This document provides an overview and the details of policies and procedures of the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (referred to as Z-Interop). Specifically, the document lays out the responsibilities and obligations of the Z-Interop testbed and the organizations that participate in interoperability testing. For purposes of this document, Z-Interop staff refers to all members of the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project. Z-Interop participant refers to an individual or organization who tests its Z39.50 client or Z39.50 server through the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed

Moen, William E.

This document provides a status report on the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (Z-Interop) covering the period of January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003. This document highlights activities and accomplishments to communicate to IMLS progress on this project since the last status report on January 1, 2003

UNT Digital Library

  Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant ___________________________________________  Realizing the Vision of  Networked Access to Library Resources  An Applied Research and Demonstration Project to Establish and Operate a Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed    __________________________   Status Report to  The Institute of Museum and Library Services  January 1 through June 30, 2003     William E. Moen, Ph.D. <wemoen@unt.edu> Principal Investigator School of Library and Information Sciences Texas Center for Digital Knowledge University of North Texas Denton, TX  76203  July 1, 2003Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: July 1, 2003     Page  1    Introduction  This document provides a status report on the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (Z-Interop) covering the period of January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003.  This document highlights activities and accomplishments to communicate to IMLS progress on our project since the last status report on January 1, 2003.  Accomplishments and Challenges  This section summarizes the key accomplishments and challenges.  Subsequent sections discuss these in more detail.  Accomplishments   Processed requests from one Z39.50 vendor/developer to participate in Z-Interop testbed  Processed requests from one library to participate in Z-Interop testbed   Utilized the Z-Interop testbed to assess vendor responses to a Request for Proposal for the Library of Texas Resource Discovery Service application.   Developed interoperability test scenarios for phrase searches.  Developed procedures to create a smaller test dataset of approximately 100,000 MARC 21 records.   Conducted an analysis on the MARC 21 test dataset to examine the utilization of MARC content designation for purposes of determining indexing policies. This activity resulted in a paper for the Dublin Core 2003 Conference, which was accepted.  Publicized the testbed through presentations.  Challenges   Encouraging more participation in testbed.  Project Personnel  The Principal Investigator (PI) has committed time to the project throughout this period with a 20% effort in Spring 2003 and the first part of Summer 2003.   Two Ph.D. students comprise the core of the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Team (Z-Team). One has the responsibility to oversee the programming and automatic processing of data analysis. The other has the responsibility to oversee the interoperability testing, analysis, and report writing of results. Three Masters students (two from the School of Library and Information Sciences and one from Computer Science) assisted through most of this period with interoperability testing, programming tasks, and analysis of the test dataset of MARC 21 records.  In June 2003, one of the Masters students moved from the Z-Interop Project to another of the Principal Investigator's projects related to Z39.50. He continues to be involved in some work for the Z-Interop Project.  Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: July 1, 2003     Page  2    Total staff working on the Z-Interop as of June 30, 2002:   2 graduate students (Ph.D. students) working 20 hours per week  3 graduate student (Masters student) working 10 hours per week  These students comprise the Z-Team.   Project Management  The PI has overall project management responsibilities for scheduling work, keeping Z-Team members on task, disseminating information about the project, and moving forward with further development of test scenarios.  The PI communicates regularly with each of the Z-Team members via email.   