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Version 1 of the Bath Profile for Z39.50 has now been released. It has been submitted to the ISO for registration as an Internationally
Registered Profile. Peter Evans outlines what a profile is, why this one is needed and the implications for librarians and system vendors.
What is a profile, What does the Bath Profile do?, Implementations, Implications, Conclusions.
The concept of a "profile" within the Z39.50 standard has been gaining ground as the practical
implications of Z39.50 (see BTR's technical briefing) have been experienced by librarians around the world. Z39.50 was designed to provide a method for a single user to search several
databases with a single command - usually through the convenience of their local OPAC
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Several sources were used to compile this brief outline of the Bath Profile. More information can be found at:
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whose quirks they know. Any remote Z39.50 compliant database will respond to the search request and
return some records. The problem has been not in the actual working of the standard, but in the way that different servers have been set up by vendors and library system managers. For various reasons,
even a simple search may not return what you expect. An example might be a Z-server set up to interpret a request for a keyword search as a title search - because it does not HAVE a keyword
search. This would mean a search failing when it should not. Technically, this is perfectly OK within the Z39.50 standard - the Z-Server can interpret the
incoming request as it pleases. The important thing in the early days was to get the remote system to respond reliably with some titles. Things have
moved on. Users now expect predictable and precise results - particularly when the results of a search will result in an ILL request which implies a monetary transaction.
A profile tightens up the interpretation of the standard so that a group of interworking library
systems can be set up the same way thus improving consistency and reliability of results.
A meeting in Bath, England at UKOLN, pooled the experience gained by groups of libraries in
Canada, USA and Europe and has resulted in this "Bath Profile" being submitted as a standard to ISO.
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What does the Bath Profile do?
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The Bath Profile has been specified as an "evolving standard" so watch out for more releases
as detail is added. This release defines three "conformance levels" in three different functional areas:
- Basic bibliographic searching - the general identification of a bibliographic record.
- Bibliographic holdings searching - how detail of individual copies of titles including loan status and call numbers etc. is presented.
- "Cross-Domain" searching - the simultaneous searching of, for example, bibliographic catalogues, museum systems and archives.
The conformance levels of 0, 1, and 2 define the detail of which specific searches and features
should be supported e.g. level 0 searching of basic bibliographic catalogues requires and defines 4 basic searches:
- Author Search — Precision Match for Established Name Heading
- Title Search — Keyword
- Subject Search — Keyword
- Any Search — Keywords in (and between) any field e.g. Dickens (from Author) and Twist (from title).
For all the detail of levels and functionality required see the specification at ttp://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/activities/z3950/int_profile/bath/draft/
Although the standard has just been released, several projects and at least one vendor - Sirsi,
has implemented / are implementing the Bath Profile. Projects adopting the standard are:
- ZTexas Project (a statewide network of libraries)
- ONE2 Project (including the national libraries and/or union catalogue agencies of
Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, United Kingdom, Italy, and Hungary)
- Council of Atlantic University Librarians (17 Canadian university libraries)
- National Library of Canada.
Librarians and system vendors need to pay particular heed to this profile - it will shortly not be
good enough to have a plain Z39.50 compliant system. It will need to state its adherence to the Bath Profile.
Librarians will want to increase their search precision in order to save time and money - for
instance where an ILL request is made unnecessarily after an erroneous Z search. Consortia will require members to use systems that comply.
System vendors will begin to see the Bath Profile compliance in RFPs rather than just Z39.50
compliance. Non-supported searches at level 0 conformance will need to be developed and this could have significant impact on other development projects and indeed data structures.
Level 2 and 3 conformance specifications will continue to drive future developments.
Biblio Tech Review supports all efforts towards clear interworking standards. The Bath Profile
is the result of co-operation and hard work that the library and information industry has always benefited from. Support for the profile will contribute to better exchange of information and more
effective systems. |
