ODI: Open Discovery Initiative

New Version of ODI Recommended Practice Now Available!

The latest Open Discovery Initiative Recommended Practice, NISO RP-19-2020, Open Discovery Initiative: Promoting Transparency in Discovery, was approved June 22 and published June 24, 2020.

The draft for comment version is still available together with comments and responses. 

WHAT IT IS...

  • A technical recommendation for data exchange including data formats, method of delivery, usage reporting, frequency of updates and rights of use
  • A way for libraries to assess content providers’ participation in discovery services
  • A model by which content providers work with discovery service vendors via fair and unbiased indexing and linking

WHY YOU SHOULD USE IT…

  • Simplifies the process of data exchange between participating discovery vendors and content providers
  • Ensures participating discovery vendors are following fair and unbiased indexing and linking practices 
  • Mitigates technical and legal issues that might hinder broader participation by content providers or potential discovery service creators 
  • Allows libraries to understand how their licensed content is included in discovery systems

Check out our new brochure to quickly learn more about ODI!

Now available, guides for libraries to ensure discovery services discovery services meet institutional needs! Please see Information for Libraries to Increase ODI Conformance among Vendors and Configuring Content Providers!

Also available: Implementation Guide for Content Providers

 

 

 

 

Section pages

Documents

Related Publications

Standard

ANSI/NISO Z39.89-2003 (S2014) The U.S. National Z39.50 Profile for Library Applications

This standard specifies the use of ANSI/NISO Z39.50-2003 in library applications. It specifies Z39.50 client and Z39.50 server behavior for search and retrieval across online library catalogs. The specifications included in this standard use The Bath Profile: A Z39.50 Specification for Library Applications and Resource Discovery (Release 2) as its foundation. Conformant use of this standard will improve interoperability between Z39.50 implementations.

ISBN: 978-1-937522-43-8
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Standard

ANSI/NISO Z39.14-1997 (R2015) Guidelines for Abstracts

Guidance is presented for authors and editors preparing abstracts that represent the content of texts reporting on the results of experimental work or descriptive or discursive studies. Suggestions for the placement of abstracts within publications or other media are given, along with recommendations for abstracting specific documents. Types of abstracts and their content are described. Also included are suggestions on the style of abstracts and a list of selected readings on the subject of abstracting. Examples of abstracts are appended.

ISBN: 978-1-937522-44-5
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Standard

ANSI/NISO Z39.50-2003 (S2014) Information Retrieval: Application Service Definition & Protocol Specification

This standard defines a client/server based service and protocol for Information Retrieval. It specifies procedures and formats for a client to search a database provided by a server, retrieve database records, and perform related information retrieval functions. The protocol addresses communication between information retrieval applications at the the client and server; it does not address interaction between the client and the end-user.

ISBN: 978-1-937522-42-1
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White Paper

The Future of Library Resource Discovery

by Marshall Breeding

Libraries have a strategic interest in the tools and technologies that facilitate the discovery of and access to the resources for the communities that they serve. These tools have seen steady advancement over recent decades, making great strides in the scope and depth of materials addressed and in providing library users ever more convenient ways to access these materials. The progress seen in the successive generations of technology beginning from online catalogs, to metasearch tools, to the current generation of index-based discovery services represents an incredible improvement. Yet many gaps remain relative to the potential of more universal access to the universe of content of interest to libraries and their users and obstacles remain that impede progress that NISO or other organizations can address. This paper provides an overview of the current resource discovery environment and discusses some of the possibilities regarding how these technologies, methodologies, and products might be able to adapt to changes in the evolving information landscape in scholarly communications and to take advantage of new technologies, metadata models, or linking environments to better accomplish the needs of libraries to provide access to resources. It include recommendations that can be addressed in the short term through a possible extension of the NISO Open Discovery Initiative as well as longer-term efforts that investigate how evolving technologies such as open linked data can be operationalized.

ISBN: 978-1-937522-41-4
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Standard

ANSI/NISO Z39.29-2005 (R2010) Bibliographic References

This standard provides rules, guidelines, and examples for the creation of bibliographic references to numerous types of print, audiovisual, and electronic materials, both published and unpublished, arranged in fifteen broad categories. The bibliographic references should result in the unique identification of most print and non-print materials. This standard is intended for a broad audience, including the creators of bibliographic references, the processors who publish and otherwise display references, and the ultimate users of the references.

ISBN: 978-1-937522-26-1
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Standard

ANSI/NISO Z39.2-1994 (R2016) Information Interchange Format

The basis for the MARC (Machine Readable Catalog) record, this standard specifies the requirements for a generalized interchange format that can be used for the communication of records in any media.

ISBN: 978-1-937522-70-4
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Other

Bridging the Gap Between Abstracting & Indexing Provider Needs and Discovery Service Approaches

A report from the NISO Open Discovery Initiative Standing Committee. Authors: Scott Bernier, EBSCO Information Services; Noah Brubaker, PALNI; Rachel Kessler, ProQuest; Geoffrey Morse, Northwestern University; Ken Varnum, University of Michigan.

In 2014, NISO published a Recommended Practice, Open Discovery Initiative: Promoting Transparency in Discovery (RP-19-2014), developed by its Open Discovery Initiative (ODI) Working Group to define “standards and/or best practices for the new generation of library discovery services that are based on indexed search.” In addition to recommending specific practices for discovery and content providers to adopt, the document recommended a number of potential future work items. One of these was that the ODI initiative should take an in-depth look at the unique needs of Abstracting & Indexing (A&I) service providers with regard to the inclusion of their content in web scale discovery systems. The goal of such an assessment was to “identify subsequent recommendations that would address these concerns and ultimately encourage discovery participation from providers of these services.” Section 2.2 of the Recommended Practice specifies several concerns expressed by A&I service providers regarding discovery systems. These concerns included:

  • The level of exposure A&I citations will receive in discovery services;
  • The possibility that the presence of discovery systems will encourage libraries to cancel A&I subscriptions; and
  • The probability that discovery services would not be able to take advantage of the sophisticated controlled vocabulary and other features that A&I service providers offer in their native interfaces.

In June 2017, a subgroup of the Open Discovery Initiative Standing Committee conducted a survey of A&I providers to understand their concerns. This was followed in February 2018 with a related survey of discovery providers. This report describes these two related survey efforts, summarizes concerns raised by both groups, and recommends next steps for the Open Discovery Initiative Standing Committee to better promote transparency and understanding among discovery providers, abstracting and indexing providers, and librarians.

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Standard

ANSI/NISO Z39.32-1996 (R2012) Information on Microfiche Headers

Defines the specific eye-legible information that should appear on the limited space available on microfiche so the fiche can be correctly identified and properly filed.The standard describes where to place the data, the order of the information, and a recommended type size and contrast to maximize readability. Many examples show how to use the standard.

ISBN: 978-1-937522-29-2
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Committee Roster

Co-chairs

Laura Morse

Director, Library Systems & Support
Harvard University

Members

Scott Bernier

Senior Vice President, Marketing
EBSCO Information Services

Teresa Hazen

Dept Head. Delivery, Description, & Acquisitions
University of Arizona Libraries

Don Sechler

Web of Science Product Development
Clarivate Analytics

Ken Varnum

Senior Program Manager for Discovery, Delivery, and Learning Analytics,
University of Michigan Library

Julie Zhu

Manager, Discovery Service Relations, Marketing, Sales & Design
IEEE