The Bath Profile:

An International Z39.50 Specification
for Library Applications and Resource Discovery

Release 1.0

Stable Draft

 

Developed by

The Bath Group
(Participants at the Bath, UK Meeting, August 1999)

Edited by

The Bath Profile Editorial Team
Carrol Lunau, Paul Miller, and William E. Moen

bath-profile@ukoln.ac.uk

 

Revised March 13, 2000
Revised January 10, 2000
October 15, 1999


Table of Contents

Revision History

Maintenance of the Profile

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction to the Profile

2. Purpose and Scope

3. Functional Requirements
   
3.1. Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval
        3.1.1. Basic Bibliographic Search
        3.1.2. Browsing Indexes
        3.1.3. Basic Bibliographic Retrieval
    3.2. Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval
    3.3. Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

4. Z39.50 Specifications
    4.1. Protocol Version
    4.2. Z39.50 Objects
    4.3. Z39.50 Services
        4.3.1. Init
        4.3.2. Search: Query Type and Attribute Sets
        4.3.3. Retrieval: Record Syntaxes

    4.4. Diagnostic Messages

5. Conformance

5.A. Functional Area A: Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval, with Primary Focus on Library Catalogues

5.A.0. Functional Area A: Level 0 Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval

5.A.0.1. Author Search — Precision Match for Established Name Heading
5.A.0.2. Title Search — Keyword
5.A.0.3. Subject Search — Keyword
5.A.0 4. Any Search — Keyword

5.A.1. Functional Area A: Level 1 Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval

5.A.1.1. Author Search — Precision Match for Established Name Heading with Right Truncation
5.A.1.2. Author Search — Keyword
5.A.1.3. Author Search — Keyword with Right Truncation
5.A.1.4. Author Search — Exact Match
5.A.1.5. Title Search — Keyword with Right Truncation
5.A.1.6. Title Search — Exact Match
5.A.1.7. Title Search — First Words in Field
5.A.1.8. Title Search — First Characters in Field
5.A.1.9. Subject Search — Keyword with Right Truncation
5.A.1.10. Subject Search — Exact Match
5.A.1.11. Subject Search — First Words in Field
5.A.1.12. Subject Search — First Characters in Field

5.A.1.13. Any Search — Keyword with Right Truncation
5.A.1.14. Standard Identifier Search
5.A.1.15.  Date of Publication Search

5.A.1.SCAN. Functional Area A: Level 1 Use of SCAN

5.A.1.SCAN.1.  Author — Exact Match
5.A.1.SCAN.2.  Title —  Exact Match
5.A.1.SCAN.3.  Title — Keyword
5.A.1.SCAN.4.  Subject — Exact Match
5.A.1.SCAN.5.  Subject — Keyword
5.A.1.SCAN.6.  Any — Keyword

5.A.2. Functional Area A: Bibliographic Level 2 Search and Retrieval

5.B. Functional Area B: Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval

5.B.0. Functional Area B: Level 0 Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval
5.B.1. Functional Area B: Level 1 Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval
5.B.2. Functional Area B: Level 2 Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval

5.C. Functional Area C: Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

5.C.0. Functional Area C: Level 0 Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

5.C.0.1. Creator Search — Keyword
5.C.0.2. Title Search — Keyword 
5.C.0.3. Subject Search — Keyword
5.C.0.4. Any Search — Keyword

5.C.1. Functional Area C: Level 1 Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

5.C.1.1. Creator Search — Keyword with Right Truncation 
5.C.1.2.  Title Search — Keyword with Right Truncation
5.C.1.3.  Title Search — Unanchored Phrase
5.C.1.4.  Subject Search — Keyword with Right Truncation
5.C.1.5.  Subject Search — Unanchored Phrase
5.C.1.6.  Any Search — Keyword with Right Truncation
5.C.1.7.  Any Search — Unanchored Phrase
5.C.1.8.  Standard Identifier Search
5.C.1.9.  Date of Publication Search

5.C.2. Functional Area C: Level 2 Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

6. References

Appendix A: Use of New Attribute Sets for Expressing Selected Searches (under development)
Appendix B: Diagnostics: Suggested User Display and Message Logging Using bib-1
                    Diagnostic Set
Appendix C: Examples of Using Truncation and Completion
Appendix D: eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Document Type Definition for Dublin Core
                    Simple

Appendix E: Creating a Search from Scan Results


Revision History

The Stable Draft version of the Bath Profile is based on public review and comments of the January 10, 2000 draft.  In addition, the Stable Draft reflects discussions held in San Antonio, TX, in January 2000 as part of the Z39.50 Implementors Group (ZIG) meetings.  This version is intended to be publicly reviewed by the ZIG and to be submitted to TC 46 of ISO for review and consideration as an Internationally Registered Profile.

The January 10, 2000 draft of the Bath Profile is based on a public review and comments of the first public release of the draft specifications on October 15, 1999.  

The October 15, 1999 draft of the Bath Profile was produced based on discussions at the Bath Meeting and subsequent comments by the Bath participants on several early drafts of the specifications.  The October 15, 1999 release was intended for wide public review and comment.


Maintenance of the Profile

The National Library of Canada (NLC) is the maintenance agency for the Profile and assumes overall responsibility for its development. NLC serves as Editor of the Profile. The Bath Profile Working Group serves in an advisory capacity to the Editor. The Profile will evolve in response to application needs and requirements of the international library communities and implementors of the Bath Profile.

See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/activities/z3950/int_profile/bath/draft/ for current information on the Profile and its development. In the first instance, remaining queries relating to this Profile should be addressed to <bath-profile@ukoln.ac.uk>.


Acknowledgments

This document reflects several years of implementing and profiling Z39.50 specification directed at solving interoperability issues when searching library catalogues. In August 1999, a group of people met in Bath, United Kingdom, to work out solutions that would improve semantic interoperability between Z39.50 systems used in library applications. The participants represented various initiatives, projects, and interests, and key Z39.50 profiling efforts of the past several years. They also shared a common goal of developing an international specification for Z39.50 to be used in library applications. The Bath Profile is the result of those deliberations.

The following people attended the Bath Meeting:

The meeting was supported by funding from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.  Paul Miller organized the Bath Meeting and Carrol Lunau chaired the three-day meeting.  William Moen currently serves as Editor of the Bath Profile.


