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Z39.50 Interoperability:

Z39.50 Interoperability:. A View from the Virtual Trenches. Colorado Virtual Library. http://www.aclin.org A web gateway to 133 Z39.50 databases 128 library catalog databases Four Dublin Core databases (Soon) An FGDC node for Colorado Altogether, 16 different server brands represented

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Z39.50 Interoperability:

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  1. Z39.50 Interoperability: A View from the Virtual Trenches

  2. Colorado Virtual Library • http://www.aclin.org • A web gateway to 133 Z39.50 databases • 128 library catalog databases • Four Dublin Core databases • (Soon) An FGDC node for Colorado • Altogether, 16 different server brands represented • A public interface to statewide interlibrary loan

  3. Interoperability:Where are we at?

  4. Networking:Person-to-Person Interoperability • You must contact everyone who manages a Z-server in your project group, to exchange configuration information • Not everyone who manages a Z-server knows how to configure it! • In Colorado, libraries are responsible for funding (and setting up) their own Z-servers

  5. Examples: • “Sure we have a Z-server. The address is www.mylibrary.com” • “Our IT department is refusing to turn it on. They’re afraid people will hack in through our Z39.50 port.”

  6. Broadcast Searching: The Bib-1 Attribute Set • In our experience, Use attributes are interpreted pretty consistently across many server types. • Structure attributes are also used pretty consistently • Other attributes (Relation, Position, Truncation, Completeness) are interpreted variously.

  7. Broadcast Searching: For Best Results… • If you plan to do broadcast searching across different-brand servers, you will have to do some mapping of Bib-1 attributes. • Some Z39.50 clients can be configured to do this more conveniently than others.

  8. Retrieval: Record Syntax • USMARC and OPAC are the most common Z39.50 Record Syntaxes for library catalog databases • In practice, these work great (except for holdings)

  9. Record Syntax • For non-library-catalog resources: • Dublin Core • FGDC metadata • Abstracts & Indexes • Full Text • etc. • You will want a non-MARC Record Syntax!

  10. SUTRS • Plain Text Record Syntax • Easy to implement • Low hassle • Not Feature-Rich • Supported by many (not all) clients and servers

  11. XML • Not supported by many systems today, but will be very prominent in the future • Can support richer features • Separates content from presentation; Use XSLT for flexible formatting

  12. For Best Results… • Check whether your software supports the Record Syntaxes appropriate to your project’s collections • If you do a broadcast search across collections that use different Record Syntaxes, will your software display results together on a page, and still look nice?

  13. Retrieval: Holdings • CVL connects to 14 different types of bibliographic databases, and no two of them use the same scheme for holdings! • A big gaping hole where a standard should be

  14. Holdings • At a minimum, almost every human user who is searching for a book needs to know: • Where is the book? (Library institution, branch, and collection) • How do I find it? (Local call number) • May I check it out today? (Shelf status) • Claim: A system that does not deliver this much information to the patron will frustrate!

  15. Holdings • For automated resource sharing systems: • Essentially the same information, but in machine-parseable format! • Where is the book? (USMOC) • How do I find it? (Local Barcode) • May I check it out today? (Policy and Availability indicators)

  16. Opinion on Holdings • There ought to be a standard

  17. Patron Authentication • For automated Resource Sharing, you need to authenticate patrons • For Access to licensed databases, you need to authenticate patrons • Is there a convenient, generally applicable way to do this remotely?

  18. Patron Authentication • Emerging Standard: NCIP • Designed to cover many circulation-oriented services • Now a real NISO standard • Coming soon to the real world

  19. Conclusions • Wide adoption of standards makes life easier • Some areas still need work: • Non-MARC Record Syntaxes • Bibliographic Holdings • Patron Authentication, and other automated circulation functions

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