Project Activities in Brief  During this period, the Z-Team carried out a number of activities in support of the Z-Interop testbed and pursued related research to interoperability.  The Z-Team continued to address the complexity of developing test queries for phrase searches (as defined in the Bath and U.S. National Z39.50 Profiles). The challenges posed by these types of searches extended the length of time to develop the test scenarios and test procedures.   In response to requests from potential interoperability testing partners, the Z-Team has worked during this period to develop a subset of the entire 400,000 MARC 21 test dataset for interoperability testing. The goal was to create a random sample of approximately 100,000 MARC 21 records as a second test dataset. Most of this work has been completed, and the Z-Team has been working to create the test scenarios and benchmarks for the smaller test dataset.  An issue that has been central to the interoperability testbed is indexing policies that define the MARC fields/subfields that should be indexed to support the searches defined in the U.S. National and Bath Profiles. This analysis has produced some unexpected findings that may have major impacts not only for the Z-Interop Project but also for the broader library community.   The Z-Interop testbed played a central role on another project of the Principal Investigator for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). That project, called the ZLOT Project, is assisting the TSLAC in building the Library of Texas, a standards-based virtual library. Both the reference implementation of the Z39.50 client (contributed by Sea Change/Bookwhere) and the Z39.50 server (contributed by Sirsi Corporation) were used in conducting technical assessment of responses to the TSLAC's Request for Proposal for the Resource Discovery Service of the Library of Texas.   Interoperability Testing  During this reporting period, we were contacted by two organizations interested in using the interoperability testbed:   Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: July 1, 2003     Page  3     TELUS solutions d’affaires for a Z39.50 implementation at Université du Québec  Whittier Public Library, Whittier, California for testing a Z39.50 client implementation  We have been communicating with these organizations to work out an appropriate time for interoperability testing.  Project Website and Information Dissemination  The project website <http://www.unt.edu/zinterop/> continues to serve as our vehicle for promoting and publicizing the project. In addition, we use the website to publish project documents and for online collection of information from potential testbed participants.    Work and results from the Z-Interop Project has provided the PI with information that he typically includes in presentations related to Z39.50. These presentations serve to publicize and describe the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project. In all cases, the support from IMLS for this project was clearly communicated. The following lists conferences and meetings at which the interoperability testbed was discussed as part of the presentation:   Positioning Z39.50 in the Networked Library: Standards for Building Sustainable Services. Texas Library Association Conference, April 2003. Houston, TX.  Barriers to Interoperability: Technical and Not So Technical. 5th Annual GILS Conference, April 2003. Lisle, IL.    Project Technology and Software  Sirsi Corporation, a contributor of software to the Z-Interop Project, upgraded the reference implementation Z39.50 server to the current 2003 version. A new Sun machine was purchased in Fall 2003 with non-IMLS funds for use in conjunction with the Z-Interop project, specifically for interoperability testing analysis and MARC records analysis. Because of scheduling problems with UNT's Computing Services, this new machine did not become available until May 2003.   Summary and Next Steps  During this period, the Z-Team focused on setting up an alternative test dataset that may make it possible for more libraries to participate in the testbed. The Z-Team also continued working on the complexities of test scenarios for interoperability testing of phrase-oriented searches defined in the U.S. National and Bath Profiles. The third major activity was an in-depth analysis of the test dataset of 400,000 MARC 21 records.  The Z-Interop Project has three more months in which to complete the work of establishing the interoperability project. By September 30, 2003, we expect to provide operational and robust interoperability testing for the Z39.50 community. 