1. Introduction to the Profile

This document identifies a subset of specifications from the Z39.50 Information Retrieval Protocol (ANSI/NISO Z39.50/ISO 23950) for use in Z39.50 client and server software.   Conformance to this profile's specifications will improve international or extranational search and retrieval among library catalogues, union catalogues, and other electronic resource discovery services worldwide. The profile will evolve as the environment and the standard change, and is intended to facilitate global resource sharing.  However, a primary goal of the Bath Group was to publish the first release of the profile as quickly as possible rather than waiting for the complete definition of all specifications before the initial release.

This profile builds upon the experience of other profiling efforts addressing interoperability for library catalogue searching and the development of virtual union catalogues. In particular, the following efforts informed the profile:

An earlier document by Carrol Lunau and Joe Zeeman, Z39.50 Basic Searching of Bibliographic Systems: A Discussion Document, outlined the issues and need for an international profile for searching library catalogues.

The structure of the profile is modular and allows the future specification for separate but compatible functional requirements involving a range of applications useful to librarians and library users.  The profile is structured into Functional Areas that group similar functional requirements, Z39.50 specifications, and levels of conformance.  Z-clients and Z-servers may claim conformance to the profile at one or more Conformance Levels within one or more Functional Areas. 

This release of the profile defines three Functional Areas:

Other functional areas may be defined in future releases of this profile such as a functional area for union catalogue updating and a functional area for item order and document delivery.

In addition, Conformance Levels are specified separately for each Functional Area, but generally:

Each Conformance Level defines required Z39.50 client and server specifications and behavior.


2. Purpose and Scope

The purpose of the Bath Profile is to identify those features of the Z39.50 standard that are required to allow effective use of Z39.50 software in a range of library applications, including search and retrieval of  bibliographic data from library catalogues; transfer of holdings information; cross-domain searches between libraries, museums and archives; updating union catalogues; item ordering and document delivery.

Implementation of this profile by systems developers will improve interoperability among diverse systems and improve search and retrieval results within specific Functional Areas.

The usefulness of the profile is twofold.   First, it is intended to define a core set of functionality and Z39.50 specifications to enable international or extranational search and retrieval, especially when a Z-client does not have detailed information about one or more Z-servers.  Second, the profile specifications provide the foundation for interoperability between Z-clients and Z-servers outside of the primary jurisdiction of regional, national, state, local, and project groups when their individual profiles incorporate the Bath Profile specifications.  The core functionality and specifications defined in this profile are intended to serve as a true subset of regional, national, state, local, or project profiles.

Information retrieval is not an end unto itself but rather one step within a larger activity such as interlibrary loan, cataloguing, reference, acquisitions or catalogue updating. For this reason, the profile will be developed incrementally to incorporate richer functionality that can address additional library applications.

The primary goal of the profile is to increase the semantic interoperability between disparate systems so that end-users can use Z-clients to search catalogues and be confident that they have retrieved valid result sets.

A key component of this profile is the characterization of the types of searching required by librarians and library users. To this end, the profile defines specific searches and how the semantics of those searches are to be expressed in the vocabulary of Z39.50.  The profile does not prescribe local indexing decision or practices, however, semantic interoperability may be threatened by local indexing decisions that serve local needs.   Because the profile defines a core set of searches desired by users, implementors may use these searches to guide local indexing decisions.

Terminology issues are ever-present in a document such as this.  An example of such an issue is with terms such as "access points," "indexes," "fields," and "data elements."  Often, the library community uses the phrase "search a particular field or fields," when at the system level, the search may be executed by matching the search term with entries in a system-generated index.  Access points can be considered searchable fields of a record as represented by the index created from data from those fields.  For Cross-Domain searching, the concept of "field" may be completely absent.  In defining searches for library catalogs, the description references fields and indexes.  In defining cross-domain searches, the description references data elements and indexes.

It is anticipated that subsequent releases of the profile may incorporate, but not necessarily be limited to, the addition of the following functions:


3. Functional Requirements

This section identifies the functional requirements informing the Z39.50 specifications in this release. These requirements focus on search and retrieval between library catalogues, the search and retrieval of bibliographic holdings information, and cross-domain search and retrieval for resource discovery. The  requirements detailed in the sections below comprise three Functional Areas:

Section 5, Conformance, details the specifications for each Functional Area and Conformance Level. 

3.1. Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval

Library users conduct a variety of search and retrieval transactions.  The functional requirements for basic bibliographic search and retrieval delineate a limited number of core searches, the browsing of indexes, and the appropriate retrieval mechanisms needed by library users when interacting with library catalogues and other electronic resources discovery services.

3.1.1. Basic Bibliographic Search

Librarians and library users engage in a wide range of searching behaviors.  Agreements on a core set of bibliographic searches have evolved through various Z39.50 profiling efforts:

Given these basic bibliographic search behaviors, Section 5.A. Functional Area A: Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval, with Primary Focus on Library Catalogues, details two levels of searching.

Level 0 can be considered a set of core searches with a general focus on recall rather than precision.  Level 0 searches provide basic functionality for common author, title, subject searches.  Level 0 searches are likely to be available in existing implementations.

Level 1 inherits all Level 0 searches and defines additional searches to provide for more precision in search and retrieval.   Implementors are encouraged to provide Level 1 searches. 

Each search defined in Level 0 and Level 1 includes a description of expected behavior, and a prescription for the attribute combination Z-clients are required to send and Z-servers are required to support.

3.1.2.  Browsing Indexes

Librarians and library users often use a browse function on a local system to identify appropriate search terms to use in a query.  Browse-based searching can assist users in improving their selection of search terms for the query.  This is a useful feature, often used in conjunction with known-item searching.  Such browse-based searching can be seen as an alternative searching strategy for some search requirements listed in 3.1.1.   Browsing indexes is a requirement for Z39.50 implementations and can be achieved through the Z39.50 Scan service, and this requirement is addressed in Level 1.

3.1.3. Basic Bibliographic Retrieval

This profile addresses retrieval of bibliographic and holdings records from library catalogues. Retrieval of bibliographic records given the existence of national MARC formats presents interoperability challenges.  Z-servers must support the retrieval of brief and/or full forms of bibliographic records in an internationally accepted MARC format as well as in plain text format to achieve interoperability. The profile assumes that regional, national, state, local or project companion profiles to this international profile may specify additional requirements such as a preferred MARC format when retrieving records from MARC databases within a specific region, country, state, locality, or project.  Support for MARC21, UNIMARC, and plain text formats as specified in this profile provide a basis for interoperability in an international context. 

