Digital Library Interoperability: Proposing a Model

The main purpose of this paper is identifying the current situation of Iranian digital libraries in terms of interoperability abilities and proposing an interoperability solution for Iranian digital libraries. Analytical survey is used in this research. In fact, questionnaire and observation were used for collecting data about the current situation of Iranian digital library applications. The gathered data were analyzed by system analytical method in order to propose some practical suggestions to use in Iranian digital library applications. Iranian digital libraries mostly collect text files. They store data in SQL server and in relational database systems. The majority of Iranian digital libraries do not respect interoperability. They mostly use just Z39.50 clients so as to gather bibliographic data to use in cataloguing center. In fact, most of studied digital libraries do not offer extracting standard formats. Also, they do not make use of structural and administrative metadata format in their bibliographic data. The proposed model is based on harvesting model, OAI protocol and METS/MODS metadata standard. Findings indicated that Iranian digital libraries should be alert about the essence of interoperability. Using the proposed model would help them to be able to exchange their data in a more cost-efficient and cost-effective manner.