Z-Interop

This document describes the procedures that participants in the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed (Z-Interop Participant) are to use when testing Z39.50 client (Z-client) applications. The testing of a Z-Interop reference implementation Z39.50 server. Specifically, the attribute combination and other query components (e.g., Boolean operators) are reviewed, and a report of the results will be prepared for each Z-Interop participant

  The Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed  __________________________________________________________________  U.S. Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant  Realizing the Vision of Networked Access to  Library Resources  An Applied Research and Demonstration Project to Establish and Operate a Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed _________________________________________    Procedures for Issuing Test Searches from Z-Interop Testbed Participant’s  Z-Client   Phase 1   William E. Moen, Ph.D.  <wemoen@unt.edu> Principal Investigator  School of Library and Information Sciences Texas Center for Digital Knowledge University of North Texas Denton, TX  76203  October 1, 2002    Table of Contents  1. Introduction  2.  Procedures for Issuing Test Searches  2.1 Connection Information for Z-Interop Z39.50 Server Reference Implementation  2.2 Profile Test Searches 2.2.1 Profile Test Searches: Simple Keyword 2.2.2 Profile Test Searches: Keyword with Right Truncation 2.2.3 Profile Test Searches: Boolean Using Simple Keyword   2.3 Notifying Z-Interop Testbed Upon Completion of Sending Searches   3. SummaryZ-Interop Procedures for Issuing Test Searches from Participant’s Z39.50 Client October 1, 2002   1 Procedures for Issuing Test Searches from  Testbed Participant’s Z-Client   1. Introduction  This document describes the procedures that participants in the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed (Z-Interop Participant) are to use when testing Z39.50 client (Z-client) applications. The testing of a Z-Interop participant’s Z-client is limited to reviewing and analyzing the queries received by the Z-Interop reference implementation Z39.50 server. Specifically, the attribute combination and other query components (e.g., Boolean operators) are reviewed, and a report of the results will be prepared for each Z-Interop participant.   2.  Procedures for Issuing Test Searches  Z-Interop participants must send a set of test searches to the Z-Interop reference Z39.50 server. These test searches are defined in the U.S. National and Bath Profiles. To assist the testbed staff in analyzing the results, the Z-Interop participant should send the test searches in the order prescribed below, and all searches should be sent sequentially during one session.   2.1 Connection Information for Z-Interop Z39.50 Server Reference Implementation  The connection of the Z-Interop Z39.50 server reference implementation is:  Domain name: research.lis.unt.edu Port number: 2200 Database name: zinterop   2.2 Profile Test Searches  The following sections prescribe the types of searches (i.e., Basic, Truncation, and Boolean), the specific searches and the search terms to send in the queries.  Z-Interop participants must send each of the searches in the following order:  Basic searches: a. Any Search – Keyword b. Author Search – Keyword c. Title Search – Keyword d. Subject Search – Keyword  Truncation searches: a. Any Search – Keyword with Right Truncation b. Author Search – Keyword with Right Truncation c. Title Search – Keyword with Right Truncation d. Subject Search – Keyword with Right Truncation Boolean searches: a. Any with OR b. Any with AND c. Any with NOT d. Author with OR e. Author with AND f. Author with NOT  g. Title with OR h. Title with AND i. Title with NOT j. Subject with OR k. Subject with AND l. Subject with NOT  Z-Interop Procedures for Issuing Test Searches from Participant’s Z39.50 Client October 1, 2002   2  2.2.1 Profile Test Searches: Simple Keyword  For each of the following keyword searches, the Z-Interop participant will send 5 searches using the specified search terms for each type of search.  