The open archives initiative and the OAI protocol for metadata harvesting: Rapidly forming a new tier in the scholarly communication infrastructure

Abstract

The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is a major development aimed at heightening interoperability and providing more targeted access to scholarly electronic full texts. This article gives an overview of the development and philosophy of the OAI, then highlights ongoing research and the initiative's status as of March 2002. Finally, the impact of widespread adoption and its implications for the scientific community are outlined.