Book People Archive

Re: New Online Books Page features

> More details on the news page
> (http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/news.html).

Thanks for this step forward.

I think that is'nt enough.

1) All OBP entries should be available via OAI-PMH. Thus harvester
like OAIster can add entries for books which are located on servers
which are not offering itself an OAI interface.

If you do so please make sure that your entries are really Open Acess.
For the background of this request feel free to read
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2006_03_19_fosblogarchive.html#114313284630816604

2)  All OBP entries should have data in MARC format that library
catalogs can use them.

3) Stable URLs are fine but no persistant identifiers. Please
cooperate with a library or another corporation to make sure that they
get persistant like http://purl.oclc.org/ or the URNs.

--

Let me say something to the alternatives of the OBP. I refer to my entry at
http://archiv.twoday.net/stories/837865/

There are large collections outside of OBP and all book people should
know more on the alternatives to OBP. OBP isn't the one-stop-solution
as you can read on thousands of websites.

I think few people know the fine working meta-search at Buffalo
http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/ft/EBooks.html (including the OPB, I
have just tried searching for the keyword chirugie with success)

You can also use OAIster finding Open Access books and you can now
build a meta-search including OAIster meta-data, see
http://oaister.umdl.umich.edu/o/oaister/sru.html

You can use the new Australian libraries portal to find toll access
and free ebooks worldwide by using the free "Online" limit
http://librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au/apps/kss

(Please note that most German libraries do not have access to OCLC
WorldCat in which you can also limit your search on ebooks.)

You also would have a fine way to find toll access AND free ebooks if
Toronto University Libraries wouldn't be stupid enough to block the
access also to Open Access ressources when you use their e-resources
search interface:

http://main.library.utoronto.ca/

Example: Making of Modern America (UMich) isn't toll access but you
have to extract the handle-URL from the following string to get
immediate access
http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AJD5992

Toronto is listing Bartleby.com, UMich and some other free sources and
its own fine collection (800+ books, as far as I know NOT in OBP) at
http://content.library.utoronto.ca/resources/collections/local-collections

Unfortunately since May 19th 2005 only two new item were added, see
http://log.netbib.de/archives/2005/02/09/533-titel/#comments

My knowledge of other local OPAC search possibilities is very limited.
You might wish to know that RIT library has put a great bulk of OPB
entries in its catalog, see e-content finder at
http://albert.rit.edu/search~S1/

There is also a stable URL see e.g. for a project Gutenberg work:
http://albert.rit.edu/record=b1701197

Please send me hints to other  OPACs with large numbers of catalogued
free e-resources from several sources (ebooks, not e-journals - the
fine Goteborg work of Jan Szczepanski is another topic). Thank you!

Greetings from Germany
Klaus