* Note:  USMARC has been superseded by MARC21; the Z39.50 Object Identifier (OID) for USMARC will now be used to reference MARC21.

3.2.  Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval

Identifying which collections contain certain information resources is a key factor in creating an infrastructure for resource sharing among libraries.  Librarians require holdings information for resource sharing, and library users need holdings information for knowing where to go to use or borrow a resource.  The holdings information should provide sufficient identification and description of an item to give the user adequate information to make a decisions about requesting or retrieving the item. 

Search and retrieval of bibliographic holdings information require the use of the Holdings Attribute Set, the Generic Record Syntax (GRS-1), and the recently completed Holdings Schema.

3.3.   Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

Librarians and library users desire integrated access to distributed resources, often in conjunction with resource discovery where searches are across many types of information resources.  There is a requirement for effective cross-domain searching of diverse resources including library catalogues, government information, museum systems, and archives. A user may wish to send a single search to one or more these resources.  

For example, a user within a library might desire to search the local catalogue plus one or more museum systems and an archive to find information related to a specific artist.  A library Z-client configured for cross-domain searching could send out queries to Z39.50 accessible museum and archive systems configured to support cross-domain searching.  Similarly, a museum curator could use a museum Z-client configured to support cross-domain searching to search the local museum system, one or more other museum systems, one or more library catalogues, and government resources that are Z39.50 accessible and configured to support cross-domain searching.

Interoperability in the retrieval of such resources require standard record syntaxes.  This requirement can be accommodated through the Z39.50 Simple Unstructured Text Record Syntax (SUTRS) and the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). 

This profile assumes that basic cross-domain searching behavior for resource discovery is similar to searching behavior defined for basic bibliographic searching.  Therefore, the basic bibliographic searches defined in Level 0 are required for cross-domain Level 0 searches.  Cross-domain Level 1 searching has some overlap with the basic bibliographic Level 1 searches but has fewer requirements for precision searches and requires more support for unanchored phrase searching.


4. Z39.50 Specifications

This section summarizes the general Z39.50 specifications to address the functional requirements identified in Section 3.

4.1. Protocol Version

The profile requires Version 2 or Version 3 of Z39.50-1995, depending on Functional Area and Conformance Level.  All implementations are encouraged to use Version 3, but in the near term, conformance to certain specifications prescribed by this profile is available to Version 2 implementations.

4.2. Z39.50 Objects

The profile uses a number of Z39.50 registered objects.  The following table summarizes all Z39.50 objects referenced in the three Functional Areas.

Object OID
bib-1 attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.1
holdings attribute set [to be assigned]
utility attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.11
cross domain attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.12
bib-1 diagnostic set 1.2.840.10003.4.1
holdings schema 1.2.840.10003.13.7
eSpec-q 1.2.840.10003.11.3
UNIMARC record syntax 1.2.840.10003.5.1
MARC21 record syntax 1.2.840.10003.5.10
Simple unstructured records syntax (SUTRS) 1.2.840.10003.5.101
Generic record syntax (GRS-1) 1.2.840.10003.5.105
XML record syntax 1.2.840.10003.5.109.10

Support for these registered objects by Z-clients and Z-servers is specified in Section 5, Conformance. For information on Z39.50 registered objects, see the Z39.50 Maintenance Agency's Z39.50 Registry of Object Identifiers (see also Z39.50 Maintenance Agency).

4.3. Z39.50 Services

The profile specifies the use of the following  Z39.50 services:

See Section 5, Conformance, for specific requirements related to these Z39.50 services.

No additional services are required for conformance to this profile. Z-clients and Z-servers optionally may use other Z39.50 services.  Future releases of the profile may require additional services.

Standard Z39.50 Init Service negotiation procedures control the use of all services.

4.3.1. Init

Z-clients conforming to this profile may use the IDAuthentication parameters to transmit authentication information (e.g., userid and password). Z-servers conforming to this profile may or may not require authentication. The profile specifies no other security requirements. Z-clients may need to know in advance the authentication policy of a given server, and be prepared to provide values for userid and password.

Character Set Negotiation is required for Z-clients and Z-servers for particular Conformance Levels; see Section 5, Conformance.

4.3.2. Search: Query Type and Attribute Sets

The profile requires Z-clients and Z-servers to use Z39.50 Type 1 queries (i.e., general purpose Boolean query structures).

The Result-set-name parameter is required for Z-servers, and Z-servers must be able to retain at least two named results sets for the duration of a session.   Exceptional server situations may override the "two named results sets" requirement.

To accommodate the searching requirements for the three Functional Areas, the profile requires Z-clients and Z-servers to use one or more of the following attribute sets:

Object OID
bib-1 attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.1
holdings attribute set [to be assigned]
utility attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.11
cross domain attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.12

Conformant Z-clients and Z-servers will support Attribute types and values according to Section 5. Conformance. "Support" in this context means:

This means that all implementations conforming to this profile must have search capabilities for attribute types and values listed in each Functional Area and Conformance Level for which conformance is claimed (see Section 5, Conformance). Z-clients and Z-servers may also use attribute types and values from other public or private attribute sets in addition to those required by this profile.

Complex keyword searches can be expressed using Boolean operators to connect one or more operands where the operands are constructed using the searches defined in these specifications. 

The bib-1 Attribute Set plays a primary role in this profile for both basic bibliographic searching and for cross-domain searching.  Semantics for most of the bib-1 attributes specified for support in this profile can be found in Attribute Set bib-1 (Z39.50-1995): Semantics (September 1995).  Not all current bib-1 attribute values, however, are defined in that document. However, the complete bib-1 Attribute Set is available at http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/bib1.html.

New implementations may consider using attribute sets developed within the framework of the new attribute architecture.  To begin the migration towards the use of the new attribute sets, some queries defined in this Profile can be expressed by the new attribute sets, and where possible, Appendix A* contains the expression of these queries using the Utility and Cross Domain Attribute Sets.

* Note: Appendix A is under development.