Search Number Type of Search Search Term 1 Any Search -- Keyword mobile 2  nepal 3  picasso 4  root 5  varieties    6 Author Search – Keyword aleksandrovich 7  elena 8  garrison 9  jessica 10  picasso    11 Title Search – Keyword astronomical 12  nepal 13  root 14  terror 15  treasures    16 Subject Search – Keyword dragons 17  mobile 18  semiconductors 19  supernatural 20  varieties   Z-Interop Procedures for Issuing Test Searches from Participant’s Z39.50 Client October 1, 2002   3 2.2.2 Profile Test Searches: Keyword with Right Truncation  For each of the following keyword truncation searches, the Z-Interop participant will send 5 searches using the specified search terms for each type of search. Search term is right truncated after last letter in word.   Type of Search Search Number Search Term Any Search – Keyword with Right Truncation 1 mobile  2 nepal  3 picasso  4 root  5 varieties    Author Search – Keyword with Right Truncation 6 aleksandrovich  7 elena  8 garrison  9 jessica  10 picasso    Title Search – Keyword with Right Truncation 11 astronomical  12 nepal  13 root  14 terror  15 treasures    Subject Search – Keyword with Right Truncation 16 dragons  17 mobile  18 semiconductors  19 supernatural  20 varieties   Z-Interop Procedures for Issuing Test Searches from Participant’s Z39.50 Client October 1, 2002   4 2.2.3 Profile Test Searches: Boolean Using Simple Keyword   For each of the following keyword searches, the Z-Interop participant will send 5 searches using the specified search terms for each type of search.   Search Number Type of Search Boolean Operator Search Term #1 Search Term #2 1 Any Search – Keyword OR root whale 2 Any Search – Keyword OR inspector interviewing 3 Any Search – Keyword AND nepal everest 4 Any Search – Keyword AND picasso work 5 Any Search – Keyword NOT mobile homes 6 Any Search – Keyword NOT varieties james      7 Author Search – Keyword OR aleksandrovich alexandra 8 Author Search – Keyword OR laurel josiah 9 Author Search – Keyword AND jessica stirling 10 Author Search – Keyword AND elena gelfand 11 Author Search – Keyword NOT garrison hyslop 12 Author Search – Keyword NOT picasso rubin      13 Title Search – Keyword OR nepal festivals 14 Title Search – Keyword OR hotels  clubs 15 Title Search – Keyword AND astronomical almanac 16 Title Search – Keyword AND terror war 17 Title Search – Keyword NOT treasures museum 18 Title Search – Keyword NOT root america      19 Subject Search – Keyword OR mobile robots 20 Subject Search – Keyword OR academia algorithms 21 Subject Search – Keyword AND semiconductors congresses 22 Subject Search – Keyword AND varieties  plants 23 Subject Search – Keyword NOT dragons monsters 24 Subject Search – Keyword NOT supernatural literature   2.3 Notifying Z-Interop Testbed Upon Completion of Sending Searches  After the Z-Interop participant has sent all searches listed above, the Z-Interop staff should be notified.  Send an email message to the following address stating that the searches have been issued:   wemoen@unt.edu  In the message, please provide the following pieces of information:   IP Address of Z39.50 client  Date searches were sent   Z-Interop Procedures for Issuing Test Searches from Participant’s Z39.50 Client October 1, 2002   5 3. Summary  This document has described the procedures to be used by Z-Interop participants when testing their Z39.50 client application against the Z-Interop Z39.50 server reference implementation. When the Z-Interop staff has received the email message notifying that the searches have been sent, the staff will begin reviewing the queries received by the Z-Interop Z39.50 server and develop a report to summarize the results.   

