ANSI Z39.50

networking, standard Information Retrieval Service

Definition and Protocol Specification for Library

Applications, officially known as ANSI/NISO Z39.50-1992, and

ANSI/NISO Z39.50-1995. This standard, used by WAIS,

specifies an OSI application layer service to allow an

application on one computer to query a database on another.

Z39.50 is used in libraries and for searching some databases

on the Internet. The US Library of Congress is the official

maintanence agency for Z39.50.

Index Data, a Danish company, have released a lot of Z39.50

code. Their web site explains the relevant ISO

standards and how they are amicably converging in Z39.50

version 4.0.

Overview .

Z39.50 resources.

(1996-07-22)