ANSI Z39.50

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ANSI Z39.50

Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol Specification for Library Applications, officially known as ANSI/NISO Z39.50-1992, and ANSI/NISO Z39.50-1995. This standard, used by WAIS, specifies an OSI application layer service to allow an application on one computer to query a database on another.

Z39.50 is used in libraries and for searching some databases on the Internet. The US Library of Congress (http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/) is the official maintanence agency for Z39.50.

Index Data, a Danish company, have released a lot of Z39.50 code. Their web site explains the relevant ISO standards and how they are amicably converging in Z39.50 version 4.0.

Overview (http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/VI/5/op/udtop3.htm).

Z39.50 resources (http://lamp.cs.utas.edu.au/net.html#Z3950).

(1996-07-22)