Easier Access to Libraries

New technology for library information systems bolsters e-commerce applications.

Valerie Thompson

Many new library information systems (LISes) from European and Israeli vendors such as ELiAS (Belgium), Ex Libris (Israel), Databasix Information Systems (Netherlands), SISIS (Germany), and BTJ System (Sweden) will come to market in the second half of this year. These vendors have announced their next-generation LISes and associated on-line public access catalogs (OPACs) based on client/server architectures with interfaces to the Web and to legacy LIS databases on mainframes. Deploying CGI, Dynamic HTML, Java, server- and client-side JavaScript, as well as ActiveX, the new systems also replace cumbersome terminal-based remote access.

Additionally, most of these vendors' systems capitalize on a powerful information-retrieval protocol called Z39.50 ( see table ), standardized by ISO and ANSI. Z39.50 enables uniform networked access to a large number of diverse and heterogeneous information sources. Says Sebastian Hammer of Index Data (Copenhagen), a vendor of Z39.50 toolkits, "Z39.50 is deliberately designed to shield the user from the differences between various information providers." User s of Z39.50-compliant software don't have to know commands and user interfaces of different libraries, indexes, or databases. The protocol allows the user to search, through a single interface, all information resources as if they were one.

Java and JavaScript applications are now increasingly appearing on top of OPACs in many European libraries. Look, for example, at the Swiss ETH University library at http://ethics.ethz.ch/HotEthics/HotETHICS.html , where Java improves upon plain vanilla VT100 access, and University of North London's JavaScript-based Web OPAC at http://opac.unl.ac.uk .

Java GUI applets facilitate access to OPAC systems, even if access is Telnet-based. However, the big advantage of Java is more intelligent client-side processing, which relieves library cataloging servers. Typically, different media need different cataloging. A record stored on a CD-ROM, for example, needs a different cataloging than a record on microfiche. "Java [and Z39.50] overcomes this issue," says Johan Delaurè, a product engineer with ELiAS.

Today, Z39.50 is fairly well established in the lib rary community. However, other applications are starting to capitalize on this information-retrieval protocol. "Many other groups are beginning to realize Z39.50's potential," says Index Data's Sebastian Hammer. For example, INOVIS, in Karlsruhe, Germany, is using it in electronic-commerce applications. Basis Systeme Netzwerke, in Munich, has been using Z39.50 for some time in its suite of information management products for intranets. "Our clients use Z39.50 also in on-line graphics, museums, and patent databases," says Edward Zimmerman of Basis Systeme Netzwerk. Moreover, Z39.50 supports complex pattern-matching techniques, facilitating retrieval of abstract information such as fingerprints, video images, numeric trend data, and even gene sequences.

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Web-Enabled Library Information Systems

Web-Enabled Library Information Systems
Vendor	Products	Z39.50-Comp liant	Platforms
Databasix Information Systems http://www.disbv.com/ phone: +31 30 241 1885	* AdLib database management system for libraries, museums, and archives * AdMuse for museums and art galleries	*	Windows NT, Windows 95, Unix
Ex Libris http://www.aleph.co.il phone: + 972 3 6490430	* Aleph integrated library system for research libraries, museums, archives, and information centers * Aleph 500 for connectivity to different multimedia, full-text, and CD-ROM resources	*	Windows NT, Unix
BTJ System http://www.btj.se phone: +46 46180000	* BTJ 2000 LIS, based on object-oriented techniques	*	Windows NT, Unix, network computer (NC)
EOS International http://eosintl.com phone: +44 1712531177	* Q Series LIS with links to scientific, technical, medical, and business journals * GLAS (Graphical Library Automation System) for smaller libraries	*	Windows NT
ELiAS http://www.elias.be/ phone: +32 16 29.83.90	* Amicus V3 Integrated Library Management System for large libraries * Librivision Web and Z39.50 OPAC interface system	*	Unix
Sisis Informationssysteme http://www.sisis.de phone: +49 89 61308-300	* Z39SIKIS catalog management component with integrated Z39.50 services * JOPAC (Jav a-based OPAC) with Z39.30 plug-ins	*	Unix
Key: * = Yes.

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Could Java Chocolate be Far Behind?

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Swiss ETH University Library catalog.