Emerging Role of Z39.50 for Library Consortia in India

Abstract

Interoperability is a key issue for resource discovery in a library consortia environment. Interoperability is a concept that addresses the extend to which different types of computers, networks, operating systems and applications work together effectively to exchange information in a useful and meaningful manner. The technology enabled library consortia environment is heterogeneous, it hosts many different technologies, various data, multiple applications and other networked resources. There are several emerging standards, which have been developed to facilitate the interchange of data in a distributed environment. Such standards make it possible to perform seamless searches across several distributed resources, which have been implemented on different platforms. Z39.50 standard is becoming an important strategic tool for libraries and other information organizations. The use of Z39.50 can enhance resource sharing by providing a single interface to search multiple information resources. This paper discusses about the z39.50 standard, various components of z39.50 system and its applications in the library consortia environment.