The following table summarizes the bib-1 Attribute Set types and values referenced in the Functional Areas A and C:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4, 21, 31, 1003, 1007, 1016 title, subject heading, date of publication, author, identifier-standard, any
Relation (2) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 less than, less than or equal, equal, greater than or equal, greater than
Position (3) 1, 3 first in field, any position in field
Structure (4) 1, 2, 101 phrase, word, normalized
Truncation (5) 1, 100 right truncation, do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1, 3 incomplete subfield, complete field

The following table summarizes the search types defined for Functional Areas A and C and Levels 0 and 1

Fields Containing One or More Words

Search Type Functional Area A Functional Area C
  Level 0 Level 1 Level O Level 1
Keyword Title, Subject, Any Author, Title, Subject, Any Author, Title, Subject, Any Author, Title, Subject, Any
Keyword with right truncation   Author, Title, Subject, Any   Author, Title, Subject, Any
First characters   Title, Subject    
First words   Title, Subject    
Unanchored normalized name Author      
Unanchored phrase       Author, Title, Subject, Any
Exact match   Author, Title, Subject    

One Word Fields

Search Type Functional Area A Functional Area C
  Level 0 Level 1 Level O Level 1
Exact match   Identifier; Date of Publication   Identifier; Date of Publication

The Holdings Attribute Set is used for searches involving holdings information and is detailed in Functional Area B.

 
4.3.3. Retrieval: Record Syntaxes

For interoperability, Z-clients and Z-servers must support one or more common record syntaxes.  Support of a record syntax means that for every record in a result set, the Z-server can deliver the record in a required record syntax.  Exceptional server situations may override this required syntax requirement (e.g., database temporarily not available).  Local policies may also restrict access to records in one or more specific record syntaxes to authorized users.  In such cases, the server should return a diagnostic; see Section 4.4. Diagnostic Messages.

Z-clients and Z-servers have different responsibilities in their support for record syntaxes.  Z-clients will support all syntaxes required in a Functional Area and at a given Conformance Level, while Z-servers will normally support only those syntaxes required for their business.

For Basic Bibliographic Retrieval (Functional Area A), the MARC21, UNIMARC, SUTRS, and XML record syntaxes are required depending on Conformance Level.   Regional, national, state, local, or project companion profiles may specify other Z39.50 registered MARC record syntaxes in addition to those required by this profile.  In the case where a user requests a record syntax (e.g., MARC21) and the Z-server only provides records in UNIMARC, the Z-server should return the appropriate diagnostic; see Section 4.4. Diagnostic Messages.  

Interoperability requires use of  standard character sets.  Unless specified otherwise, Z-clients and Z-servers must use the character set defined by a particular record syntax (e.g., for MARC21, see MARC 21 Specifications for Record Structure, Character Sets, and Exchange Media).

For retrieval of bibliographic holdings information (Functional Area B), Generic Record Syntax (GRS-1) is required.  Use of GRS-1 for bibliographic holdings information requires the use of a Z39.50 Schema.  The Z39.50 Holdings Schema is required.

For retrieval of information resources in the context of resource discovery and cross-domain searching (Functional Area C), SUTRS and XML are required record syntaxes.  Appendix D contains an XML Document Type Definition (DTD) for Dublin Core Simple metadata records. This DTD is required when using the XML Record Syntax in Functional Area C.

See Section 5, Conformance for specific requirements regarding record syntaxes for the different Functional Areas and Conformance Levels.  Z-clients and Z-servers may support other registered Z39.50 record syntaxes in addition to those required by this profile. 

4.4. Diagnostic Messages

The profile requires that Z-servers return appropriate diagnostic messages from Diagnostic Set bib-1. To assist implementors in sending the appropriate diagnostic for an error condition, Appendix B contains a listing of bib-1 Diagnostics to use for specific error conditions.  In addition, Z-clients are encouraged to display usable and meaningful diagnostic messages to users.  To assist implementors, Appendix B also includes suggested wording for diagnostic messages meant to be read by a user.  

For servers that provide records in selected record syntaxes for specific authorized users, a new diagnostic has been proposed to the Maintenance Agency, bib-1 Diagnostic #1070: "User not authorized to receive this record in requested syntax.”

The Maintenance Agency has added Diagnostic #1069: "No syntaxes available for this request."  This diagnostic should be used in the case where a Z-server conforms to the Profile in supporting either MARC21 or UNIMARC and receives a request for a non-supported record syntax.  Z-Servers should not return a record in an alternative record syntax until requested by the Z-client.


5. Conformance

Z-clients and Z-servers may claim conformance to one or more Functional Areas at specific Conformance Levels and be in compliance with this profile. Requirements and specifications for each Functional Area are compatible. While Functional Areas differ in their focal concern, it is likely that conformance to certain Functional Areas may imply conformance to other Functional Areas (i.e., to support a particular Functional Area may require conformance to one or more other Functional Areas).

This section identifies required Z39.50 specifications for Z-clients and Z-servers to claim conformance for each of the Functional Areas at a particular Conformance Level.  This release specifies conformance for:

The goals, objectives, and detailed specification of this profile preclude Z-clients and Z-servers from "default" behavior.  Z-clients are required to form queries using all attribute types and values listed for specific searches.  Z-servers are required to execute the search specified in the query and are not to do a more general or a more specific search than the one specified in the query (e.g., Z-servers will not execute a Name search if the query specifies an Author search and vice versa).

5.A. Functional Area A: Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval

Functional Area A addresses the requirements of basic search and retrieval among and between electronic resource descriptions with specific focus on bibliographic and related databases of library catalogues. Two Conformance Levels for bibliographic search and retrieval are specified.

Functional Area A uses the following Z39.50 Objects:

Object OID Z-client Z-server
bib-1 attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.1 X X
bib-1 diagnostic set 1.2.840.10003.4.1 X X
UNIMARC record syntax 1.2.840.10003.5.1 * **
MARC21 record syntax 1.2.840.10003.5.10 * **
SUTRS 1.2.840.10003.5.101 * **
XML 1.2.840.10003.5.109.10 * **

* Z-clients will support one of either UNIMARC or MARC21 as well as both the SUTRS and XML Record Syntaxes at Conformance Level 0, and all four at Level 1. 
** Z-servers will support one of either UNIMARC or MARC21 as well as one of either the SUTRS or XML Record Syntaxes. 

