Conversion
The conversion department handles the XML structuring of publications. It also optimizes files for navigation and search purposes, creates links between articles, and carries out IdRef alignment and database indexing.
XML Conversion
Each publication distributed on Cairn.info is first converted to XML using a common structure: the DTD EruditArticle.
This detailed structuring enables a homogeneous and scalable interface, advanced semantic search functionalities, and various intra- and intertextual navigation features.
Evolution du nombre de pages converties de 2017 à 2023
Enrichment
Conversion also involves enriching publications with various identifiers and data to facilitate and promote their online distribution.
The digital structuring and enrichment of publications distributed online today depend to a large extent on algorithmic text and image processing technologies, and their integration into efficient man-machine interfaces. Hence the importance of constant work on the various stages of digitization and conversion, in order to gain in autonomy, speed, reliability and creativity every day.
See also
IdRef
Since 2021, Cairn.info has been working to align its author database with the IdRef reference system to enhance quality, interoperability, and discoverability.
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IdRef - Identifiers and Repositories for Higher Education and Research
IdRef is a public interface for consulting authority records produced by member institutions of the French higher education and research documentary networks (Sudoc, Calames, Star). IdRef is available for authorized professional users to create/correct/enrich authority records. IdRef also provides a range of freely available services to facilitate data reuse (triplestore data.idref.fr, OAI-PMH repository, APIs).
www.idref.fr
For our conversion teams, this involves assigning a PPN identifier (linked to the French SUDOC catalog) to the authors of each online publication (book, journal issue, article, or contribution to a collective work), thereby enriching the database managed by the Agence bibliographique de l’enseignement supérieur (ABES; French Bibliographic Agency for Higher Education).
This alignment allows us to improve the quality of our database by distinguishing homonyms and eliminating duplicates. It also enables us to offer our users links to publications by these authors on other French-language platforms and—thanks to interoperability between IdRef and other identifiers (ORCID, VIAF, etc.)—to other international portals.
Book reviews
The BOLERO project: Improving the visibility of book reviews
With the support of the Centre National du Livre (CNL; National Book Center), in 2022 Cairn.info launched the BOLERO project to create an open database of links between reviews and books. The objective is to enhance the visibility and interactivity of the network of references between book reviews published in Francophone humanities and social science journals and the works themselves, regardless of the platform hosting them.
