ANSI/NISO Z39.88 - The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services (OpenURL)

Maintained by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) .

OpenURL is a technology that facilitates the discovery of full text content by users affiliated with an institution that provides access to licensed resources. An information service such as an abstracting and indexing database might support OpenURL by providing a link in each search result in an OpenURL format that includes among other things name/value pairs with appropriate bibliographic information to identify the located resource. Once constructed, OpenURLs are then sent to link resolvers run by individual institutions with which users are affiliated, which check the bibliographic information about the located resource against a local database of licensed and open access resource. The user is then presented with a list of options for how to access different versions of the resource in print and in licensed databases.SFX was the first mainstream OpenURL resolver used in libraries after it was purchased by Ex Libris. OCLC is the official OpenURL maintenance agency.