Z39.50 Resources Page
National Information Standards Organization Z39.50 Information Retrieval Protocol (Z39.50/ISO 23950), a computer protocol that can be implemented on any platform, defines a standard way for two computers to communicate for the purpose of information retrieval. A Z39.50 implementation enables one interface to access multiple systems providing the end-user with nearly transparent access to other systems.
Acknowledgements
Mark Kelly established the original Z39.50 resource page Internet Searching with Z39.50. This resource is built upon his efforts. His work is most appreciated.
CONTENTS
Varieties of Z39.50 Implementations
Z39.50 Technology And Services
General Information on Z39.50:
Z39.50. Part 1 – An Overview from Biblio Tech Review.
Z39.50: The Basics by Fay Turner. Presented at 1997 IFLA Conference.
World Wide Web e Z39.50: standard per la ricerca a confronto di Antonio Scolari. BollettinoAIB, 1996, 36(4). In Italian. English abstract: World Wide Web and Z39.50: two information retrieval standards compared.
Z39.50 L'information Bibliographique Structurée sur le Net par Anne-Lise Lévéjac.
La norme Z39.50: un outil essentiel pour l'uniformisation de la recherche d'information par Martin Sévigny.
The Z39.50 Information Retrieval Standard Part I: A Strategic View of Its Past, Present and Future by Clifford Lynch. Part 2 was to have published in October 1997 but is not in that issue. (Information on publishing date in the article is not correct).
Z39.50: An Overview of Development and the Future by Susannah Iltis
Z39.50: The User's Perspective by Sandra D. Payette and Oya Y. Rieger.
Z39.50 Made Simple by Sonya Finnigan and Nigel Ward
Search with Z39.50:
Libraries Australia Z39.50 Targets
RUSLANet Z39.50 Gateway. Search Russian and other sources.
Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin (ZLB) – union catalogs, Z39.50 Gateway (Central and Regional Library Berlin (ZLB) the largest public library in Germany)
AHDS gateway Arts and Humanities Data Service Z39.50 gateway
Alpha Java Version of Willow from the University of Washington lets you search many systems. Best if your system supports 800 pixel-wide display. Scroll down page and click on buttons.
Stanford University's DB Connect
Library of Congress Z39.50 Gateway.
Canada's GIFT
Europagate WWW to Z39.50 Gateway
Test the Europagate E-mail to Z39.50 Gateway
Search Singapore's ITI Information Retrieval Gateway
Search Poland's Katalogi BG PK using stateful Z39.50 gateway.
Download Z39.50 Software:
ZNavigator – ZNavigator came out of a European Telematics program as part of the CaseLibrary package of Z-client, Z-server and resources manager.
Blue Angel Technologies' GILS-compliant Metadata Server for Windows NT. (Click on Products link).
A Search Module for Apache: Implements Z39.50 search from within the Apache HTTP Server.
Free and Commercial Z39.50 software page listed at the Maintenance Agency.
Available Z39.50 software products by Telematics for Libraries projects.
Z39.50's International Scope
- Z39.50 in Europe
Several EU Telematics for Libraries Projects utilize Z39.50/SR (Refer to index under Z39.50)
EC Supported Z39.50 Projects by Gordon Pedersen. presented at the 63rd IFLA General Conference, 1997.
Australia's ZedWeb Project
Metro Toronto Public Libraries Z39.50 Pilot Project. Project to identify the practicality of using the Z39.50 protocol for remote catalogue searching and its impact on resource sharing. Includes project final report.
Z39.50 research in Singapore.
France's Aquarelle uses Z39.50.
Lasse Haatajan Z39.50-projektisivu from Finland.
Z39.50 interface for BLISS databases. May need to refer to CNIDR Isite
Z39.50 and Other Standards:
- ZDSR Profile:Z39.50 Profile for Simple Distributed Search and Ranked Retrieval. Latest draft.
- Java and Z39.50: A new solution for Web access to library catalogs by Victor Rosenberg
- White Paper on Javafied Willow
- Verteilte Systeme-Praktikum SS96 Aufgabe 4: Z39.50 Java Client-Applet
- OCLC's Java version of it's Z39.50 API.