This document provides a status report on the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (Z-Interop) covering the period of December 1, 2000 through April 30, 2001. The authors highlight activities and accomplishments to communicate to IMLS progress on their project. This period can be considered a project startup period

  Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant ___________________________________________  Realizing the Vision of  Networked Access to Library Resources  An Applied Research and Demonstration Project to Establish and Operate a Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed    __________________________   Six Month Status Report to  The Institute of Museum and Library Services  December 1, 2000 through April 30, 2001      William E. Moen, Ph.D. <wemoen@unt.edu> Principal Investigator School of Library and Information Sciences Texas Center for Digital Knowledge University of North Texas Denton, TX  76203  May 27, 2001 Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: May 1, 2001     Page  1    Introduction  This document provides a status report on the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (Z-Interop) covering the period of December 1, 2000 through April 30, 2001.  We highlight activities and accomplishments to communicate to IMLS progress on our project.  This period can be considered a project startup period.   Accomplishments and Challenges  This section summarizes the key accomplishments and challenges.  Subsequent sections discuss these in more detail.  Accomplishments:   Established preliminary project website (October 2000)  Issued Call for Applications for project research assistants (November 2000)  Identified and selected four research assistants (December 2000)  Invited approximately 20 experts and stakeholders to participate on the Z-Interop Project Advisory Board (December 2000 – January 2001)  Developed preliminary Project Management Plan (December 2000 – February 2001)  Developed preliminary Project Evaluation Plan (February – March 2001)  Received test dataset of 400,000 MARC records from OCLC (March 2001)  Developed preliminary analysis methodology for test dataset (February – April 2001)  Publicized the testbed through presentations and articles (Fall 2000 – Spring 2001)  Had paper on interoperability accepted for presentation at the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (June 2001).  Challenges   Research assistant turnover  Delay in acquisition of appropriate computer platform for interoperability testing.   Project Personnel  The Principal Investigator (PI) has committed time to the project since the announcement of the award in September 2000.  In Spring 2001, he committed 20% effort (approximately 10 hours/week) on the project.  In Summer 2001, he will commit 50% effort.   The PI chose four graduate students to participate as Project Research Assistants (called the Z- Team).  Each student brought specific skills and abilities to the project.  The PI assumed these four students would continue for the duration of the project working 15 hours a week and receiving tuition support.    Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: May 1, 2001     Page  2    These students reported for duty in the middle of January 2001 (the beginning of the spring semester).  We began a series of weekly Z-Team meetings for orientation to the project, training on Z39.50, and other related topics.    Unfortunately, two Z-Team members withdrew from the project in April. One of these was the research assistant designated as the project manager. This has had an impact on project work and unanticipated additional work for the PI.    The PI has hired one doctoral student to work part-time on the project for Summer 2001 and that student may continue as a full member of the Z-Team beginning in Fall 2001.  The PI plans to identify another graduate student to become a member of the Z-Team for Fall 2001.     Project Management  The PI tasked one of the research assistants as the Project Manager.  Together we developed an initial project management plan.  This plan uses Work Areas and Work Packages to identify key activities and responsibilities.  Each Work Package describes a set of tasks, deliverables, timeline, and a lead person.  This seems to be an appropriate project management approach for this multi-faceted research and demonstration project. For each Work Package, a research assistant (or the PI) is charged with the responsibility for carrying out the tasks and delivering the product for a Work Package.    When the Project Manager withdrew from the Z-Team, the PI changed the how the project would be managed. Beginning in April, he assumed direct project management responsibilities and changed from weekly Z-Team meetings to weekly individual meetings with each Z-Team member.  This seems to be a more productive approach since the students needed more hands-on management and guidance than the PI had initially assumed.    Because of the change of personnel, the PI will be revising the Project Management Plan in June 2001 to reflect these changes.  He intends to have a revised Plan ready by the first part of July 2001.   Project Evaluation Plan  Two Z-Team members attended the IMLS evaluation workshop in February. That experience provided the basis for developing a preliminary Project Evaluation Plan.  We submitted a draft of the plan to IMLS for review in April.  A final version of the plan needs to be submitted.  The PI intends to have this ready for June 2001.   Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: May 1, 2001     Page  3    Project Websites  As soon as IMLS announced the award in September 2000, the PI established a project website to provide an initial public presence for the project <http://www.unt.edu/zinterop/>.  The PI also used the site to issue the Call for Application for the research assistantships. Candidates applied online.  A Z-Team member had the responsibility for redesigning the public website.  The redesigned website was ready by the end of April. The redesigned website is still at: <http://www.unt.edu/zinterop/>.  The PI will be adding new content to this site during Summer 2001.  The Z-Team member developed new graphics for the project, and specifically a project logo.  A copy of the project logo is on the title page of this report.  We think it represents what this project is about: Research, Test, & Improve  During Spring 2001, the Z-Team member also developed a private website for use by the Z-Team and participants in the interoperability testing (scheduled to begin in late Summer 2001).  