OCLC Research has released Over, Under, Around, and Through: Getting Around Barriers to EAD Implementation.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This report frames obstacles that archivists have experienced adopting Encoded Archival Description (EAD). It also suggests pathways to help archivists get out of the ruts, around the roadblocks and on the road to success.

Written by Michele Combs from Syracuse University, Mark A. Matienzo from Yale University, Lisa Spiro from Rice University and Merrilee Proffitt from OCLC Research, the objective of the report is to communicate EAD's value as a key element of successful archival information systems and help archivists overcome potential barriers to its implementation. This work is an output of the Barriers to Using EAD project undertaken by OCLC Research and the RLG Partnership.

Harvard University Library's Office for Information Systems has released File Information Tool Set version 0.3.1.

Here's an excerpt from the user guide:

The File Information Tool Set (FITS) identifies, validates and extracts technical metadata for a wide range of file formats. It acts as a wrapper, invoking and managing the output from several other open source tools. Output from these tools are converted into a common format, compared to one another and consolidated into a single XML output file. FITS is written in Java and is compatible with Java 1.5 or higher. The external tools currently used are:

• Jhove
• Exiftool
• National Library of New Zealand Metadata Extractor
• DROID
• FFIdent
• File Utility (windows)

NISO has released KBART: Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (NISO RP-9-2010).

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

UKSG and NISO are pleased to announce the first report by the KBART (Knowledge Bases and Related Tools) Working Group, a joint initiative that is exploring data problems within the OpenURL supply chain. The KBART Recommended Practice (NISO RP-9-2010) contains practical recommendations for the timely exchange of accurate metadata between content providers and knowledge base developers.

The KBART Recommended Practice, a report from Phase I of the KBART project, provides all parties in the information supply chain with straightforward guidance about the role of metadata within the OpenURL linking standard, and recommends data formatting and exchange guidelines for publishers, aggregators, agents, technology vendors, and librarians to adhere to when exchanging information about their respective content holdings.

JISC has released the Shared OpenURL Data Infrastructure Investigation: Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

The project team set out to gain a good understanding of the technical, legal, and administrative challenges and opportunities related to sharing and using OpenURL link server data and to assess the relative and complementary value of data from the OpenURL router and from OpenURL resolvers within institutions by gathering and inspecting those data. We also sought to explore potential uses of these data through consultation and through manipulating the sample data available. Our conclusions are organised by four themes: (1) the level of interest and viability of services based on aggregated OpenURL data; (2) libraries' willingness to share data; (3) the availability of OpenURL resolver usage data; and (4) the value of the OpenURL Router as a source of data on which useful services may be built.

Presentations from the DC-2009: Semantic Interoperability of Linked Data conference are now available.

John W. Chapman, David Reynolds, and Sarah L. Shreeves have self-archived "Repository Metadata: Approaches and Challenges" in IDEALS.

Here's an excerpt:

Many institutional repositories have pursued a mixed metadata environment, relying on description by multiple workflows. Strategies may include metadata converted from other systems, metadata elicited from the document creator or manager, and metadata created by library or repository staff. Additional editing or proofing may or may not occur. The mixed environment brings challenges of creation, management, and access. In this article, repository efforts at three major universities are discussed. All three repositories run on the DSpace software package, and the opportunities and limitations of that system will be examined. The authors discuss local strategies in light of current thinking on metadata creation, user behavior, and the aggregation of heterogeneous metadata. The contrasts between the mission of each repository effort will show the importance of local customization, while the experience of all three institutions forms the basis for recommendations on strategies of benefit to a wide range of librarians and repository planners.

Jerry Kline, owner of Innovative Interfaces, is launching a new company, SkyRiver, on Friday that will compete with OCLC's cataloging services. SkyRiver's database will initially include about 20 million bibliographic records.

Read more about it at "New Company SkyRiver Sparks Cataloging Competition with OCLC."

JISC has released Enhanced Ingest to Digital E-Research Repositories: Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

The project developed a demonstrator that implemented an enhanced deposit and ingest process to a digital repository based on Fedora. The process incorporates the SWORD API for deposit, and accepts deposits that contain multiple files (packaged as a zip file). The workflow performs preservation actions (e.g. capturing PREMIS metadata, format migration), extraction of resource discovery metadata (for text-based formats such as PDF, MS Word, HTML), and capture of publisher self-archiving policies (for post-prints). The resources are ingested into the repository following an atomistic model—individual files and directories correspond to individual digital objects, and relationships between them (i.e. the membership relation between files/directories) are represented as RDF statements. The workflow was constructed from a variety of components developed by other projects.

The National Information Standards Organization has released Institutional Identifiers in Repositories: A Survey Report for the NISO I2 Workgroup.

Here's an excerpt:

The survey showed that standardized institutional identifiers are seen as important and it was agreed there is a need for them in the repository community. The need for identifiers is underscored by the ways in which repository content is shared. A clear majority of repositories include identifiers for the repository itself and many include institutional identifiers. Those that include the latter generally also include identifiers for subordinate units within the identified institution. Most of these identifiers are not used in other usage contexts—e.g., Inter-Library Loan, electronic resource management systems, etc.—but there is some agreement that it would be important for a single identifier to be used for all organizational purposes. The majority of respondents would be willing to participate in a registry of institutional identifiers provided that participation is voluntary and cost-free.

Institutional identifiers already in usage are largely based upon the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) standard, whether they take the form of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) URIs, Uniform Resource Names (URNs), CNRI Handles, or OCLC PURLs. An overwhelming majority of respondents consider resolvability of institutional identifiers important.

In "Google's Book Search: A Disaster for Scholars," Geoffrey Nunberg examines the limitations of Google Book Search's metadata, which he calls "a train wreck: a mishmash wrapped in a muddle wrapped in a mess."