OpenURLs and the problem of academic research

[Richard L. Goerwitz III]

Over the last month I've been finding myself increasingly frustrated
with OpenURL deployments I'm seeing.  I'm also becoming increasingly
worried about the frenzy many libraries are in to hop on the "open
linking" bandwagon without fully understanding the benefits and defe-
cits of doing so.

I've written up a draft of a paper articulating some of the history
behind OpenURLs - but focusing in on why current deployments aren't
really cutting to the root of what academic/research environments
need:

  http://www.goerwitz.com:31265/papers/ucla/presentation.html

I'd be interested in feedback or comments.  This paper is only a
draft, and will not remain online indefinitely.  If it reappears
anywhere else, it is likely to do so in a markedly different form.

My overall sense is that the library community, particularly in the
US, isn't really looking at how researchers actually work and what
they really want/need out of an open linking environment.

I am all for OpenURLs, by the way - I'm just for making sure lib-
rarians know exactly what they're getting into, too.

-- 

Richard Goerwitz                               richard at Goerwitz.COM
tel: 401 438 8978