- The WILD Thing Project's May Day System includes a Java applet with links to Z39.50 middleware and to Libraries.
- Other EU Telematics for Libraries Projects feature Z39.50/SR.
STARTS - Stanford Protocol for Internet Search and Retrieval: Complementary to Z39.50, or a Rival Protocol?
Z39.50 and Java:
Z39.50 and the World Wide Web by Sebastian Hammer and John Favaro.
Final Report of the World Wide Web Consortium's Distributed Indexing/Searching Workshop held at M.I.T. 28-31
The Cheshire II Project unites Z39.50 and SGML.
Z39.50/SQL+: Stateful Web Access to Relational Databases
Z39.50/SQL+ Project – "ZINC" in Postscript format. Proposal by Robert M. Colomb and Sonya M. Finnigan dated September 1996.
Z+SQL – Draft 5 outlines the Z+SQL proposal to extend the Z39.50-1995 Search and Retrieval protocol to support SQL querying and the SQL export record syntax.
General Z+SQL TestBed Characteristics of the Information Retrieval Service
Z39.50 to X.500 Gateway is a DSTC prototype that demonstrates how an information service can use Z39.50 to access data from an X.500 distributed hierarchical database.
Varieties of Z39.50 Implementations and Profiles:
- Projects registered at the Z39.50 Maintenance Agency
- Z39.50/ILL Profile 1 Profile for the Use of Z39.50 Item Order Extended Service to Transport ILL Protocol APDUs
- Z39.50/ILL Profile 2 Profile for the Use of Parameters from the ILL-Request APDU iin Z39.50 Item Order
Chemical Abstract Service's SciFinder uses Z39.50 to search for chemical substance information and chemical literature in CAS databases.
Project Seeks to Make Finding Data On the Web Less Irritating by Sreenath Sreenivasan. New York Times article on Global (formerly Government) Information Locator Service (GILS).
PARAGON access to sound archives.
Government Information Locator Service (GILS).
Recent Developments in Galen II: Evolution of a Digital Library for the Health Sciences.
Japan CATSS [Cataloguing Support System] includes Z39.50 access to RLIN in order to retrieve CJKR records in the vernacular.
Z39.50 spatial data searching.
Tools to Facilitate Access to Digital Orthophotos by the Planning Support Systems Group, M.I.T. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning and the Massachussetts Geographic Information System (MassGIS), Mass. Executive Office of Environmental Affairs includes Z39.50 metadata search. (This page takes a while to load).
Répertoire International de Sources Musicales project at Harvard University.
Profile for the Use of Parameters for the ILL Request APDU in Z39.50 Item Order (available in pdf only)
DL Profile for Access to Digital Library Objects(Slide presentation for Z39.50 Acccess to Digital Collections).
MODELS Library Interoperability Profile Family
Collection Companion Profiles Background Document.
Z39.50 Profiles from the Maintenance Agency
Z39.50 Technology and Services:
(See Download Z39.50 Software:for downloadable products)
Taliesin Software Research, Inc. Z'Est® – Z39.50 Enhanced Server Technology. (Click on Z39.50 Servers and other Products ).
Australia's Structured Information Manager (SIM).
Further Information on Z39.50:
The U.S. National Z39.50 Profile (ANSI/NISO Z39.89)
Library of Congress Z39.50 Maintenance Agency: Information on the Z39.50 Implementors Group (ZIG) and its listserv, plus links to technical papers and standards documents not listed here. The Maintenance Agency can provide information on any changes to the standard and advise on how to implement the standard.
Z39.50 Client and Web Gateway Surveys
The building and maintenance of robot based internet search services: A review of current indexing and data collection methods by T. Koch, A. Ardö, A. Brümmer and S. Lundberg for project DESIRE. Contains information on Z39.50, as well as much other information.
Architecture For Access To Government Information: Report of the IMSC – Technical Group
Z39.50 Technical Issues by Dennis Lynch. : [Acrobat PDF version: 100K]. No HTML version available.
Discussion Paper: Networked Information Retrieval Standards by DSTC Resource Discovery Unit.
Contact Information
Resource page maintained by NISO Headquarters. Comments and suggestions are welcome.