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OAIster : At a glance

The OAIster® database at a glance

OAIster is a union catalog of millions of records representing open archive digital resources that was built by harvesting from open archive collections worldwide using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). Today, OAIster boasts more than 23 million records representing digital resources from more than 1,100 contributors.

Features

  • Available through WorldCat.org at no charge.
  • Contains records of digital resources from open archive collections worldwide.
  • More than 23 million records representing digital resources from more than 1,100 contributors.
  • Harvests from Open Archives Initiative (OAI)-compliant digital libraries, institutional repositories and online journals.
  • Represents multidisciplinary resources.

OAIster records are freely available through WorldCat.org.

The records also are included in search results for those libraries with WorldCat Local and WorldCat Local "quick start." In addition, the OAIster database is available via WorldCat Local, WorldCat Local "quick start" and the OCLC FirstSearch service to those libraries that subscribe to the FirstSearch Base Package.

In January 2010, OCLC plans to release a freely accessible discrete view of the OAIster records. Access to this view will be provided through a URL specific to OAIster. OAIster records will continue to be indexed in WorldCat.org and integrated into WorldCat.org search results, and available through the FirstSearch service to subscribers to the FirstSearch Base Package.

See FirstSearch Databases in Detail for additional information.

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