What is the JSTOR XML Gateway?
The JSTOR XML Gateway is a search API available to eligible JSTOR participants to better facilitate metasearching, which is also known as "federated searching" or "cross-database searching".
The Gateway is based on the Search and Retrieve URL (SRU) Service. The SRU Service is a Web Services-based protocol for querying databases and returning search results and incorporates elements of the Z39.50 protocol for Information Retrieval. The SRU service uses the Contextual Query Language (CQL) as the format for submitting search queries. The service allows for both very simple queries as well as complex, powerful queries involving Boolean operators, nesting, etc.
The search results are returned as XML records in Dublin Core format and are listed in order of relevancy ranking. By providing the search results in XML (short for eXtensible Markup Language), the JSTOR XML Gateway transfers article metadata in a standard format to the metasearch engine for display to the user.
To learn more about SRU and the related protocol of Search and Retrieve Web Service (SRW), please visit: http://www.loc.gov/standards/sru/
Requesting access to the JSTOR XML Gateway
Access to the JSTOR XML Gateway is available to partners and participants who have signed a JSTOR Metasearch License Agreement. In addition, requests to the JSTOR XML Gateway must be made on behalf and for the benefit of an institution, library, or other eligible entity. Access for individual researchers is not available at this time.
To request access to the JSTOR XML Gateway for your institution, please email discoveryservices@ithaka.org.