MSL Home > For Librarians > For All Librarians > Technology > Library Automation Standards

Library Automation Standards

Introduction

It's been suggested that I present the subject of library automation standards in a humorous vein. As if there was humor in trying to wend one's way through the thicket of ISO and ANSI verbiage. As if Groucho or Karl Marx, on their best day, would be up to the task. There is little humor in standards; I don't recall a single Marx Brothers routine incorporating the words "interoperability", "Z39.50", "MARC", or "AACR2." Especially not "AACR2". I do recall being 'amused' by the application of certain LC Subject Headings, but that's another story...

So, if library automation standards ("standards") are so decidedly un-funny, why are they so important? Because standards make it possible for us to organize and access our collections efficiently and effectively; without trying to reinvent the wheel that organizations, bigger then ours, are perfecting.

Many library automation standards, such as MARC (MAchine Readable Cataloging), are already a fixture in our libraries. Others, such as the library record standard Z39.50 or the interlibrary loan standard ISO 10160/10161 are becoming part of our work lives in the next two or three years, making resource sharing easier and more affordable (for borrower and lender alike).

If you are buying, upgrading, looking at sharing existing systems, or designing local applications, look for products or systems that include the following pertinent library automation. All libraries, regardless of their size or budget, will benefit from acquiring systems that include these systems. Systems using standards, such as MARC or Z39.50, benefit big and small libraries alike. You may pay a little more (or maybe not), but your patrons will reap the benefits of your careful shopping.

The National Library of Canada  has posted an excellent glossary of library automation standards. The British have given us the eLibrary standards page , which is equally useful if somewhat more technical. The Library of Congress  also has information on standards. You might find LITA's "Top Tech Trends"  web page interesting as well. Although not directly about standards, the theme of standards is woven through this page of pithy forecasts and good links.

Ask your vendor about these standards, or contact the Library Development Division consultants here at the Montana State Library. We are willing and ready to help you, and if not actually chuckle along with you, at least help you make sense out of library automation standards.

Standards Organizations

  • National Information Standards Organization (NISO )
    NISO is an ANSI-accredited organization that develops standards specifically for the library, information services, and publishing sectors.
  • American National Standards Institute (ANSI )
    ANSI is the organization that facilitates development of American National Standards (ANSI) by establishing consensus among qualified groups.
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO )
    ISO is the standards body that establishes standards for the international exchange of goods and services.

Some Common Standards used in Montana Libraries

AACR2 & LCSH
The central cataloging standard is the Anglo American Cataloging Rules version Two (AACR2), which governs how a cataloging record is constructed. Other important cataloging standards include MAchine Readable Cataloging (MARC) and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). You can order  a paper copy of the LCSH, 30th Edition, from the Library of Congress. Read more about AACR2  on the Library of Congress web site, or by reading the book: The Concise AACR2, 1998 Revision, by Michael Gorman. Hardcover 1999 edition (May 1999) American Library Association; ISBN: 0838934943.

MARC
The MARC (Machine-Readable Cataloging) format is the standard for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form. Library records on your online public catalog (OPAC) should be in full MARC format, brief or incomplete records cannot be easily moved from system to system. Don't panic if you have a non-MARC OPAC, as long as your records were held by WLN (now OCLC), you have the capability of building a tape of MARC records, from OCLC, reflecting your library's holdings.

This Library of Congress  web site contains everything non-catalogers will probably ever want to know. Betty Furrie wrote a particularly useful document titled Understanding MARC Bibliographic  Machine-readable Cataloging, in conjunction with the Data Base Development Department of the Follett Software Company. This document is in its fifth edition and was reviewed and edited by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress.

TCP/IP
Data communications standards can be summed up simply…Internet Protocol, or IP. TCP/IP is an acronym for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This standard is pervasive and has replaced other data communications standards such as IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture) or SDLC (Synchronous Data Link Control) protocols, which were until several years ago used by WLN and the State of Montana.

HTML
You will want your library's HTML-based web page to be readable by either web browsers, either Netscape version 6.x or greater, or by Microsoft's Internet Explorer version 5.x or greater. It is an act of kindness to make your page readable by text-only browsers. Your library is required to do all you can to make your page readable by those with disabilities. A great book on this topic is: The Non-Designer's Web Book: An Easy Guide to Creating, Designing, and Posting Your Own Web Site, by Robin Williams (of Your Mac is not a Typewriter fame), and co-author John Tollett.

Z39.50
The much-discussed Z39.50 standard is absolutely necessary for libraries wishing to share one another's catalogs. The 'union catalog' component of the Montana Library Network absolutely depends upon libraries implementing Z39.50 on their local systems. The current version is "Z39.50 - 1995 (Version 3)".

Z39.50 allows libraries to look at one another's catalogs, indexes, etc., using their local system's user interface. Z39.50 is a set of formats and procedures which govern the interaction of client and server computers, enabling users to search one or more local or remote databases (at once, if desired) using their library's interface.

Clifford Lynch has written an excellent article The Z39.50 information retrieval standard  in D-Lib Magazine, April, 1997.

Additionally, this standard is continuously modified both in practice by vendors and in theory by the several organizations responsible for its well being. The Library of Congress  is a great place to begin your investigation of Z39.50, and to follow its continuing evolution. Z39.50 allows libraries to 'look into' other catalogs, but circulation records are not addressed by this protocol. Interlibrary loan requires the ability to look at specific items and patron records, to authorize transactions and essentially place holds on specific items.

ISO 10160 & 10161
An associated unofficial standard for interlibrary loan, ISO 10160/10161, provides librarians or, if desired, library users, the ability to directly initiate a 'place-a-hold-like' interlibrary loan.

Z39.71
An associated brand new standard is Z39.71, governing holdings statements for bibliographic items, which is of special interest because it governs the syntax of serials holdings information in MARC records. Montana libraries have long enjoyed the benefits of detailed serials holding information in LaserCat and the WLN bibliographic system; OCLC is preparing to implement more detailed serials holding information in WorldCat, and will adhere to this new standard to describe libraries' detailed serials holdings. If you are migrating your libraries data, make sure your serials information is being formated according to Z39.71.

Dublin Core
OCLC has been working with electronic map makers, and others, and is promoting a new way of 'cataloging' called the "DUBLIN CORE". OCLC describes the Dublin Core  as "…a simple content description model for electronic resources". It is further described: "The Dublin Core is a metadata [data about data, i.e., cataloging] element set intended to facilitate discovery of electronic resources. Originally conceived for author-generated description of Web resources, it has attracted the attention of formal resource description communities such as museums, libraries, government agencies, and commercial organizations."

The Dublin Core bears watching, since records created using this 'cataloging' model may be searched simultaneously with other Z39.50 records. It is useful to know who the primary standards organizations are, if for no other reason then to attach their 'real' names to their overly-cryptic acronyms.