Z-Team members use an online form on the private website to submit updates on their work.  The PI see this website as an important project management tool and a tool for administering the testbed.   Project Technology  The project uses several computing platforms for various activities.  Currently, we have the following computers provided by UNT as part of its contribution to the project:   One PC running Linux configured as a development platform for Z39.50 client and server, for development of the new websites, and other tasks.  This machine hosts the Z-Team website for internal Z-Team use.   Two PCs running Windows 2000 as general utility computers for website design, presentation development, documentation, etc.    One research laptop running Windows 2000.  The PI also applied to Sun Microsystems for server and software through its Academic Equipment Grant program. This activity was indicated in the project proposal. The application, however, was not approved by Sun Microsystems. We continued to pursue a Sun server, and through the Sun MindPrint Program we finally, in May, received appropriate hardware for the project.  The School of Library and Information Science purchased this machine for the use of the Z-Interop project.    This delay in acquiring the server has put the project somewhat behind in loading the software contributed by SIRSI Corporation.  We plan for the SIRIS software installation in June, with Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: May 1, 2001     Page  4    training on that system provided in July.  The PI estimates that interoperability testing will likely be moved to September/October 2001 rather than the August 2001 period initially planned.   Test Dataset   OCLC has provided a test dataset of MARC records from its WorldCat database.  These were selected based on a sampling procedure agreed to by the PI and OCLC. OCLC sent a small sample of records to ensure that we could read them and that SIRSI could load the records into its system. OCLC then delivered a 1% sample (approximately 400,000 records) from WorldCat.    A Z–Team member and the PI have developed analysis requirements for these records and identifying the tools needed for analysis.  OCLC has agreed to provide the project with additional manipulation of the records for further analysis by the team. This analysis will be carried out during June and July 2001.  However, developing this controlled test dataset is presenting methodological challenges given the size of the dataset and the complexity of the MARC records.     Project Partners  At the time the grant proposal was submitted, the PI had confirmed with SIRSI and OCLC that they would partner with the PI, and they made commitments of resources to the project.  The PI has also lined up the participation of Sea Change Corporation as a partner in the testbed. Sea Change will provide the project with its Z39.50 client product, Bookwhere 2000, to serve as a reference implementation client for the first phase of interoperability testing.   Project Advisory Group  The PI established a Project Advisory Group of approximately 20 people.  The roster of Advisory Group members represents Z39.50 experts, integrated library system vendors, and other stakeholder groups (e.g., NISO, state libraries, etc.).  We have set up a listserv for communication with the Advisory Group. During the project’s start–up phase with the Z-Team (January through May) and with the changes in personnel on the Z-Team, the PI has not communicated with the Advisory Group.  One of the first communications with that group will announce the availability of this six-month report.  We will also bring to their attention the Project Evaluation Plan and two documents under development related to analyzing the test dataset and the procedures and policies for interoperability testing.  We view the Advisory Group as an essential source for input and advice on both methods and policies of the testbed project.    Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: May 1, 2001     Page  5    Project Information Dissemination  The PI has made numerous presentations since Fall 2000 in which he included discussions about the project (and acknowledged IMLS funding in all cases).  These have occurred in national and international meetings including: the Access Y2K conference, St. John's Newfoundland; the Library of Congress Bibliographic Control Conference, Washington, DC; the international Z39.50 Implementors Group meeting, Washington, DC; the Third Annual GILS Conference, Springfield, IL; the Coalition for Networked Information Task Force Meeting, Washington, DC; and others.   A paper by the PI, “Mapping the Interoperability Landscape for Information Retrieval,” was accepted for presentation at the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries to be held in June 2001. He developed a presentation on the interoperability testbed project for presentation at a two-day European Union Digital Library All Projects Concertation Meeting in February 2001.  A colleague from Denmark made the presentation. We also provided this presentation to Carrol Lunua at the National Library of Canada for her use in presentations on the Bath Profile and Z39.50 interoperability.    The January 2001 issue of D-Lib Magazine contained a description of the project, as did the University of North Texas Alumni magazine. Our project was on display in the University of North Texas, School of Library and Information Sciences booth at the Texas Library Association Annual meeting in San Antonio.    We submitted a proposal for a poster session for the ASIST Conference in November 2001 in Washington, DC. This was accepted. The poster session will focus on the project’s activities related to interoperability assessment methodologies.    Summary and Next Steps  This startup period has gone relatively smoothly, although the change in graduate student personnel has affected the pace of some of the work.  The PI has put in place a project management plan and the technical infrastructure for the project.  He also used opportunities for presentations to build awareness of and interest in the testbed.    During the next four months, the PI and Z-Team will finalize the test dataset, develop testbed procedures and policies, issue the first call for participation in the testbed, complete the installation of the reference implementations, and establish benchmarks for interoperability testing.  We plan to have the first phase of interoperability testing start in September/October 2001. 

