CSV2OAI: OAI-PMH Server for CSV File (The definitive Perl version)

This project implements a minimal OAI-PMH server in Perl 5 (🐪 Perl will prevail!), reading its data from a CSV file formatted according to the Dublin Core Element Set. OAI-PMH is a protocol for metadata harverting since 1999 : see Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting.

Also available for PHP ≥ 7.2.

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Prerequisites

• Perl ≥ 5.10
• Only standard Perl modules:
  • CGI
  • POSIX
• CGI-compatible HTTP server (Apache, Nginx with FCGI, or local server)
• CSV file structured according to the Dublin Core Element Set format

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Project Files

File	Description
oai.pl	Main Perl CGI script (OAI-PMH server)
data.csv	CSV database containing Dublin Core records
index.html	Query interface
oaiperl.png	Logo

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Structure of the data.csv File

The CSV file must:

• Be UTF-8 encoded
• Use ; as the column separator
• Have a set (for OAI sets) field in the first column
• Have a OAI identifier field in the identifier_oai column
• Contain the following 15 Dublin Core elements (in any order after set, identifier, date):

set;identifier_oai;identifier;title;creator;subject;description;publisher;date;type;format;language;coverage;rights;relation;

⚠️ You can adapt the order of DC fields on the line 180 of oai.pl.

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Installation

1. Place the oai.pl and data.csv files in your cgi-bin directory (or other, for example /oai-pmh/).

2. Make the script executable:

chmod +x oai.pl

3. ⚠️ **You MUST change the $baseURL variable to your Web server URL, eg. : my $baseURL = 'https://yourserver.org/oai-pmh/oai.pl';

4. Access your server at the following URL:

http://yourserver.org/oai-pmh/oai.pl?verb=Identify

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Supported Verbs

OAI Verb	Description
Identify	Information about the repository
ListMetadataFormats	Returns supported metadata formats
ListIdentifiers	Lists record headers
ListRecords	Full list of Dublin Core records
GetRecord	Retrieves a specific record
ListSets	Returns available sets (setSpec)

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Example Call

GET /cgi-bin/oai.pl?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&set=set1

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Demo

A demo is avalaible on https://www.stephanepouyllau.org/oai-perl/.

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Notes and Limitations

• The script does not depend on any external libraries.
• All data is extracted directly from data.csv.
• Pagination is handled via resumptionToken.
• The script does not implement the deleted, from, or until functionalities of OAI, as it is intended to remain lightweight for users unfamiliar with OAI. For those seeking full OAI-PMH protocol support, other tools provide more advanced handling (Dataverse, Omeka Classic or S, etc.).
• This server is not suitable for large CSV files; other tools are available for handling very large datasets (e.g., Dataverse).

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License and Citation

This project is open-source. See the LICENSE file for more information.

Citation: POUYLLAU, S. (CNRS) with Mistral 7b, CSV2OAI: OAI-PMH Server for CSV File (The definitive Perl version), July 2025.

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Contact

Created by Stéphane Pouyllau, CNRS research engineer.
Date: July 2025.