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 (http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/) 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 (http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/VI/5/op/udtop3.htm).
Z39.50 resources (http://lamp.cs.utas.edu.au/net.html#Z3950).
