You know, this leads into something I've been wondering about. You'll 
all have to pardon my ignorance, as I've never worked in a library with 
functioning management of e-resources.

Do libraries opt for these commercial 'pre-indexed' services simply 
because they're a good value proposition compared to all the work of 
indexing multiple resources from multiple vendors into one local index, 
or is it that companies like iii and Ex Libris are the only ones with 
enough clout to negotiate access to otherwise-unavailable database 
vendors' content?

Can I assume that if a database vendor has exposed their content to me 
as a subscriber, whether via z39.50 or a web service or whatever, that 
I'm free to cache and index all that metadata locally if I so choose? Is 
this something to be negotiated on a vendor-by-vendor basis, or is it an 
impossibility?

Cory

On 6/30/2010 12:37 PM, Walker, David wrote:
> Hi Cindy,
>
> Both the Ebsco and Proquest APIs are definitely available to customers.  We're using the Ebsco one in our Xerxes application, for example.  ( I'll send you a link off-list, Cindy.)
>
> --Dave
>
> ==================
> David Walker
> Library Web Services Manager
> California State University
> http://xerxes.calstate.edu
> ________________________________________
> From: Code for Libraries [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cindy Harper [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:11 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Innovative's Synergy
>
> Hi All - III is touting their web-services based Synergy product as having
> the efficiency of a pre-indexed service and the timeliness of a just-in-time
> service.  Does anyone know if the agreements they have made with database
> vendors to use these web services preclude an organization developing an
> open-source client to take advantage of those web services?  Just curious.
> I suppose I should direct my question to EBSCO and Proquest directly.
>
>
> Cindy Harper, Systems Librarian
> Colgate University Libraries
> [log in to unmask]
> 315-228-7363
> ---
> [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
>
>
>
>    


-- 
Cory Rockliff
Technical Services Librarian
Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture
18 West 86th Street
New York, NY 10024
T: (212) 501-3037
[log in to unmask]

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