Record Syntax "support" means that the Z-server can deliver any record in a result set formatted in a required record syntax, and a Z-client can receive and process for display or other uses any record formatted in a required record syntax. For example, Functional Area A Level 0 Conformance requires that a Z-client must be able to receive and a Z-server must be able to deliver any record in a result set in SUTRS and either MARC21 or UNIMARC. Z-clients and Z-servers are encouraged to support both MARC syntaxes for exchange of MARC data. Exceptional server situations may override this required syntax requirement (e.g., database temporarily not available).  Local policies may also restrict access to records in one or more specific record syntaxes to authorized users.  In such cases, the server should return the appropriate diagnostic. For servers that provide records in selected record syntaxes for specific authorized users, a new diagnostic has been proposed to the Maintenance Agency, bib-1 Diagnostic #1070: "User not authorized to receive this record in requested syntax.”

Default behavior by Z-clients or Z-servers is precluded by this profile. The profile requires that Z-clients formulate queries using all the specified attribute types and values (below), and requires Z-servers to process all of the attribute types (i.e., do not ignore any attribute types or values in the query). Z-servers that do not support specific attribute types and values must return a diagnostic message. See Appendix B for appropriate diagnostic to return for specific error conditions.  Z-clients and Z-servers may support additional searches that use bib-1 attribute type values not specified in this profile. In those cases, Z-clients should specify in a query all values for all 6 attribute types and Z-servers should be prepared to respond to such a query (no defaults).

A keyword search in this profile is defined as a search that matches the specified character string (i.e., the search term) against a word(s) in the record as characterized by the use attribute value.  A word may be a single alphanumeric character or a string of characters bounded by spaces or characters treated as spaces by the server.  Keyword searches are formulated according to the ZIG Clarification #54, Z39.50 Keyword Searching of Bibliographic Systems. However, where the Clarification leaves some attribute values unspecified, this profile specifies values for all attribute types.   Where a keyword search contains multiple words, each word is a separate term with associated bib-1 attributes to form an operand within the query.  Searches with multiple operands  are combined with a Boolean operator.  Operands can be formulated using searches defined for the levels of conformance (e.g., in Level 0 an operand to express a Title Keyword Search combined with an operand to express a Subject Keyword Search).

This profile does not specify data elements or indexes to be mapped to the required bib-1 use attributes.  It recognizes that indexing practices may vary based on local needs.  However, it assumes that in library catalogue implementations:

Since servers are required to support a minimum number of well-defined searches for each conformance level, they should be able to process a query that combines operands that express searches across different indexes (i.e., cross index searching).

5.A.0. Functional Area A: Level 0 Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval

Conformance with Level 0 Searching enables a basic level of author, title, subject, and general keyword (any) searching. Title, subject, and general keyword searches are all based on a keyword approach to assist in high recall.   Author searches are based on a phrase (normalized) approach to assist in higher precision for author searches.  This conforms with earlier profiling work.  In particular, it reflects and replaces the functionality supported by the ATS-1 Profile. (The Z39.50 Maintenance Agency has designated the ATS-1 Profile with the status "Not Currently Maintained".)

Z39.50 Version 2 is required; Z39.50 Version 3 is recommended.  

Level 0 Searching requires the ISO Latin-1 character set.

Level 0 Retrieval requires:

Z-clients and Z-servers will use the ASCII character set or the character set defined for use with the record syntax.

Level 0 Searching requires the following bib-1 Attributes Types and Values:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4, 21, 1003, 1016 title, subject heading, author, any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2, 101 word, normalized
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

Combinations of these Attributes Types and Values express the semantics of four Level 0 Searches detailed below:


5.A.0.
1. Author Search — Precision Match for Established Name Heading

Uses: Searches for complete word(s), as ordered in the query, in fields that contain a name of a person or entity responsible for a resource.  The search term may appear anywhere in the field as long as the order is preserved.  Makes no assumption about whether the search term is in an authorized or unauthorized form (i.e., makes no attempt to reprocess the term before attempting a match against the specified indexes that contain names in authorized form that may have been established according to cataloging rules such as AACR2 ).   Example:  the search term "aardt, j" will retrieve resources indexed "Aardt, J", "Aardt J.H.A.", and "Van Aardt, J." but not "Aardt, Jan."  Z-clients should formulate this search using the comma to separate surname and firstname (e.g., aardt, j).  

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 101 normalized
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.0.2. Title Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in a title of a resource.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.0.3. Subject Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in subject fields in a record. 

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.0.4. Any Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in fields that are commonly used as access points (as defined by the server). Any searches comprising more than one keyword are interpreted in such a way that the terms may exist in the same or different attributes.

Example: a search on "Dickens AND Twist" might conceivably find "Dickens" in the Author Use Attribute (1003) and "Twist" in the Title Use Attribute (4). 

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 1016 any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

 

5.A.1. Functional Area A: Level 1 Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval

Level 1 inherits all Level 0 search and retrieval requirements.  Conformance with Level 1 Search enables basic and more precise Author, Title, and Subject searching as well as Standard Number and Date of Publication.  Level 1 enhances keyword searching by providing truncation of words.  To assist in understanding server behavior and results when using the Truncation and Completeness Attribute values, see Appendix C, Examples of Using Truncation and Completion.

Z39.50 Version 3 is required.  

Level 1 requires Z-clients and Z-servers to recognize Character Set and Language Negotiation. 

Level 1 Retrieval requires:

Level 1 Searching requires the following bib-1 Attributes Types and Values:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4, 21, 31, 1003, 1007, 1016 title, subject heading, date of publication, author, identifier-standard, any
Relation (2) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 less than, less than or equal, equal, greater than or equal, greater than
Position (3) 1, 3 first in field, any position in field
Structure (4) 1, 2, 101 phrase, word, normalized
Truncation (5) 1, 100 right truncation, do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1, 3 incomplete subfield, complete field

Combinations of these Attributes Types and Values express the semantics of fourteen Level 1 Searches detailed below:

Level 1 requires the use of Scan as detailed in Section 5.A.1SCAN, Functional Area A: Level 1 Use of Scan. Use of Scan is a mechanism to browse indexes for authors, titles, subjects, and keywords when the searcher is not sure of how a term may be indexed in a database.  A Scan may be followed by a subsequent search once the appropriate term has been identified. 

