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Metadata Basics

Harvesting

Harvesting

Metadata harvesting is the automated collection of metadata descriptions from different sources to create useful aggregations of metadata and related services. The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), which uses XML over HTTP to exchange data on the World Wide Web, was introduced in 2001. OAI-PMH is widely used by digital libraries, institutional repositories, and digital archives, as well as commercial services, to facilitate data exchange among systems and expand access to collections.  

A few common examples of aggregators using OAI-PMH: 

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