Open Access
OpenAIR@RGU
Learn about RGU's open access institutional repository
What is OpenAIR@RGU?
OpenAIR@RGU, also know just as "OpenAIR" is RGU's open access institutional repository - a database of outputs produced by RGU's own researchers. It makes these freely available to everyone online and is the University's primary means of supporting the Open Access movement.
The rest of this guide is under construction.
OAI-PMH
The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is an international standard that makes it easier to share the content of open repositories, such as OpenAIR@RGU. OAI-PMH involves information ("metadata") about both the repository itself as well as the content it holds. Repositories can use OAI-PMH make this metadata available in a way that is consistent across institutions, content types and repository software platforms. This allows both human and machine users to query and retrieve that metadata systematically.
Sending a request for metadata to a repository through OAI-PMH involves using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) addresses that consist of the repository's "base URL" and one of six possible requests.
Base URL
The base URL for OpenAIR is: http://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/oaiprovider
Requests
The nature of the six possible requests and the URL required to use each with OpenAIR is detailed in the sections below:
GetRecord
The "GetRecord" request retrieves the metadata record for a single output on the repository, using the record's OAI identifier. An example of using this request with RGU's repository is:
This example retrieves the metadata for the record that has OAI identifier "oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:227831". The record is requested in "oai_dc" format, which is a specific metadata schema.
Identify
The "Identify" request provides information about the repository as a whole, including the admin e-mail, the repository name and the various policies for content, submission, metadata and data. The URL for this request with RGU's repository is:
http://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/oaiprovider?verb=Identify
ListIdentifiers
The "ListIdentifiers" request retrieves the OAI identifiers and OAI set information for all records on the repository in a specific format. An example of using this request with RGU's repository is:
http://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/oaiprovider?verb=ListIdentifiers&metadataPrefix=oai_dc
This example retrieves a list of the identifiers and sets for all repository records that are available in "oai_dc" format.
ListMetadataFormats
The "ListMetadataFormats" request retrieves a list of all possible metadata formats that can be requested from the repository. The URL for this request with RGU's repository is:
http://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/oaiprovider?verb=ListMetadataFormats
OpenAIR currently has records available in "oai_dc", "rioxx" and "uketd_dc" format. Links supplied in the results of the request will take you to the full metadata schema application profile for each format.
ListRecords
The "ListRecords" request retrieves the metadata for all records on the repository in a given format. An example of using this request with RGU's repository is:
http://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/oaiprovider?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_dc
This example retrieves the metadata for all the records that are available in "oai_dc" format.
ListSets
The "ListSets" request retrieves a list of all sets of records that exist on the repository. The URL for this request with RGU's repository is:
http://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/oaiprovider?verb=ListSets
OpenAIR currently has records available in sets based on output type, as well as two sets of records intended for specific harvesting purposes: the European repository OpenAIRE, and RIOXX. Any single record on the repository may belong to multiple sets.
Existing OAI-PMH Users
A number of existing third parties are known to use OAI-PMH to retrieve information from OpenAIR. This includes:
- The British Library's EThOS database of doctoral theses.
- The DART-Europe e-theses database.
- CORE, a global repository aggregator.
- Jisc's IRUS-UK repository usage statistics portal.
Occasionally there may be changes in how our repository works with OAI-PMH. If you use OAI-PMH to retrieve information from our repository and would like to be kept informed of changes but are not listed above, please feel free to get in touch with the publications team.