Profile Specifications

Functional Area A: Basic Bibliographic Search and Retrieval in Online Library Catalogs

This Functional Area specifies three levels of conformance for Z39.50 clients and servers.  Each level is based on the specifications from the Bath Profile. Differences that may exist between the U.S. National and the Bath Profiles are indicated by noting Bath and U.S. specifications, BL and US respectively.  This page addresses Level 0 requirements.

Functional Area A uses the following Z39.50 objects:

* 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. 

[NOTE: The following text is taken from the Bath Profile.  It may need some revision as we finalize our specifications.]

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 catalog implementations:

• An author search will look for matches in an index(es) derived from data elements containing names used as main entry, added entry, or series author
• A title search will look for matches in an index(es) derived from data elements containing the general title and alternative titles such as series title, uniform title, and variant titles; statement of responsibility is not generally considered part of a title search
• A subject search will look for matches in an index(es) derived from data elements containing subjects (e.g., topical subject, geographical subject, title as subject, and names as subject) with no expectation that the search term is from an authoritative subject heading list
• An "any" search will search commonly used access points defined by the server; for each level of searching that specifies author, title and subject searches, an "any" search should look for matches in the indexes related to those access points.

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).

The Profile uses the Bib-1 Attribute Set when specifying searches; however, information retrieval systems work with indexes and access points. Throughout this section, where the terms field and/or subfield are used in Attribute Names (e.g., Incomplete Subfield), the term should be interpreted to mean access point.

[Date Page Last Revised: March 26, 2001 ]