D-Lib Magazine' February Issue

The February issue of D-Lib Magazine is now online.

Table of Contents

SRW/U with OAI: Expected and Unexpected Synergies
Robert Sanderson, University of Liverpool; and Jeffrey Young and Ralph LeVan, OCLC.

Abstract
SRW/U (the Search/Retrieve Webservice) and OAI (Open Archives Initiative) are both modern information retrieval protocols developed by distinct groups from different backgrounds at around the same time. This article sets out to briefly contrast the two protocols' aims and approaches, and then to look at some novel ways in which they have been or may be usefully co-implemented. While using SRW as a search service to an OAI repository or aggregated data set is an obvious synergy, there are also many other useful architectures that can be constructed without bending the protocols' semantics.

A Metadata Search Engine for Digital Language Archives
Baden Hughes and Amol Kamat, University of Melbourne

Abstract
In this article we describe the design and implementation of a full-featured metadata search engine within the Open Language Archives Community (OLAC). Unlike many digital library search engines, this particular implementation has a high degree of affinity with web search engines in terms of reasoning and results display, and presumes no knowledge of the underlying metadata or database structures on behalf of the user. Features of the search engine include a variety of string matching algorithms; a thesaurus of alternate language names; language code searching; keyword-in-context display in search results; search for similarly spelled words; search for similar items; support for standard string search  sperators and domain-specific inline syntax; and automatically derived search links for other web search engines. A notable contribution of this research is the inclusion in the search engine results of a metadata quality-centric sorting algorithm.

Concepts and a Design for Fair Use and Privacy in DRM
Pasi Tyrväinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Abstract
Typical digital rights management (DRM) systems used for piracy protection in content distribution provide access to encrypted content only on the hardware identified in a digital license. This hardware locking restricts fair use, e.g., by preventing copying content for private use. Using hardware identity, media distributors can also link together all customer purchases, which can threaten customer privacy. The need to design DRM systems and electronic commerce business models that allow fair use is commonly agreed. But the intelligence and contextual factors that a judge uses in interpreting the legal limits of fair use in the US cannot be fully implemented in the licensing rules of DRM systems. However, approximating fair use by licensing would be well in line with the requirement of the EU copyright directive and would also serve customers in the US by reducing the need for costly human evaluation. We propose approaching this problem by a set of new design concepts bringing access to process context information to DRM license control systems. These concepts provide privacy by separating user and product identities and by enabling distribution history tracking. The fair use licensing proposed does not violate privacy although it maintains the advantages of hardware locking. It also enables new added value services for customers on back-up services and on re-sales of content products.

The eXtensible Past : XML as a Means for Access to Historical Datasets and a Strategy for Digital Preservation
Annelies van Nispen, Rutger Kramer and René van Horik, Netherlands Institute for Scientific Information Services

Abstract
This article reports on the X-past project carried out by the Netherlands Historical Data Archive (NHDA). The main goal of the project has been to investigate how the XML data format can improve the durability of and access to historical datasets. The X-past project furthermore investigated whether it would be possible to provide access to historical datasets by means of the "Open Archives Initiative—Protocol for Metadata Harvesting" (OAI-PMH). Within the framework of the X-past project a prototype information system has been developed and a number of users have been asked to report on usability issues concerning this system.