All,

Index Data, maker of free software tools for bibliographic data exchange (in particular through the [[Z39.50]] protocol) has started indexing several open content projects, including Wikipedia:

http://www.indexdata.dk/opencontent/

The integration with Wikipedia is very basic, however, and the only useful article metadata that can really be extracted at this point is the article title. I'd like to suggest that we consider allowing the association of Wikipedia categories with something like [[Library of Congress Subject Headings]] (I think something like this was going to be an eventual fruit of WiktionaryZ). Though doing so would not immediately enhance Wikipedia functionally, it would help Wikipedia conform to the very established standards and tools in the library sciences world and therefore enhance its availability to the many people doing their research primarily through such mechanisms.

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Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:12:34 -0500 From: Sebastian Hammer quinn@indexdata.com Subject: [Yazlist] Open Content and SRU/Z39.50

Hi guys,

this is a follow-up to an earlier announcement on this list. We've now completed the initial setup of our Z/SRU targets for several open content sites, specifically the Open Content Alliance, Wikipedia, DMOZ, and Project Gutenberg. Our hope is that exposing these resources through open information retrieval protocols will allow libraries and others to more easily integrate them into applications, portals, and internet sites.

More details are available at http://www.indexdata.dk/opencontent/ .

To keep people abreast of new developments, and to stimulate discussion about the use and sharing of open content resources in this way, we have created a new mailing list. Signup information at http://lists.indexdata.dk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/oclist/ . We will be using this list to announce the availablility of new targets, changes to setups, etc.

We sincerely hope that you will find these resources useful, and that you'll discover new ways to integrate this exciting content into the way you deliver services to your users.

All the best,

--Sebastian