Libraries Australia Z39.50 Configuration Guide

This guide provides the detailed information needed by Z39.50 client developers and implementers to access and interoperate with the Libraries Australia Z39.50 server. The guide assumes a general familiarity with Z39.50.

The Libraries Australia Z39.50 target will support access to the ANBD bibliographic and authority files.

Please test your Z39.50 connection against the test system (signon ANLEZ/z39.50) before attempting to connect to the production database. Once you have successfully accessed the test database, email Libraries Australia Help Desk and a Z39.50 username and password will be issued for access to the Libraries Australia production database.

The Libraries Australia Z39.50 Server will conform to Z39.50-1995 (Version 3). A subset of attributes from the Bib-1 attribute set will be supported, and codes from the Bib-1 diagnostic set are utilised. The server will have the following level of compliance with the Bath Profile:

Details on searching other databases available via the Libraries Australia Z39.50 gateway can be found at http://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/redevz3950.html

Table of Contents

  1. Z39.50 Services Supported
  2. Internet Addresses and Hours of Availability
  3. Initialisation Service
  4. Search Service
  5. Scan Service
  6. Sort Service
  7. Record Syntaxes Supported
  8. Database Names Supported
  9. Search - Bib-1 Attributes Supported
  10. Scan - Use Attributes Supported
  11. Relation Attributes Supported
  12. Position Attributes Supported
  13. Structure Attributes Supported
  14. Truncation Attributes Supported
  15. Completeness Attributes Supported
  16. Mandatory and Default Attributes

  1. Z39.50 Services Supported

    The Libraries Australia server will support the following services:

    • Initialisation
    • Search
    • Present
    • Scan
    • Sort
    • Delete
    • Named result sets
    • Explain

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  2. Internet Addresses and Hours of Availability

    Production Service

    Domain name z3950.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au
    IP address 192.102.239.140
    Port Standard output:
    1821 (MARC8 character encoding)
    210 (Unicode character encoding)
    Modified output:
    1822 (MARC8 character encoding)
    215 (Unicode character encoding)
    Availability Available 0600 -2400 hours, 7 days a week. System downtimes are available on the Libraries Australia Maintenance Schedule.
    Database name ANY or Bibliographic=ANBD
    AU or Authority=Libraries Australia Authorities

    Test Service

    Domain name z3950-test.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au
    IP address 192.102.239.142
    Port Standard output:
    1801 (MARC8 character encoding)
    210 (Unicode character encoding)
    Modified output:
    1822 (MARC8 character encoding)
    215 (Unicode character encoding)
    Availability If the test system is not available, please contact Libraries Australia Help Desk
    Database name BibTraining (case sensitive)
    AuthTraining
    Username ANLEZ
    Password z39.50

    Training Service

    Domain name z3950-train.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au
    IP address 192.102.239.143
    Port 1801 (MARC8 character encoding) 210 (Unicode character encoding)
    Availability If the training system is not available, please contact Libraries Australia Help Desk

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  3. Initialisation Service

    Protocol version Z39.50-1995 (Version 3)
    Options supported Search
    Present
    Delete
    Scan
    Sort
    Named result sets
    Explain
    ID authentication Production: A valid Libraries Australia user ID and password are required - please contact Libraries Australia Help Desk for allocation
    Test: Userid/password: ANLEZ/Z3950
    Training: A valid Libraries Australia user ID and password are required - please contact Libraries Australia Help Desk for allocation

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  4. Search Service

    Result set name Named result sets are supported
    Database names Database names are case-insensitive. Multiple databases can be searched subject to the capabilities of your local system.
    Element set names Libraries Australia supports element set naming and will return Brief (B) and Full (F) records, and element sets used for sorting: TI(Title), NA(Author) and DAT(Date of Publication in the Bibliographic database and date of entry in the Authority database).
    Query Type-1 (RPN), Type-101 and CCL queries are supported. The maximum length of a search term is 2000 characters.
    Attribute set Bib-1 only is supported
    Operand The Result set ID can be used in the Operand (for qualifying searches)
    Operators supported AND
    OR
    AND NOT
    Proximity operators WITH and SAME

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  5. Scan Service

    Database names Database names are case-insensitive.
    Step size The Libraries Australia server always uses a step-size of 0
    Position of term The Libraries Australia server positions the scanned for term in the middle of the returned list of terms.