For the precision title searches described below, search result may show some variance because of the use of an initial article in a query.  For example, if a client sends a title search that includes an initial article, the results may be variable depending, for example, on the language of the work for which the title is being searched and/or the indexing practice of the target database.

Operands can be formulated using searches defined for the levels of conformance (e.g., in Level 1 an operand to express a Title Search — Keyword with Right Truncation combined with an operand from level 0 to express a Subject Keyword Search). Each operand specifies all attribute values as prescribed for the defined searches.

5.A.1.1. Author Search — Precision Match for Established Name Heading with Right Truncation
Uses: Searches for complete word(s) in order specified in fields that contain a name of a person or entity responsible for a resource.  The words as specified may appear anywhere in the field as long as the order is preserved.  Makes no assumption about whether the search term is in an authorized or unauthorized form (i.e., makes no attempt to reprocess the term before attempting a match against the specified indexes that contain names in authorized form that may have been established according to cataloging rules such as AACR2 ).   Example:  the search term "aardt j" will retrieve resources indexed "Aardt, J", "Aardt J.H.A.", "Van Aardt, J." and "Aardt, Jan."
 
Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 101 normalized
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield
 

5.A.1.2. Author Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in fields that contain the name of a person or entity responsible for a resource.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.3. Author Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in fields that contain the name of a person or entity responsible for a resource. 

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.4.  Author Search — Exact Match

Uses: Searches for the complete string as specified in fields that contain a name of a person or entity responsible for a resource.  This search is needed to conduct a follow-up search when the user selects terms from an author index (e.g., from a Scan).

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 3 complete field

5.A.1.5. Title Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in fields that contain a title of a resource. 

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.6. Title Search — Exact Match

Uses: Searches in fields that contain a title of a resource for an exact match on the complete string as specified.  This search is useful for one or two word titles, often serials, where a less precise search may retrieve a very large result set. This search is also needed to conduct a follow-up search when the user selects terms from a full title index (e.g., from a Scan).

Note: The exact match title search may result in zero results if the server indexes an entire field including the statement of responsibility (i.e., information about the person(s) or entities responsible for the intellectual creation of the resource).

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 3 complete field

5.A.1.7. Title Search — First Words in Field

Uses: Searches for complete word(s) in the order specified in fields that contain a title of a resource. The field must begin with the specified character string. This search is useful when the beginning words in a title are known to the user.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.8. Title Search — First Characters in Field

Uses: Searches for the specified character string in fields that contain a title of a resource. The field must begin with the specified character string.  This search is useful when the beginning words in a title are known to the user but the users is not sure of the form or spelling of a particular word.  For example, 'cat behav' will retrieve resources with titles beginning 'cat behavior' or 'cat behaviour'. 

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.9. Subject Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in subject fields of a record.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.10. Subject Search — Exact Match

Uses: Searches in subject fields for the complete string as specified.  This search is useful for limiting searches to a precise subject, especially where fields contain subheadings.  This search is needed to conduct a follow-up search when the user selects terms from a subject heading index (e.g., from a Scan). 

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 3 complete field

5.A.1.11. Subject Search — First Words in Field

Uses: Searches for complete word(s) in the order specified in subject fields.  The field must begin with the specified character string. This search is useful when the searcher knows the main subject heading but not sub-headings.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.12. Subject Search — First Characters in Field

Uses: Searches for the specified character string in subject fields.  The field must begin with the specified character string.  This search is useful when the searcher wants to retrieve all headings beginning with a common stem.  For example, 'catalog' will retrieve resources on 'cataloging', 'catalog cards', 'catalog use', etc.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.13. Any Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in fields that are commonly used as access points (as defined by the server). Any searches comprising more than one keyword are interpreted in such a way that the terms may exist in the same or different attributes.

Example: a search on "Dick AND Twi" might conceivably find "Dickens" in the Author Use Attribute (1003) and "Twist" in the Title Use Attribute (4).

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 1016 any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.14. Standard Identifier Search

Uses: Searches standard identifiers such as ISBN, ISSN, Music Standard numbers, CODEN, Superintendent of Documents Item Number, etc., but does not identify a specific standard number scheme.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1007 identifier-standard
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1.15.  Date of Publication Search

Uses: Searches for the year in which a resource is published.

The Date of Publication Use attribute must be used as a search limiter in conjunction with another operand (i.e., used to limit a search using other Use attribute values).  Z-servers may reject a query that only includes the Date of Publication Use attribute.

Attribute Type Attribute Value Attribute Name
Use (1) 31 date of publication
Relation (2) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 less than, less than or equal, equal, greater than or equal, greater than
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 4 year
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

 

5.A.1SCAN. Functional Area A: Level 1 Use of SCAN

The Z39.50 Scan Service is an effective mechanism for identifying appropriate search terms to be submitted in a query to a single database or server.  It is required at Functional Area A: Level 1 Search and Retrieval.

The following requirements apply for Scan:

To maintain parallel with the searches defined in Level 1, six Scans are defined:

Appendix E, Creating a Search from Scan Results provides guidance in using terms found from a Scan in subsequent search.

5.A.1SCAN.1.  Author — Exact Match

Uses: To browse an ordered list of author names.

The termlist for an Author Exact Match Scan is:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 3 complete field

5.A.1SCAN.2.  Title — Exact Match

Uses: To browse an ordered list of complete titles.

The termlist for a Title Exact Match Scan is:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 3 complete field

5.A.1SCAN.3.  Title — Keyword

Uses: To browse an ordered list of words from title fields

The termlist for a Title Keyword Scan is:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1SCAN.4.  Subject — Exact Match

Uses: To browse an ordered list of complete subject terms and headings.

The termlist for a Subject Exact Match Scan is:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 21 subject
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 3 complete field

5.A.1SCAN.5.  Subject — Keyword

Uses: To browse an ordered list of words from subject fields.

The termlist for an Subject Keyword Scan is:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 21 subject
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.A.1SCAN.6.  Any — Keyword

Uses:  To browse an ordered list of words from server-defined access points.

The termlist for an Any Keyword Scan is:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1016 any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position n field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

 

5.A.2. Functional Area A: Level 2 Bibliographic Search and Retrieval

This release of the profile does not define Level 2 for Bibliographic Search and Retrieval. 