This report discusses the Z39.50 interoperability testbed and serves as an interim report for the Z-Interop Project as of December 31, 2003

This document discusses decomposing MARC 21 records for analysis. To prepare the test dataset of the 1% sample of MARC 21 records from the WorldCat database for use in the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed, the authors need to be able to efficiently analyze the records to determine relevant records to be returned for a set of test searches. The first step in that analysis is to determine the occurrence of test search terms in specific records. This document describes the general approach for this analysis and identifies specifications for the analysis

This document provides guidelines for indexing MARC 21 records to support a set of searches using Z39.50. The Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (Z-Interop) uses these guidelines to index the 400,000 MARC 21 records that comprise the Z-Interop reference implementation of the Z39.50 server and online catalog

This document provides a status report on the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (Z-Interop) covering the period of April 1, 2002 through June 30, 2002. The previous status report covered a ten-month period from May 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002. The Principal Investigator (PI) requested a no-cost extension for this project, which the Institute of Museum and Library Services approved. With the letter of approval, IMLS set a revised schedule for project status reports. Beginning July 1, 2002, status reports are due every six months. To respond to the revised schedule of status reports, this document highlights activities and accomplishments to communicate to IMLS progress on this project since the last status report

  Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant ___________________________________________  Realizing the Vision of  Networked Access to Library Resources  An Applied Research and Demonstration Project to Establish and Operate a Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed    __________________________   Status Report to  The Institute of Museum and Library Services  April 1 through June 30, 2002     William E. Moen, Ph.D. <wemoen@unt.edu> Principal Investigator School of Library and Information Sciences Texas Center for Digital Knowledge University of North Texas Denton, TX  76203  July 1, 2002 Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: July 1, 2002     Page  1    Introduction  This document provides a status report on the Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project (Z-Interop) covering the period of April 1, 2002 through June 30, 2002.  The previous status report covered a ten-month period from May 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002. The Principal Investigator (PI) requested a no-cost extension for this project, which the Institute of Museum and Library Services approved.  With the letter of approval, IMLS set a revised schedule for project status reports. Beginning July 1, 2002, status reports are due every six months.  To respond to the revised schedule of status reports, this document highlights activities and accomplishments to communicate to IMLS progress on our project since the last status report.     We are pleased to report that in May 2002, we conducted interoperability testing with the first Z-Interop Testbed participant.   Accomplishments and Challenges  This section summarizes the key accomplishments and challenges.  Subsequent sections discuss these in more detail.  Accomplishments   Processed requests from two Z39.50 vendors/developers to participate in Z-Interop testbed (April – May 2002)  Successfully carried out the first interoperability testing (May 2002)  Developed procedures to analyze and report interoperability testing results (April – June 2002)  Publicized the testbed through presentations (April – June 2002).  Challenges   Developing procedures for preparing test scenarios for more complex queries  Encouraging more participation in testbed.  Project Personnel  The Principal Investigator (PI) has committed time to the project throughout this period with a 20% effort in Spring 2002 and 40% effort in Summer 2002.   Total staff working on the Z-Interop as of June 30, 2002:   1 graduate student (one Ph.D.) working 15 hours per week  2 graduate students (one Ph.D. and one Masters) working 10 hours per week.  These students comprise the Z-Team.   Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: July 1, 2002     Page  2    Project Management  The PI has overall project management responsibilities for scheduling work, keeping Z-Team members on task, and moving the project forward.  Fewer meetings with the Z-Team occurred during this period since each of the members had specific tasks to carry out and the need for full team meetings was not necessary.  The PI communicates regularly with each of the Z-Team members via email.   