[Evergreen-catalogers] Format code for Z39.50 attributes

[Galen Charlton]

Hi,

The "format" column in the Z39.50 search attributes corresponds to the
Bib-1 "structure" attribute (see
https://www.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/bib1.html#structure). The structure
attribute specifies how the search terms are to be interpreted by the
target, with useful value including:

1: please interpret the search terms as a phrase - i.e., look for records
that match all of the words in order
6: please interpret the search terms as a word list - i.e., the order that
the words are found in the record doesn't matter

More details can be found here: https://www.loc.gov/z3950/agency/bib1.html

Interestingly, while the stock LoC Z39.50 attributes in Evergreen set the
structure attribute to 6 for several fields, per
https://www.loc.gov/z3950/lcserver.html#stra LoC interprets everything as a
phrase search. (And it's been that way since at least 2003.)

As far as teaching Evergreen how to retrieve authority records via Z39.50
is concerned, it has many of the bits and pieces required, but coding would
be required to (at minimum):

- distinguish between Z39.50 profiles used to retrieve bibs from those used
to retrieve authorities
- teach the backend how to parse and handle authority records
- create an interface that displays authority Z39.50 results usefully, then
allows loading/creating a new authority record from a hit
- ensure that that new interface avoids creating records with duplicate
headings

Regards,

Galen

On Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 9:59 AM Mackenzie Johnson via Evergreen-catalogers <
evergreen-catalogers at list.evergreen-ils.org> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm poking around in how to setup a connection to a Z39.50 server, and
> when looking in the details for setting up attributes, there is a column
> labelled "Format" that contains a numerical value, and I can't tell what it
> is used for. Even within specifically what I think I can call the "default"
> Library of Congress lookup, some elements are given a format number of 6
> and the others 1. The documentation does not help here, whether from EG or
> LOC (which at least told me how the "Truncation" encoding works).
> Understanding the meaning of this will also be useful for the Authorities
> Working Group, as what I'm trying to do is see how well EG can currently
> support setting up a connection to the Name Authority File and the Subject
> Authority File, both of which can be accessed through Z39.50 for free
> through LoC.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mackenzie Johnson, MLIS
> (he/his/him)
> Metadata Librarian
> University of Prince Edward Island
> Email: mtjohnson at upei.ca
> Phone: 902-620-5290
> ORCID: 0000-0002-9358-5081
> Book an appointment with YouCanBookMe
> <https://mackenziejohnson.youcanbook.me>
>
> UPEI is located on Mi'kma'ki, the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people.
> _______________________________________________
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>


-- 
Galen Charlton
Implementation and IT Manager
Equinox Open Library Initiative
gmc at equinoxOLI.org
https://www.equinoxOLI.org
phone: 877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
direct: 770-709-5581
<http://evergreen-ils.org>
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