There are a number of searches, however, that have been identified as potential requirements.  The following is a preliminary list of these searches:

Other Level 2 search and retrievals features that could exploit the following Z39.50 services:

Other requirements for Level 2 may include:

 

5.B. Functional Area B: Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval

[Note:  This Functional Area will be more fully developed in version 2 of the profile.]

Functional Area B addresses the requirements for requesting and delivering bibliographic holdings information. 

Functional Area B uses the following Z39.50 objects from Conformance Level 1:

Object OID Z-client Z-server
holdings attribute set [to be assigned] X X
bib-1 diagnostic set 1.2.840.10003.4.1 X X
holdings schema 1.2.840.10003.13.7 X X
eSpec-q 1.2.840.10003.11.3 X X
generic record syntax (GRS-1) 1.2.840.10003.5.105 X X

5.B.0. Functional Area B: Level 0 Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval

For parallelism with other Functional Areas that define a Level 0 conformance, a Level 0 for exchanging bibliographic holdings information is provided for current implementations that do provide holdings information (e.g., embedded in bibliographic records). No other specifications are prescribed. 

5.B.1. Functional Area B: Level 1 Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval

Level 1* conformance requires support of the Holdings Attribute Set, Holdings Schema, GRS-1, and Z39.50 Version 3.   Two Element Set Names are defined for use at Level 1:

*To be developed.

5.B.2. Functional Area B: Level 2 Bibliographic Holdings Search and Retrieval

Level 2* conformance inherits all Level 1 specifications, and requires support for additional element set names.

*To be developed.

 

5.C. Functional Area C: Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

Functional Area C addresses the requirements for effective cross-domain searching of networked resources including library catalogues, government information, museum systems, and archives. Three Conformance Levels are identified (0,1,2).  Functional Area C exploits searches defined in Section 5.A.0. Functional Area A: Level 0 Search and Retrieval and Section 5.A.1. Functional Area A: Level 1 Search and Retrieval to enable early adoption of a cross-domain searching approach.  Conformance Levels 0 and 1 requires the use of the bib-1 Attribute Set.  Conformance Level 2 requires the use of the new Z39.50 attribute architecture's Utility Attribute Set and the Cross-Domain Attribute Set .

To address retrieval requirements in a cross-domain context, the profile requires SUTRS and XML for basic data interchange,  The XML record syntax will be used with a Document Type Definition (DTD) for Dublin Core Simple.  Retrieval records will be cast in the 15 basic Dublin Core metadata elements, marked up in XML using the DTD found in Appendix D, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Document Type Definition for Dublin Core Simple.

The Dublin Core Element Set (http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1) is widely recognized as a means of achieving semantic interoperability between resource descriptions from a variety of domains.  Used in conjunction with Z39.50, the fifteen Dublin Core elements are currently represented as bib-1 Use attributes.  See also Appendix A, which illustrates the use of new Z39.50 attribute sets developed under the framework of the approved Attribute Architecture to express Level 2 Cross-Domain searches.

Functional Area C utilizes the following Z39.50 Objects:

Object OID Z-client Z-server
bib-1 attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.1 X X
bib-1 diagnostic set 1.2.840.10003.4.1 X X
utility attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.11 * *
cross-domain attribute set 1.2.840.10003.3.12 * *
SUTRS record syntax 1.2.840.10003.5.101 X **
XML record syntax 1.2.840.10003.5.109.10 X **

* Support for these Attribute Sets is required at Conformance Level 2. 
** Z-servers will support one of either SUTRS or XML. 

Record Syntax "support" means that the Z-server can deliver any record in a result set formatted in a required record syntax and a Z-client can receive and process for display or other uses any record formatted in a required record syntax.  Exceptional server situations may override this required syntax requirement (e.g., database temporarily not available).  Local policies may also restrict access to records in one or more specific record syntaxes to authorized users.  In such cases, the server should return the appropriate diagnostic. For servers that provide records in selected record syntaxes for specific authorized users, a new diagnostic has been proposed to the Maintenance Agency, bib-1 Diagnostic #1070: "User not authorized to receive this record in requested syntax.”

This profile does not attempt to specify the data elements or indexes to be mapped to the required bib-1 Use attributes.  It recognizes that indexing practices may vary based on local metadata sets and needs.  However, implementors that have already mapped their local metadata sets (including MARC) to Dublin Core (DC) Simple elements should base their Use Attributes on the following equivalencies:

5.C.0. Functional Area C: Level 0 Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

Level 0 Search enables basic cross-domain searching on Creator, Title, and Subject.  

Version 2 is required, Version 3 is recommended.  

Level 0 Retrieval requires:

Level 0 Searching requires support of the following bib-1 Attributes Types and Values:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4, 21, 1003, 1016 title, subject heading, author, any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2, 101 word, normalized
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

Combinations of these Attributes Types and Values express the semantics of four Level 0 Searches detailed below:

These four searches use the same attribute combinations as the searches defined in Section 5.A.0. Functional Area A: Level 0 Search and Retrieval, however, the names and uses of the searches reflect a more generic approach (i.e., not oriented to library data) and semantics related to the Dublin Core Element Set.

5.C.0.1. Creator Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in data elements that contain names of entities primarily responsible for making the content of the resource; examples of a Creator include a person, an organisation, or a service.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.0.2. Title Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in data elements that contain the name given to a resource; typically, a Title will be a name by which the resource is formally known.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.0.3. Subject Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in data elements that contain the topic of the content of the resource; typically, a Subject will be expressed as keywords, key phrases or classification codes that describe a topic of the resource.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.0.4. Any Search — Keyword

Uses: Searches for complete word in data elements that are commonly used as access points (as defined by the server). Any searches comprising more than one keyword are interpreted in such a way that the terms may exist in the same or different attributes.

Example: a search on "Dickens AND Twist" might conceivably find "Dickens" in the Author Use Attribute (1003) and "Twist" in the Title Use Attribute (4). 

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 1016 any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

 

5.C.1. Functional Area C: Level 1 Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

Level 1 inherits all Level 0 search and retrieval requirements. Level 1 enhances keyword searching by providing truncation of words and unanchored phrase searching.

Z39.50 Version 3 is required.  

