ISO 2146 Project
ISO 2146 (Registry Services for Libraries and Related Organisations) is an international standard currently under development by ISO TC46 SC4 WG7 to operate as a framework for building registry services for libraries and related organisations. It takes the form of an information model that identifies the objects and data elements needed for the collaborative construction of registries of all types. It is not bound to any specific protocol or data schema. The aim is to be as abstract as possible, in order to facilitate a shared understanding of the common processes involved, across multiple communities of practice.
The standard has been under development for several years now. An earlier draft was based on the IPIG Schema and still had many data elements relevant only to resource sharing services. The current version has now been fully generalised. Because of the length of time taken to reach this stage, the project had to be balloted as a new work item. This was accepted and the current version has just been submitted as a Committee Draft (CD) with a closing date of 20 August 2007.
At the ISO TC 46 SC4 WG7 meeting in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in May 2007, comments on the CD version made as part of the ballot for the new work item were reviewed. These were mainly technical, but the working group did identify the need for a non-normative annex to explain the relationship between ISO 2146, work in progress on developing a service framwork for libraries and standards in the registry services domain bound to specific protocols and data schemas.
It is anticipated that the next version will be issued for ballot as a Draft International Standard early in the last quarter of 2007.
Testbeds and implementations
The CD version is being tested as a framework standard by the Online Research Collections Australia (ORCA) Project.
The National Library of Australia is also testing it as a framework for its Directory Integration Project, a project to integrate a range of disparate registry services used to support the Libraries Australia, Australian Libraries Gateway and Australian InterLibrary Resource Sharing (ILRS) Directory services.
The pervasive role of registry services in the delivery of digital library services is starting to be documented as part of the development of the e-Framework an initiative by the UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and Australia’s Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). The primary goal of the e-Framework is to facilitate technical interoperability within and across education and research through improved strategic planning and implementation processes.
Latest version
CD 2146 - Information and Documentation - Registry Services for Libraries and Related Organisations. 20 July 2006.
Documentation
ISO 2146 - Information and Documentation - Registry Services for Libraries and Related Organisations (ISO TC46 SC4 Working Draft, 13 December 2005). Word document. Available: http://www.nla.gov.au/wgroups/ISO2146/n197.doc
ISO 2146 - Information and Documentation - Registry Services for Libraries and Related Organisations (ISO TC46 SC4 Working Draft, 13 December 2005). XML Schema. Available: http://www.nla.gov.au/wgroups/ISO2146/n198.xsd
Pearce, Judith (with Janifer Gatenby) "New Frameworks for Resource Discovery and Delivery," Standards Australia IT-19 Seminar, Technical Standards for Libraries and Education: Solutions and Emerging Frameworks, held at the National Library of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday 26 October 2005. Online. Available: http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/nlasp/article/view/1216
Enquiries
Further enquiries about this project may be directed
to:
Judith Pearce
Director, Feasibility and Standards
National Library of
Australia
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Australia
Phone: +61 2 62621425
Email: jpearce@nla.gov.au
Date last verified: 3 July 2007
