Frequently Asked Questions about XC

The eXtensible Catalog Organization (XCO) was established to govern the project at the conclusion of the grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that laid the foundation of the XC project. The XCO sets the future direction for XC and provides oversight of ongoing development. XCO staff work with a community of developers and users to maintain and enhance the software. XC is hosted at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries. CARLI is a founding sponsor of the XCO.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has provided significant funding for the project. CARLI is a founding member of the XCO and is actively contributing resources, both money and developers, to the XC project. Other partners and contributors include the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Notre Dame, Kyushu University, Serials Solutions, OCLC, University at Buffalo, Cornell University, Yale University, Ohio State University and Nylink.

CARLI first became interested in the XC project in 2007 when the University of Rochester received the initial planning grant from the Mellon Foundation. In 2008, Mellon awarded the project $1,000,000 to begin development of a discovery system and a set of tools for managing metadata and building applications, and CARLI became a partner in the XC project. In September 2009, the CARLI Board approved the motion to become a Founding Member of the eXtensible Catalog Organization (XCO).

In December 2009, the CARLI Board voted to provide the XC project with up to $500,000 from non-operational reserve funds that CARLI set aside for new systems. The funds, to be disbursed incrementally over a period of two years, are contingent on development continuing at a pace that is acceptable to CARLI staff, which are participating in weekly meetings with XCO staff and are contributing to the development of XC software toolkits. Staff involved in the project oversight include Executive Director Susan Singleton, a Charter XCO Board member, Director of CARLI System Services Brandon Gant. CARLI Application Support Specialists Chris Delis and Patrick Zurek are engaged in developing code for XC. Library Systems Coordinator Jessica Gibson serves on  the project’s Metadata Advisory Committee.

With the conclusion of the Mellon grant in 2009 it was clear that XC would no longer be able to support programming and development at the level necessary to sustain the project, and that progress on XC would slow down drastically. The CARLI staff and Board were dismayed that the work would be delayed or that the project’s ultimate success might be threatened. In December 2009, after careful consideration and in recognition of XC’s potential benefit to the membership, the CARLI Board voted to commit CARLI resources, both staff time and money, to the XC project to ensure that work would continue uninterrupted and in a timely manner.

CARLI’s experience with VuFind demonstrated the power and flexibility of open source library software. For the first time, CARLI staff can write and/or customize code to deal with the challenges inherent in the number and size of the I-Share ILS databases we run. CARLI’s interest in open source software is not a criticism of commercial software written to fill the needs of one-library installations, which are the vast majority of the commercial market. However with open source software, CARLI can help to build tools directly rather than working around the edges of proprietary commercial software. The XC project is technically sound and is built using widely used software such as SOLR, MySQL and Drupal. XC is committed to conforming to standards such as OAI, NCIP, Dublin Core, and RDA and is designed to work with commercial ILSs, digital libraries, and other library software.

The eXtensible Catalog also fits well with CARLI’s vision for the future of I-Share. I-Share libraries currently use several different discovery interfaces and we expect that to continue. While some libraries will purchase commercial discovery tools, we feel it is CARLI’s responsibility to provide a sophisticated discovery tool for CARLI libraries who cannot afford, or do not choose to pay for, a commercial discovery tool. We believe that the eXtensible Catalog is that tool. 

XC has potential in two particular areas. First, the XC toolkits allow incorporation of non-MARC data, which could reveal a library’s digitized collections or institutional repositories. Secondly, XC lays the groundwork for I-Share to interact with other integrated library systems in the future offering the possibility that XC could provide a union catalog to promote resource sharing among CARLI libraries beyond the I-Share participants. We cannot predict if or when these potential scenarios may be achieved, but the possibilities make XC a worthwhile and exciting venture for CARLI.

Development and testing of the XC toolkits is ongoing. The code has been released but the software is not ready for an individual library to use and there are issues related to consortial use of the software that need to be addressed.

Yes. CARLI's XC demo server is running the latest versions of the XC OAIToolkit, XC MST, and XC Drupal Interface and provides a showcase of what the XC software does right now, in its current state. Many features that might appear as if they don't work haven't been built yet. We will be updating the site periodically, as newer code becomes available. Users may sign on to CARLI's xc-demo site with the generic username/password demo/demo to see a basic outline of the MyAccount page that is under development.

The data that are searchable from the demo site consist of bib records extracted from the UIUdb in early summer 2011. The XC NCIP2 Toolkit is not installed so holdings data will not display at this time, although visitors will see a small icon spinning as if holdings data are imminent. As development on XC continues, CARLI will be pointing the XC demo site to a Voyager test server so that holdings data can be displayed. We will also be loading additional libraries' bib data so that we can begin to see how XC will work in a consortial environment.

The XC software is still in development and not ready for testing so we won't be taking "bug reports" at this time. Please use the Ideas and Suggestions section of the CARLI wiki to record your questions, comments and ideas about XC. Most of these questions won't have answers right now but will be helpful as we move forward.

To record a comment or question, log in or create a new account on the CARLI wiki.

Programmers who are interested in contributing code to any of the XC toolkits should visit the eXtensible Catalog web site for more information.

The eXtensible Catalog web site is your best resource for up-to-date information. In addition to the latest news and presentations, you may subscribe to any of their topic-based mailing lists to keep up with developments within the XC community. CARLI will continue to provide updates about progress on XC as it relates to the consortium, via the e-newsletter and this web page or you may email CARLI Support for more information. 

Detailed technical information, including access to the software code repositories and documentation for each of the toolkits, is available on the following web sites:

Drupal Toolkit

Metadata Services Toolkit

OAI Toolkit

NCIP Toolkit