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OAIster : How to contribute

Increase the visibility of your institution’s digital resources

OAIster brings together unique open archive digital resources and makes them more discoverable to information seekers worldwide.

Information for OAIster metadata contributors

OCLC recognizes the significance of the Open Archives Initiative and the importance of ensuring that open archive collections are freely discoverable and accessible to information seekers worldwide. To that end, OCLC seeks to identify appropriate repositories for harvesting as it continues its efforts to expand the visibility of open archive collections on the Web, in addition to accepting institution requests to harvest. The following describe OCLC’s current harvesting activities of all open archive metadata for inclusion in OAIster:

  • The metadata harvested from your institution’s repository by OCLC will be added to the OAIster database, which will be viewable through FirstSearch and will also be added to WorldCat.org, and may be used and transferred by OCLC and others. By OCLC adding your institution’s metadata to WorldCat.org, your metadata will be freely available to any user of WorldCat.org for discovery purposes.
  • OCLC does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights. Following receipt of notification of a potential intellectual property rights infringement, OCLC will investigate the allegation and remove the infringing metadata if appropriate.
  • If your institution wants OCLC to remove your metadata from OAIster at anytime for any reason, please notify OCLC. Your institution’s metadata will be removed from the OAIster database at such time that OCLC performs the next scheduled update to the OAIster database.
  • There may be a need for OCLC to remove or purge metadata that it has harvested from your institution. For example, the metadata may need to be removed in order to correct problem links to digital resources or because the metadata may point to unauthorized content. In the event that OCLC needs to remove or purge metadata harvested from your institution, OCLC may do so without prior notification to your institution.
  • OCLC expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with any metadata harvested and shall have no liability or obligation to your institution for indirect, incidental, consequential or exemplary damages (including, without limitation, lost profits, loss of business, or loss of or damage to data) whether based on contract, tort or any other legal theory and regardless of whether OCLC foresaw such damages.
  • OCLC provides OAIster and WorldCat "AS IS". OCLC DOES NOT WARRANT THE COMPLETENESS, PERFORMANCE OR ACCURACY OF OAISTER AND WORLDCAT. OCLC, ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, CONCERNING OAISTER AND WORLDCAT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.

Steps to becoming an OAIster metadata contributor

To become a metadata contributor—in the Open Archives Initiative this is known as a Data Provider—you should follow a few simple steps.

  • Be certain that your OAIster-contributed records include (1) a unique OAI identifier and (2) a valid URL for each digital resource in the Dublin Core identifier field.
  • Familiarize yourself with the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting, available at the Open Archives Initiative site.
  • Please help us provide you with ongoing updates about OAIster harvesting and information about enhancements to OAIster access by providing your contact information on the OAIster Database Contributors Information form.
  • Choose a tool to make your metadata available to harvesters such as OAIster. The most comprehensive list of tools is the Tools and Strategies for Using and Enhancing / Extending the OAI Protocol.
  • Create your XML1.1 compatible, UTF-8 compliant metadata records. In order to be an OAI Data Provider, you must have your metadata available in Simple Dublin Core metadata format. However, we encourage you also to make your metadata records available in other formats.
  • Test your resulting repository of metadata records in the OAI Repository Explorer.
  • Register your repository with the official Open Archives registry. As part of registration, the repository will need to pass a number of tests, not all of which are the same as those in the OAI Repository Explorer.
  • Register with the UIUC OAI registry, a comprehensive list of all OAI data providers by sending an email to Tom Habing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

As a contributor to the OAIster database, your institution is eligible for no-charge access to the database through the FirstSearch service in addition to free access to OAIster records through WorldCat.org. On FirstSearch, you can search the individual OAIster database as it has existed since its addition to the service in January 2009. To request no-charge access to the OAIster database on FirstSearch please complete the required information on the OAIster Database Contributors Information form.

If you have any questions about contributing, please contact us.