Project Schedule   As reported in the previous status report, there had been some slippage in the project schedule.  Because of this, the PI requested on April 1, 2002, that IMLS grant a no-cost extension for this project.  IMLS agreed to this request, and the project now has a completion date of December 30. 2003.    With this approval, the PI is creating a revised work plan to guide the next 18 months of work.  Important components of the plan will be preparing additional testing scenarios to address more complex queries, continuing collection of data for evaluation purposes, and advertising and encouraging participation in the testbed.  Interoperability Testing  Phase 1 testing began in April. The PI used the international Z39.50 Implementors Group (ZIG) meeting to encourage interest on the part of Z39.50 developers and vendors to participate in the testbed. Phase 1 testing involves simple keyword searches as defined in the Bath and U.S. National Profiles, Functional Area A, Level 0.  The profiles define four keyword searches.  In April, two Z39.50 vendors/developers indicated their interest in having their systems go through interoperability testing.  The two organizations are:   InQuirion Pty Ltd, Australia  OCLC, Office of Research, U.S.  Additional inquiries about participation have been received from several other vendors and developers in the U.S., the U.K., and Europe.  In May, we successfully conducted interoperability testing with InQuirion by sending a set of test searches and analyzing the results.  Through this initial experience with InQuirion, we have been able to refine our understanding of interoperability testing procedures and analysis.  Interoperability testing with the OCLC Z39.50 server is scheduled for early July.   Since April, the project team has been developing strategies for preparing test searches, benchmarks, and other procedures to support Phase 2 testing to begin in late summer or early fall.  Phase 2 testing will address the Bath and U.S. National Profiles, Functional Area A, Level 1 search requirements.  Nearly 20 searches are defined for Level 1, including more complex phrase searching.    Moen Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project Status Report: July 1, 2002     Page  3    The PI continues to communicate with possible participants in the testbed.  For example, he participated in a teleconference for the meeting of the Illinois Statewide Cataloging Standards Committee to present information about the testbed.  The Illinois State Library is encouraging the 12 Illinois Regional Library Systems and other libraries to go through the testbed as a way of demonstrating the utility of similarly configured online catalogs and Z39.50 servers.  In addition, the PI is working with the Texas State Library and Archives Commission on its Library of Texas initiative.  In conjunction with that work, participants in a Library of Texas proof of concept demonstration will be required to participate in the interoperability testbed.  Interoperability testing for that project will occur in September 2002.  Project Website  The project website <http://www.unt.edu/zinterop/> continues to serve as our vehicle for promoting and publicizing the project. In addition, we use the website to publish project documents and for online collection of information from potential testbed participants.    Project Technology and Software  No additional technology or software was acquired during this period.  Project Documentation  The project staff continues to develop documentation for the testbed. Currently being developed are the following:   Standard report format to issue interoperability testing results to individual participants  Detailed documentation of the various scripts, programs, and procedures that are used to automatically process the interoperability testing results  Detailed description of setting up the Z39.50 client reference implementation for testing.  Detailed description of the steps and procedures using in using the Z39.50 client reference implementation for testing and the analysis procedures for determining the results  Detailed description of establishing the benchmarks for each of the test searches.  It is important in building trust in the testbed that all procedures and policies of the testbed are publicly available.    Summary and Next Steps  During the past three months, we have proven out our approach to interoperability testing.  The results from Phase 1 testing with our first participant demonstrated that the testbed logic and the procedures are generally valid and workable.  Yet we continue to fine-tune and refine.  In addition, we are moving forward toward Phase 2 testing in late summer or early fall. 

This document discusses phase 1 of interoperability testing as part of the Z-Interop project

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc111020/m2/1/high_res_d/StatusReport30June2003.pdf

Z-Interop

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