[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Fwd: NISO Press Release: NISO Announces Availability of NCIP Implementer Registry (11/10/10)

[Jason Stephenson]

Quoting Lori Bowen Ayre <lori.ayre at galecia.com>:

> Jason,
>
> Isn't that basically the same problem with SIP2?  Also problematic there.

SIP2 isn't a standard in the same sense. It's not supported by any  
national or international standards body. 3M just said, "Here, this is  
what we do. Use it if you want/dare."

NCIP was designed by a committee and it shows. Kind of how a camel is  
an elephant designed by a committee, or is that the other way around?

Same thing applies to Z39.50, by the way.

Internet RFCs tend not to have these interoperability problems,  
because they tend to have a limited number of authors who focus mainly  
on the technical questions. Yes, there are RFCs that don't work, but  
they are the exceptions rather than the rule. I had something like  
this process in mind.

"The wonderful thing about standards is that there are so many to  
choose from." Variously attributed.

My corollary: "The wonderful thing about any given standard is that  
there are so many ways to interpret it."




>
> On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 10:04 AM, Jason Stephenson  
> <jstephenson at mvlc.org>wrote:
>
>> Quoting Lori Bowen Ayre <lori.ayre at galecia.com>:
>>
>>  Is anyone out there working on developing NCIP support for Evergreen or
>>> Koha?  Is it queued up in the roadmap?
>>>
>>
>> The Univesity of E. Oregon is having NCIP (most likely version 1)
>> implemented for Evergreen via the XCNCIPToolkit so that they can use it with
>> some OCLC product or another. I don't expect this will be generically
>> useful.
>>
>> My understanding is that they have hired a local developer to do it.
>>
>> Personally, I think both revisions of Z39.83 should be ditched and
>> something simpler and completely vendor neutral should be developed in its
>> place. It is utterly stupid that Z39.83 allows different implementations
>> conform to the standard and yet be utterly unable to communicate with each
>> other.
>>
>> Jason Stephenson
>> MVLC
>>
>>
>>
>>> Lori
>>>
>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>> From: Karen Wetzel <kwetzel at niso.org>
>>> Date: Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 7:04 AM
>>> Subject: NISO Press Release: NISO Announces Availability of NCIP
>>> Implementer
>>> Registry (11/10/10)
>>> To: newsline at list.niso.org
>>>
>>>
>>> *NISO Announces Availability of NCIP Implementer Registry*
>>> *Site brings together information about vendors’ implementations of NCIP*
>>>
>>> *Baltimore, MD - November 10, 2010 -* NISO is pleased to announce the
>>> availability of the NCIP Implementer Registry, a site that allows vendors
>>> to
>>> share information about their implementations of the NISO Circulation
>>> Interchange Protocol (ANSI/NISO Z39.83, Parts 1 and 2). NCIP addresses the
>>> need for interoperability among disparate circulation, interlibrary loan,
>>> and related applications by standardizing the exchange of messages between
>>> and among computer-based applications.
>>>
>>> At this time, the following vendors have indicated their use of NCIP by
>>> signing up for the registry: Auto-Graphics, Ex Libris, Innovative
>>> Interfaces, Inc., and Rapid Radio. The registry is linked from the NCIP
>>> website (www.niso.org/workrooms/ncip) and from the NCIP maintenance
>>> agency
>>> site (www.ncip.info).
>>>
>>> The registry allows vendors to enter information about their
>>> implementations
>>> of Version 1 of the standard, now deprecated but still widely used, and
>>> Version 2 of the standard, the current version of the standard adopted in
>>> 2008. Vendors may participate in the standard as an initiator of messages,
>>> a
>>> responder to messages, or both.
>>>
>>> By making this information publicly available, libraries will be able to
>>> see
>>> which vendors currently support NCIP, which version(s) of the standard are
>>> supported, and which messages in the standard are supported. In 2010 the
>>> NCIP Standing Committee defined two sets of core messages for
>>> accomplishing
>>> essential tasks: the Resource Sharing and the Self-Service. All required
>>> messages must be enabled for a vendor to claim support for a core message
>>> set. Depending on the role the vendor is playing in the transaction, the
>>> vendor must either support the messages as an initiator or responder.
>>>
>>> NCIP Standing Committee member Susan Campbell (Research & Development
>>> Consultant, College Center for Library Automation), who, with Mary Jackson
>>> (Product Manager, Resource Sharing, Auto-Graphics) developed the
>>> Drupal-based registry for the committee, noted, “The new registry builds
>>> on
>>> years of work on NCIP. It is a key next step to help libraries better
>>> understand which vendors provide NCIP, which NCIP messages are supported,
>>> and how those might in turn support what the library needs in order to
>>> more
>>> efficiently provide resource sharing or self-service services to their
>>> users. I am pleased to make this registry available and look forward to
>>> seeing its growth.”
>>>
>>> Rob Walsh, President of EnvisionWare, the Maintenance Agency for NCIP, as
>>> well as co-chair for NISO’s Discovery to Delivery Topic Committee, which
>>> provides oversight to the NCIP Standing Committee, added, “This is a
>>> wonderful step forward for NCIP. The registry is just one of the tools
>>> that
>>> the Standing Committee has been working on to support NCIP implementers
>>> and
>>> users. By making this information more broadly available, the community
>>> will
>>> be able to make better informed decisions to help meet their customers’
>>> and
>>> patrons’ needs.”
>>>
>>> The NCIP Standing Committee is working to develop additional user tools.
>>> For
>>> more information, visit the NCIP website at www.niso.org/workrooms/ncipor
>>> the NCIP maintenance agency home at www.ncip.info.
>>>
>>> *About NISO*
>>> NISO, based in Baltimore, Md., fosters the development and maintenance of
>>> standards that facilitate the creation, persistent management, and
>>> effective
>>> interchange of information so that it can be trusted for use in research
>>> and
>>> learning. To fulfill this mission, NISO engages libraries, publishers,
>>> information aggregators, and other organizations that support learning,
>>> research, and scholarship through the creation, organization, management,
>>> and curation of knowledge. NISO works with intersecting communities of
>>> interest and across the entire lifecycle of an information standard. NISO
>>> is
>>> a not-for-profit association accredited by the American National Standards
>>> Institute (ANSI).
>>>
>>> *For More Information, Contact:*
>>> Victoria Kinnear
>>> NISO Business Development and Operations Manager
>>> Phone: 301-654-2512
>>> vkinnear at niso.org
>>>
>>> Karen Wetzel
>>> NISO Standards Program Manager
>>> kwetzel at niso.org
>>>
>>>  ----------------------
>>> Karen A. Wetzel
>>> Standards Program Manager
>>> National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
>>> One North Charles Street, Suite 1905
>>> Baltimore, MD 21201
>>> Tel.: 301-654-2512
>>> Fax: 410-685-5278
>>> E-mail: kwetzel at niso.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>