    All other fields behave exactly as prescribed by the standard.


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  6. Sort Service

    Supports sorting on any of the Search attributes defined in Section 10 and the element sets TI (Title), NA (Author) and DAT (Date of publication) . Element set sorts excludes non-filing characters.

    Result sets of 10,000 records or fewer can be sorted. Sort performance is slower with large result sets.

    If no sort is requested, the default result set order is in database number (AN) order.


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  7. Record Syntaxes Supported

    • Internally Libraries Australia stores data in MARCXML format conforming to the MARC 21 standard.
    • If no Preferred Record Syntax is applied, the Libraries Australia server defaults to MARC21 to support the widest range of Z39.50 clients.
    • For best performance we recommend that you limit present requests to 20 records at a time. Although larger values are permitted, response times may suffer.
    • The SUTRS, MARCXML in GRS-1, and XML record syntaxes are also supported. If a SUTRS record is requested, Libraries Australia will supply a record similar to MARC 21 in the appropriate format. If a GRS-1 record is requested, Libraries Australia will supply a record in MARCXML format.
    Value Description
    10 MARC-21
    101 SUTRS -Simple Unstructured Text Record Syntax, for plain text records
    105 GRS-1 - Generic Record Syntax; unstructured multi-purpose record syntax
    109.1 XML

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  8. Database Names Supported

    The ANY and AU database names are maintained for backward compatibility reasons. The new names of Bibliographic and Authority are also supported on the production and test servers.

    Value Description
    ANY or Bibliographic Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) [Production and Test servers]
    AU or Authority Libraries Australia Authorities Database [Production and Test servers]
    BibTraining ANBD training database [Training server]
    AuthTraining Libraries Australia Authorities training database [Training server]

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  9. Search - Bib-1 Attributes Supported

    • (D) indicates server default value. (DW) is the default when the structure is 2-Word.

    Note: Default behaviour for text indexes is Position= 3 (Any), Structure= 1 (Phrase).

    Use Relation Position Structure Truncation Completeness
    4-Title 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    5 - Series
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    7-ISBN 3-Equal(D)
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    8-ISSN 3-Equal(D)
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    9-LC control number
    3-Equal(D)
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    12-Australian ANBD number
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    13-Dewey classification 1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    14-Universal Decimal classification
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    16-LC classification 1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    17-NLM classification
    1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    20 - Classification 1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    21-Subject heading 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    31-Date of publication
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    47-Subject subdivision* 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    51-Music publisher number
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    54-Language
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2-Word
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    55-Geographic area code 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    56-ILL library symbol
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1- First in field 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    59-Country/State/ Province
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2- Word 100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    60-CODEN
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    63-Note
    3-Equal(D) 3-Any (D) 1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    1001 or 1031-Material type 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2-Word 100-Do not truncate(D) 1-Inc. subfield(D)
    1003-Name

    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    1004-Personal name

    Valid in Authority (AU) database only
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    1005-Corporate name
    Valid in Authority (AU) database only
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    1006-Conference / meeting name
    Valid in Authority (AU) database only
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    1007 - Standard Identifier
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    1011 - Date of entry 1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 100 -Date un-normalised
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    1012 - Time/Date of Last Transaction 1-Less than
    2-Less than or equal
    3-Equal(D)
    4-Greater or equal
    5-Greater than
    1-First in field(D) 5-Date 1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    1016-Any
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc.
    subfield(D)
    1018-Publisher name
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1- First in field
    3-Any (D)
    1-Phrase(D)
    2-Word
    1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    3-Complete field
    2004-Other control number
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D) 1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2005-ISMN
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D) 1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2006-Other classification
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D) 1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2009-Immutable number 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D) 1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2023-Country/State/ Province
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2- Word 100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2024-Australian content indicator
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2- Word 100-Do not truncate(D) 1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2025 - Form of item 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D)
    2-Word
    100-Do not truncate(D) 1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2026-Government publication 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2-Word 100-Do not truncate(D) 1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2073-Bibliographic level
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2-Word 100-Do not truncate(D) 1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2100-Conference / meeting code
    Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2-Word 100-Do not truncate(D) 1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2146 - Series Type 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 2-Word 100-Do not truncate(D) 1-Inc. subfield(D)
    2277 - Local system number 3-Equal(D) 1-First in field(D) 1-Phrase(D) 1-Right Truncation
    100-Do not truncate(D)
    101-Process # in term
    1-Inc. subfield(D)

