Technology

Times are changing. These are some of the technologies that will impact the pace and direction of that change:

  • Automated Content Access Protocol

ACAP is a new, non-proprieary open standard developed to protect the intellectual property of anyone wishing to make content available on the Web. It will be unveiled following a collaborative 12 month pilot between publishers and search engines at a conference in New York on 29 November. From December, publishers will be encouraged to implement ACAP. The PA is a member through IPA, FEP and PLS.

  •  ONIX for Licensing Terms

As the number of digital resources in collections grows, libraries have increasing difficulty complying with the widely differing licence terms applied by their creators and publishers. ONIX for Licensing Terms will express these in a standard XML format, link them to digital resources and communicate them to users, with benefits for both publishers and libraries.

  • PALS Metadata and Interoperability projects

Standards play a key role in discovery and access, enabling online services to work effectively for the benefits of users. The PALS Programme, funded by the JISC and supported by APD, enables publishers and libraries to work together to explore innovative uses of standards. This seminar last year described the programme so far. An ITT for a third phase of PALS projects will be put out in November.

  • Digital Asset Distribution

One day all publishers will need a DAD. This white paper  takes an overview of the concept and the current market

  DADs Research Paper

and the presentations from a DADs seminar in July can be read here.