The concept of 'overlay' in relation to the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH)

Abstract

The evolution of scholarly documentation is discussed in light of the theory of the "ecology of documentation". The OAI-PMH is presented, and a survey of features found in existing service providers/overlays is presented. A prototype overlay incorporating features of wikis and "tagging" is presented along with some thoughts on how overlays may evolve and differentiate in the future.