IV · 29

Book by ISBN

An OpenURL describing a whole book — ISBN, title, author — using the Book KEV format.

Scenario

A library catalogue refers the user to a printed book. The book is identified by an ISBN; the OpenURL also carries author and title metadata so that resolvers without that exact ISBN in their knowledge base can still match the book.

OpenURL

https://resolver.example.edu/openurl?
ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004
&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:book
&rft.genre=book
&rft.btitle=The+Principles+of+Mathematics
&rft.aulast=Russell
&rft.aufirst=Bertrand
&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press
&rft.place=Cambridge
&rft.date=1903
&rft.isbn=9780393314045
&rft_id=urn:ISBN:9780393314045
&rfr_id=info:sid/example.com:catalogue

Decoded

ctx_ver
Z39.88-2004
rft_val_fmt
info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:book — the Book KEV format.
rft.genre
book — a whole book, not a chapter.
rft.btitle
The Principles of Mathematics
rft.aulast / rft.aufirst
Russell / Bertrand
rft.pub
Cambridge University Press
rft.place
Cambridge
rft.date
1903
rft.isbn
9780393314045 — ISBN of a reprint edition.
rft_id
urn:ISBN:9780393314045 — the same ISBN expressed as a URN identifier.
rfr_id
info:sid/example.com:catalogue

Notes

  • For a whole book, rft.genre=book and the title goes in rft.btitle, not rft.atitle.
  • The ISBN can be sent in two places: as the descriptive rft.isbn and as the identifier rft_id=urn:ISBN:.... Sending both is harmless; resolvers will accept either.
  • Place and publisher are optional but help a knowledge base distinguish editions when the ISBN is not recognised.
  • For a chapter rather than a whole book, see Chapter in an Edited Book.

Sources