource for linking purposes. At its core, KBART communicates holdings metadata."

A new subgroup focusing on file formats has been created as the Standing Committee works on Phase III.

Co-chair Noah Levin gave an update on the committee’s progress with Phase III as part of the NISO Update at NISO Plus in February.

Enhancing KBART for Automated Exchange of Title Lists and Library Holdings

Co-chairs: Stephanie Doellinger (OCLC), Oliver Pesch (EBSCO Information Services)
KBART Automation Recommended Practice (NISO RP-26-2019)
KBART Automation Working Group Web Page 

The KBART Automation Working Group’s output, the KBART Automation Recommended Practice (NISO RP-26-2019) was published in June 2019. This work extends the KBART Phase 2 Recommended Practice to provide technical instructions to facilitate the automatic transfer and retrieval of holdings data between content providers and institutional knowledge bases with the goal of automatically and regularly updating institutional activations and settings via an API. Included in the Recommended Practice are descriptions of data elements and file formats; options a content provider must provide to enable customers to access its holdings reports; expected API support that enables automated retrieval of reports; suggested license language and a discussion of data confidentiality; and description of additional elements and attribute values that can be included in the reports.

It is likely that there will be more resources to address further KBART Automation work once the KBART Standing Committee's efforts on KBART Phase III wrap up. 

NCIP (NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol) Standing Committee

NCIP Web Pages
NCIP Standing Committee
ANSI/NISO Z39.83-1-2012 (version 2.02), NISO Circulation Interchange - Part 1: Protocol (NCIP)
ANSI/NISO Z39.83-2-2012 (version 2.02), NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol (NCIP) Part 2: Implementation Profile 1 

NCIP is managed under continuous maintenance procedures. The latest version, 2.02, was published in 2012. The Standing Committee meets periodically to review status of implementations and discuss other general business, such as additions to the NCIP website, implementor questions, and potential updates to the protocol. Input from the public is welcome. 
 

Open Discovery Initiative Standing Committee

Co-chairs: Rachel Kessler (ProQuest), Laura Morse (Harvard University)
ODI Web Pages
ODI Recommended Practice (NISO RP-19-2020)

The newest version of the Open Discovery Initiative Recommended Practice was approved by NISO and published in June 2020. The updated ODI Recommended Practice provides a more detailed treatment of Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) content products, and supports better metadata sharing (including information about open access material) and record display, as well as improved tracking of usage statistics and authentication mechanisms. It also includes advice on systems, training, and communication for libraries that configure and upgrade their discovery systems. ODI's intent is to unify the community by encouraging dialogue among stakeholders and by increasing order within the industry by standardizing practices.

The ODI Standing Committee is now concentrating on education and promotion, particularly around ensuring awareness of new conformance statements to be prepared by all stakeholders (content providers, discovery providers, and libraries).  Of particular note are the webinars that members have been presenting:

• A Conformance Statement for Libraries Workshop took place in October, with speakers Teresa Hazen, Laura Morse, Geoff Morse, and Ken Varnum.
• A Conformance Statement Workshop for Content Providers took place in November, with speaker Rachel Kessler.

The Scholarly Kitchen’s Lettie Conrad has been at work on a 3-part series focusing on ODI conformance. The first article in the series on library conformance was published in November. The second part, covering content providers, is due later in the spring.

The ODI Overview video by Geoff Morse now has Spanish language captioning available, with instructions. 

Maribel Alvarado presented at the International Congress of Academic and Specialized Libraries at the University of Chile in January. Bobbi Patham spoke about ODI as part of the NISO Update at NISO Plus in February.

The ODI Standing Committee posts periodic updates on its work to the ODI mailing list; any interested observer may join this list. It is also possible to follow @NISO_ODI on Twitter.

ResourceSync Working Group

ResourceSync Web Page
ANSI/NISO Z39.99-2017, ResourceSync Framework Specification 

ResourceSync, a specification which describes a synchronization framework for the web consisting of various capabilities that allow third party systems to remain synchronized with a server's evolving resources, was first published in 2014 and updated more recently in 2017 as ANSI/NISO Z39.99-2017. The problem that ResourceSync was designed to solve spans the areas of search, discovery, deposit, metadata harvesting, and transfer; there is a need to keep collections of resources in sync so that additions, updates, and deletions of one are reflected in the other. The ResourceSync standard was written in such a way that individual capabilities could be combined to meet local requirements. A server may also describe synchronization capabilities that it supports and means through which third party systems may discover this support. The core functionality of the specification is intended to represent a functional replacement of OAI-PMH. (Other features, such as change notification, framework notification, and archive capabilities are published through separate documents, not currently part of the material part of NISO/ANSI standardization.)

ResourceSync is due for its periodic review; NISO will pull together this formal activity this year. 

A quick overview of ResourceSync, via YouTube, is available at http://youtu.be/ASQ4jMYytsA.