Level 1 Retrieval requires two record syntaxes: SUTRS and the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Record Syntax.   For XML, the use of the Document Type Definition (DTD) for Dublin Core Simple (see Appendix D) is required.  Retrieval records are structured in Dublin Core Metadata Elements and transferred in the XML Record Syntax.

Level 1 Searching requires support of the following bib-1 Attributes Types and Values:

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4, 21, 31, 1003, 1007, 1016 title, subject heading, date of publication, author, identifier-standard, any
Relation (2) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 less than, less than or equal, equal, greater than or equal, greater than
Position (3) 1, 3 first in field, any position in field
Structure (4) 1, 2, 101 phrase, word, normalized
Truncation (5) 1, 100 right truncation, do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1, 3 incomplete subfield, complete field

Combinations of these Attributes Types and Values express the semantics of nine Level 1 Searches detailed below:

5.C.1.1. Creator Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in data elements that contain names of entities primarily responsible for making the content of the resource; examples of a Creator include a person, an organisation, or a service.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1003 author
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.2. Title Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in data elements that contain the name given to a resource; typically, a Title will be a name by which the resource is formally known.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.3. Title Search — Unanchored Phrase

Uses: Searches for the specified phrase in data elements that contain the name given to a resource; typically, a Title will be a name by which the resource is formally known.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 4 title
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.4. Subject Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in data elements that contain the topic of the content of the resource; typically, a Subject will be expressed as keywords, key phrases or classification codes that describe a topic of the resource.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.5. Subject Search — Unanchored Phrase

Uses: Searches for the specified phrase in data elements that contain the topic of the content of the resource; typically, a Subject will be expressed as keywords, key phrases or classification codes that describe a topic of the resource.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 21 subject heading
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.6. Any Search — Keyword with Right Truncation

Uses: Searches for complete word beginning with the specified character string in data elements that are commonly used as access points (as defined by the server).

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 1016 any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 2 word
Truncation (5) 1 right truncation
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.7. Any Search — Unanchored Phrase

Uses: Searches for the specified phrase in data elements that are commonly used as access points (as defined by the server).

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Name
Use (1) 1016 any
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 3 any position in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.8. Standard Identifier Search

Uses: Searches standard identifiers such as ISBN, ISSN, Music Standard numbers, CODEN, Superintendent of Documents Item Number, etc., but does not identify a specific standard number scheme. A standard number provides an unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context.

Attribute Type Attribute Values Attribute Names
Use (1) 1007 identifier-standard
Relation (2) 3 equal
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 1 phrase
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 1 incomplete subfield

5.C.1.9.  Date of Publication Search

Uses: Searches for the date (year) associated with an event in the life cycle of the resource.
Typically, this date will be associated with the creation or availability of the resource.

The Date of Publication Use attribute must be used as a search limiter in conjunction with another operand (i.e., used to limit a search using other Use attribute values).  Z-servers may reject a query that only includes the Date of Publication Use attribute.

Attribute Type Attribute Value Attribute Name
Use (1) 31 date of publication
Relation (2) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 less than, less than or equal, equal, greater than or equal, greater than
Position (3) 1 first in field
Structure (4) 4 year
Truncation (5) 100 do not truncate
Completeness (6) 3 complete field

 

5.C.2. Functional Area C: Level 2 Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval

This release of the profile does not define Level 2 for Cross-Domain Search and Retrieval.

In a future release, Level 2 will be defined and will require support the Cross-Domain and Utility Attribute Sets. 

Retrieval records use XML as the record syntax and the DTD for Dublin Core Simple. 

Use of the Scan service may be specified for Level 2.

 


6. References

Conference of European National Librarians. (1997, October 15). Z39.50 bib-1 Attribute Set Profile for CENL, Version 1.1.  Available: <http://linnea.helsinki.fi/z3950/cenl_profile.html>.

Danish Z39.50 Implementers Group.   (1999, March 4).  DanZIG Z39.50 Profile.  Available: <http://www.bs.dk/danzig/profil.htm>

Lunau, Carrol D. and Zeeman, Joe. (1998, October 15). Z39.50 Basic Searching of Bibliographic Systems: A Discussion Document.

MODELS Library Interoperability Profile Family.    Available: <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/dlis/models/clumps/technical/zprofile/zprofile.htm>

Moen, William E. (1999).  Handling Bibliographic Holdings Information in Z39.50: Implications for the Z Texas Profile.  Available: <http://www.tsl.texas.gov/LD/z3950/Holdings27Mar99.htm>.

National Information Standards Organization. (1995). ANSI/NISO Z3950-1995. Information Retrieval (Z39.50): Application Service Definition and Protocol Specification. Bethesda, MD: NISO Press. Electronic version of Z39.50 available at the Z39.50 Maintenance Agency.   Available:  <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency>.

National Library of Canada. (1998, January 26). Virtual Union Catalogue Z39.50 Profile, Draft Version 1.5.  Available: <http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/resource/vcuc/profil4.htm>

Husby, Ole. (1997, January 9). BIB-1 profile for ONE   Available: <http://www.bibsys.no/one-wg/bib-1.profile.html>

St-Gelais, Rolande. (1999, March 10). OPAC/Holdings Schema: Definitions and Examples.  Available: <http://www.dra.com/resources/z3950/opac-schema-defs-3.pdf>.

Texas Z39.50 Implementors Group. (1999, April).   Z Texas Profile: A Z39.50 Profile for Library Systems Applications in Texas, Release 1.0.   Available:   <http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/projects/z3950/TZIGProfile99Apr20.htm>.

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency. Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency>.

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency. ATS-1 Profile. Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/profiles/ats.html>.

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency (1995, September). Attribute Set bib-1 (Z39.50-1995): Semantics. Available: <ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/z3950/defs/bib1.txt>.

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency. (1998, June). bib-1 Attribute Set.  Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/bib1.html>.

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency. (1998, November). Character Set and Language Negotiation (2). Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/charsets.html>.

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency. (1999, January 29). Model for Z39.50 Negotiation During Initialization. Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/nego.html>.

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency/ (1999, August 30). Registry of Z39.50 Object Identifiers. Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/oids.html>; see also: About Z39.50 Object Identifiers. Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/about.html>.  

Z39.50 Maintenance Agency. (1999, March). ZIG Clarification #54. Keyword Searching of Bibliographic System. Available: <http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/clarify/keyword.html>.

 


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