What is the OpenURL framework?
The OpenURL framework is the architecture that describes how to establish open linking across systems. It is about how to provide linking services to objects that are identified or described by metadata. At the core of the framework is the notion of disconnecting the provision of linking services from the information resource itself, thereby allowing a third-party component, under the control of the local library, to determine appropriate linking services. Such a third-party component is known as a link server, of which SFX is an example. Any information resource can participate in the OpenURL framework by providing OpenURL links that point to the user’s preferred link server, which computes and resolves the appropriate, context-sensitive extended links. The OpenURL framework is compatible with and complementary to other linking solutions, such as CrossRef (see www.crossref.org). SFX sources: An SFX source is a Web-based resource in which a library patron searches and from which the pa
