[1159] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
WAIS and Z39.50: correction
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Walt Crawford)
Tue Sep 8 09:37:26 1992
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 08:29:46 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: Walt Crawford <BR.WCC%RLG.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
A friendly correction to an earlier message:
Z39.50 is *not* the "WAIS protocol" and it
is *not* "waiting to become an official standard."
Z39.50 *is* an approved NISO/ANSI standard. It is
titled "Information Retrieval Service Definition and
Protocol Specifications for Library Applications."
It is a protocol within the Open Systems Interconnection
7-layer model. A revision of Z39.50 is under way, and
there will certainly be enhancements to the next version.
(Every ANSI standard is reviewed periodically, for that
matter.)
WAIS *uses* Z39.50. So do (or will) lots of other
folk who have nothing to do with WAIS. Calling Z39.50
the "WAIS protocol" is like calling ASCII the "Zeos
character set."
-walt crawford-
To: PACS-L@UHUPVM1
