referanseoverføring

Referanseoverføring is the process of moving bibliographic references and their metadata from one information system to another, such as between reference management tools, library catalogs, or publication databases. It supports integration of research outputs, enables migration during system changes, and facilitates sharing of metadata across platforms.

Common use cases include migrating a library’s catalog to a new platform, transferring a researcher’s personal bibliography to a group repository, or delivering metadata between publishers and indexing services. The practice relies on standardized data formats and crosswalks to preserve bibliographic fields and relationships.

Formats and standards frequently involved are RIS, BibTeX and BibLaTeX, EndNote XML, as well as XML or CSV exports. Metadata schemas such as Dublin Core, MODS, and MARC21 are used to structure information, while domain-specific fields (authors, titles, DOIs, abstracts, keywords, licenses) are mapped to the target system. Effective referanseoverføring often requires metadata enrichment and deduplication, including normalization of author names, affiliations, and identifiers.

The typical workflow includes planning and scope definition, exporting from the source system, field mapping and metadata transformation, de-duplication and validation, importing into the target system, and post-migration verification. Maintaining an audit trail and preserving original backups are best practices, as is testing with a sample dataset before full migration.

Challenges can include incomplete or inconsistent metadata, language and character encoding issues, missing DOIs or identifiers, licensing or access restrictions, and limited interoperability between systems. Careful planning, adherence to standards, and clear governance help ensure accurate, usable transfers that preserve the scholarly record.

See also: bibliographic databases, citation management, library information systems, data migration.