Subject: [CODE4LIB] Use of rft.identifier in COiNS?

From: Chris Catalfo <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:01:38 -0400

Hi all,

I am trying to find the best way to include an item's accession number (i.e.
ILS system id) in a COiNS span.  This is in the context of library catalog
pages where I'd like to be able to retrieve the ILS accession number to
return to LibraryThing for Libraries.

I see no mention of an rft.identifier key/value pair on the COiNS site's
brief guide to books [1].  It does, however, appear as an element in the
COiNS online generator for generic items [2].

Googling returned a couple of results using rft.identifier to hold urls.

Can anyone enlighten me as to whether using rft.identifier to hold the ILS
accession number is valid?  Or suggest a more suitable key/value pair?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Chris Catalfo
Programmer, LibraryThing

[1] http://ocoins.info/cobgbook.html
[2] http://generator.ocoins.info/?sitePage=info/dc.html&

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From: Jonathan Rochkind <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:16:22 -0400

There is no such thing as rft.identifier.

There is an rft_id  -- it's with the underscore, not a period, because 
it's not a data element in a _particular_ OpenURL format, rather it 
applies to any OpenURL format.

rft_id can be set to any URI (although that URI does need to be itself 
URI-encoded, confusingly).  Typical uses are for an OCLC number or an 
LCCN. 

I use rft_id to represent my own local accession numbers. First I 
represent them as a URI: http://catalog.library.jhu.edu/10001.

Then you need to URI-encode that to put it in the KEV OpenURL such as is 
the basis of COinS:

rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.library.jhu.edu%2F10001

That's probably the best solution you are going to get out of 
OpenURL/COinS. Yes, it is annoying in a few different ways.

Jonathan

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From: Jonathan Rochkind <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:19:51 -0400

I'll clarify. There is sometimes such a thing as rft.identifier. :)   
the rft.* values belong to a specific declared OpenURL metadata format. 
The DC one does have an "identifier". That's why you see it in the COinS 
generator for 'generic' items.

However, the DC one isn't typically used for books, journal articles, 
and journals, and if it were used for those there's be no good way to 
include certain significant data that you can include with the 'book' 
and 'article' formats.

rft_id, however, is part of OpenURL regardless of metadata format being 
used in the particular context object, and you can always use it.

Hope this helps. OpenURL is... kinda a mess.

Jonathan

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From: Eric Hellman <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:17:22 -0400

Wikipedia uses the DC metadata format for non-book objects,  
rft.identifier is part of the DC metadata format; if you are  
describing a book, you want to use the book metadata format.

Jonathan is correct, rft_id is a possible place to put an accession  
number for a book, but only if you can make a URI out of it. You might  
also consider rft_dat as long as you include rfr_id.

Great to hear LibraryThing is looking at COinS!

Eric

> [2] http://generator.ocoins.info/?sitePage=info/dc.html&

Eric Hellman
41 Watchung Plaza, #132
Montclair, NJ 07042
USA

[email-masked] (personal)
http://hellman.net/eric/

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From: Chris Catalfo <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2009 15:22:52 -0400

Thanks for the responses on this -- we're going to see what we can do.

Chris Catalfo
LibraryThing

On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 9:17 PM, Eric Hellman <[email-masked]> wrote:

> Wikipedia uses the DC metadata format for non-book objects, rft.identifier
> is part of the DC metadata format; if you are describing a book, you want to
> use the book metadata format.
>
> Jonathan is correct, rft_id is a possible place to put an accession number
> for a book, but only if you can make a URI out of it. You might also
> consider rft_dat as long as you include rfr_id.
>