August 7, 2006
Welcome!
The Q6 blog exists to describe a simpler way to understand and use OpenURL 1.0. The name Q6 refers to the fact that six simple questions convey the essence of the OpenURL model:
| Q6 Term | OpenURL Equivalent | Interpretation | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| What | Referent | What is the subject of the request? | e.g. the Requester is interested in a record in the database | Why | ServiceType | Why is the request being made? | e.g. the Requester wants to edit the Referent |
| Who | Requester | Who originated the request? | e.g. could contain information such as an authenticated user ID and authorized roles |
| Where | ReferringEntity | Where was the user when they invoked the request? | e.g. typically this might be taken from the HTTP 'Referer' header |
| When | N/A | There seems to be a general feeling on the OpenURL discussion list that the lack of a when-style Entity was an oversight. OTOH, a handful of candidates have emerged in the discussion, but it's difficult to identify any one of them as deserving Entity-level status. | |
| How | Transport | How did the user express the request? | This indicates the URL/SOAP structure used to conveny the information above in a web service request. |
OpenURL has features that go beyond these Q6 equivalencies, but this mapping should be more than enough to support the vast majority of web service applications.
Jeff
2006-08-16 Update the interpretation column of the table
2006-08-17 Altered the table row for "When". My interpretation was faulty
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