Implementing a RIF-CS OAI-PMH Data Provider

There are several options for implementing an OAI-PMH Data Provider when institutional content management software does not include OAI-PMH capability. If the Data Provider is to be embedded within an application a Data Provider may be written from scratch or based on existing libraries or applications such as OCLC's OAICat. There are also several tools available from the OAI Tools web page. Information regarding OAI-PMH 2.0 can be found at the official OAI-PMH web site.

Where a less coupled solution is desired or time and development resources are an issue, jOAI from the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) could be a suitable option. The jOAI application meets the ANDS requirements for Data Providers and is relatively simple to get up and running. The application is well documented and technical staff will have no difficulty with installation.

Essentially the installation process is as follows:

• Follow the installation and configuration guide to install the war and complete the basic configuration
• Configure the data directory which will hold the RIF-CS files
  • specify 'rif' as the metadata format
  • specify 'http://ands.org.au/standards/rif-cs/registryObjects' as the format namespace
  • specify 'http://services.ands.org.au/home/orca/schemata/registryObjects.xsd' as the schema location. Note that due to the inability of Xerces to cope with schema fragments with the same namespace the validation functions will not work using the schema location above. A locally cached single file version of the schema may be a workaround for this, however ANDS recommends that validation of RIF-CS data be undertaken prior to making the data available for harvesting.
• Generate the RIF-CS files (one registry object per XML file and the filename must be of the form <RIF-CS record key>.xml)
• Index the RIF-CS data directory from the jOAI admin page
• Test the provider through either the admin interface or directly in the browser using a request URL e.g. http://localhost:8080/oai/provider?verb=Identify

Once the RIF-CS Data Provider is operational it is then possible for a Data Source Administrator to be assigned in order that the RIF-CS feed into the ANDS Collections Registry and Research Data Australia can be managed. ANDS will arrange for this person to have appropriate access to the Collections Registry once this person has been assigned.

Note that because jOAI delivers its metadata from the the filesystem files it is important that the application generating these files ensures that when an object is modified or deleted within the application context, this is also reflected in the XML files in the filesystem. Failing to do so will affect the currency of records in the ANDS Collection Registry and Research Data Australia since these services will be populated based on the metadata harvested from the jOAI RIF-CS files.

Please contact services@ands.org.au if you have any queries or issues concerning the implementation of your RIF-CS Data Provider or to organise the registration of a Data Source Administrator for an operational RIF-CS feed.