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  10. Scan - Use Attributes Supported

    Value Description Databases
    4 Title  
    7 ISBN  
    8 ISSN  
    9 LC control number  
    13 Dewey classification  
    14 UDC classification Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    16 LC classification  
    17 NLM classification  
    21 Subject heading  
    33 Key title Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    51 Music publisher number Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    60 Coden Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    1003 Name  
    1004 Personal name Only valid in Authority (AU) database
    1005 Corporate name Only valid in Authority (AU) database
    1006 Conference/meeting name Only valid in Authority (AU) database
    2005 ISMN Not valid in Authority (AU) database
    2006 Other classification Not valid in Authority (AU) database

    Note: Because of the way data is being normalised, all text field scans must be entered in upper case. Currently subject headings must be scanned with no hyphens between subfields, just one space. Scans on text fields that return extremely long headings will cause an error message to be displayed. Scans on Personal name and Corporate name are being directed to the keyword index (Dec 04). Add @attr 3=1 to overcome this problem.


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  11. Relation Attributes Supported

    Value Description Example
    1 Less than dat < 1990 retrieves items published before 1990
    2 Less than or equal dat <= 1990 retrieves items published up to and including 1990
    3 Equal dat = 1990 retrieves items published in 1990
    4 Greater than or equal dat >= 1990 retrieves items published in and after 1990
    5 Greater than dat > 1990 retrieves items published after 1990

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  12. Position Attributes Supported

    Value Description Definition
    1 First in field The search term must be the first data in the field. Ex. A search for ti dog where position=1 retrieves the item 'Dog and cat', but not 'Cat and dog'.
    3 Any position in field The search term may appear in any position in the field. It is supported for use in relation to 4,21,63,1003,1016,1018 only.

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  13. Structure Attributes Supported

    Value Name Definition
    1 Phrase One or more groups of characters separated by spaces. The records retrieved will contain the group(s) of characters exactly as they appear in the search term with respect to order and adjacency.
    2 Word One group of characters with no spaces. It is the exact text of the value to be searched.
    5 Date (normalised) The day, month, year and time when a transaction or event takes place. To be used with use attributes 1011 and 1012.
    100 Date (un-normalised) The day, month and year when a transaction or event takes place. The un-normalised search term is unstructured.

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  14. Truncation Attributes Supported

    Value Name Definition
    1 Right truncate The last word of the search term is right truncated. Ex. creat? searches for create, created, creation, etc.
    2 Left truncate The first word of the search term is left truncated. E.g. ?istan searches for Pakistan, Afghanistan etc.
    100 Do not truncate No truncation is applied to the search term.
    101 Process # in search term Process "#" in search term to replace exactly 1 character. Use "?" to replace 1 or more characters.

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  15. Completeness Attributes Supported

    Value Name Definition
    1 Incomplete subfield Words other than those in the search term may appear in the subfield or field in which the term appears.
    3 Complete field No words other than those in the search term should appear in the entire field in which the term appears.

    Note: currently defaults to Complete field unless Position=1 (First in field) is defined


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  16. Mandatory and Default Attributes

    • The Use attribute is mandatory.
    • For the remaining attributes, if an attribute type and value is not supplied by the Z39.50 Client, the following defaults will be applied in Libraries Australia:
    Attribute Default value
    Relation Equal (value=3)
    Position First in field (value=1) (This becomes 3-Any when Structure is set to 2-Word)
    Structure Phrase (value=1)
    Truncation Do not truncate (value=100)
    Completeness Incomplete subfield (value=1)

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