    UDT Series on Data Communication Technologies and Standards for Libraries OSI for Libraries: Standards to Services (1992)12. CONCLUSIONOSI presents libraries with the challenge of embracing new standards and technologies that are not yet widely recognized. This challenge is both exciting and daunting. It is exciting because the widespread interconnection of libraries and information systems made possible by OSI will change the nature of libraries and the access they provide to information. It is daunting because of the very real problems of first understanding and then implementing the complexities of OSI and related telecommunications.The challenge is made more complex today because of the existence of competing technologies at the networking level, and to a lesser extent at the application level. The Internet approach to network services is being very widely implemented, particularly in the academic environment in which many libraries operate. The Internet's success leads many to question the current need for and ultimate viability of OSI. While it is true that many libraries are already committed to TCP/IP communications, in the end OSI, at least at the application level, is likely to be widely implemented by libraries. Library-specific application protocols for ILL and information retrieval have been defined in the OSI arena and provide functionality that TCP/IP applications cannot provide. In addition, the bibliographic OSI protocols can be run over a pure OSI suite or a TCP/IP suite, allowing libraries to continue using existing communication networks. Another reason to believe that OSI will become prevalent within libraries is that OSI offers the best approach to integrating communications with existing and new library systems. As the Internet becomes more complex and indispensable, it is having to address many of the same issues of flexibility and configurability that have already been addressed by OSI. In the meantime, it is possible for cooperating libraries to get started in OSI, whatever their network infrastructure. Library consortia can begin with a minimum configuration of OSI components to support communications in a managerially separate and organizationally restricted operational area such as interlibrary loan. By starting in a small way, both staff and users can be exposed to the very real benefits offered by OSI and operational and planning staff can learn how to build limited OSI implementations as they migrate to fuller integration of OSI into their systems and services. Our concept of the nature, function and organization of the library is rapidly changing with the proliferation of new standards and technologies. The outcome will be a new and profoundly different model of what the library is and does. Global interconnectivity and instant access to information are likely to be central to this new model and OSI is a key technology to providing interconnectivity and access. OSI may be complex and it may be late, but it will prove to be central to the evolution of libraries and information services in the next decade and beyond.
ReferencesArbez, Gilbert and Swain, Leigh. (1990). OSI conformance testing for bibliographic applications. Library Hi Tech,8(4),119-136.Avram, Henriette. (1988). LSP and the library community: present status. in Linked Systems. Washington, Association of Research Libraries, pp.17-25. Cerni, Dorothy. (1990). Dorothy Cerni - Article on OSI standards and profiles. International Organization for Standardization (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SGFS N223). Cleveland, Gary. (1991a). Research Networks and Libraries: Applications and Issues for a Global Information Network. Ottawa, Canada:IFLA International Office for UDT. Comer, Douglas E. (1988). Interworking with TCP/IP: Principles, Protocols and Architecture. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:Prentice-Hall. Dempsey, Lorcan. (1991). Libraries, Networks, OSI: A review with a report on North American Developments. Bath, U.K.:UK Office for Library Networking. Denenberg, Ray. (1990). Data communications and OSI. Library Hi Tech,8(4),15-32. Fenley, Judith G., and Wiggins, Beacher. (1988). The Linked Systems Project: A Networking Tool for Libraries. Dublin, Ohio:OCLC. Fisher, Sharon. (1989). OSI takes on TCP/IP. UNIX World,7(2),74-80. Hartmann, Ulrich. (1990). Open Systems Standards: Status of International Harmonization and European Activities. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on the Application of Standards for Open Systems, October 2-4, Falls Church, Virginia. California: IEEE Computer Society Press, pp.18-26. Hinnebusch, Mark. (1990). Sidebar: The Z39.50 Implementors Group. Library Hi Tech,8(4),65. Holm, Liv et al.(1992). Nordic SR-Net, Report from Phase 2. IFOBS. (1992). Report to IFOBS from Members on OSI Activities. International Forum on Open Bibliographic Systems, Document N86, April 23, 1992. Iljon, Ariane and Manson, Pat. (1990). The Plan of Action for Libraries in the European Community: new partnerships. In Bibliographic Access in Europe: First International Conference (ed. Lorcan Dempsey). England:Gower Publishing, pp.39-46. Interlending in Europe: OSI Pilot/Demonstration Project. (1990). Library Association Record. 92(2),86. Law, Derek. (1990). The Plan of Action for Libraries: An EC initiative. Computer Networks and ISDN Systems. 19,339-342. Lynch, Daniel C. (1990). The transition from TCP/IP to OSI. Journal of Information Systems Management. 7(4),48-52. MacKinnon, Dennis. (1989). ILL Demonstration Project Feasibility Study Report. Ottawa, Canada: IFLA International Office for UDT. MacKinnon, Dennis; McCrum, William; Sheppard, Donald (1990). An Introduction to Open Systems Interconnection. New York: W.H. Freeman. Manson, Pat. (1991). CEC and Libraries: an assortment of projects and studies. Vine (83),3-7. Mills, Kevin L. (1990). Government Open Systems Interconnection: Profile in progress. Library Hi Tech,8(4),111-118. Plaister, Jean. (1991). Project ION (OSI Pilot/Demonstration Project between Library Networks in Europe for Interlending Services). Libri,41(3),289-305 Project ION Consortium. (1991). OSI Pilot/Demonstration Project between Library Networks in Europe for Interlending Services: Edited Report on Phase 1. May 1991. Quarterman, John S. (1990). The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems World Wide. Bedford, Mass:Digitial Press. Rose, Marshall T. (1989). The Transition from TCP/IP to OSI. Telecommunications (North American Edition), 23(4),54-56. Salecka, Liz. (1990). Networking into OSI. Communications Management, February 1990, pp.25,38. Software Kinetics Ltd. (1992). Report of the 8th ZIG Meeting, Washington, D.C., 26-28 March 1992. Software Kinetics Document no. 3500-2-010, March 31 1992. Stranger, Jon. (1990). U.K. Government OSI Profile (GOSIP). Open Systems Data Transfer Transmission #46 (June 1990). Turner, Fay. (1990a). Facilitating resource sharing in an automated environment: An update on the National Library's Interlibrary Loan Protocol. Canadian Library Journal. October 1990, pp.347-352. Turner, Fay. (1990b). The Interlibrary Loan Protocol: An OSI Solution to ILL Messaging. Library Hi Tech,8(4),73-82. Related MaterialsBrown. Roland C.W. (1989). Networking potentialities and limitations for library networking in Europe and North America. Inspel. 23(3),187-194. Cailloux, J.M. and Casimir C. (1989). (eds.) OSI Model for Library Applications: a tutorial. Luxembourg: Commission of the European Communities. Cawkell, A.E. (1990). Part 3:Standards and Protocols. The Electronic Library,8(3),198-203 Cleveland , Gary.(1991b). Electronic Document Delivery and Libraries: Converging Standards and Technologies. Ottawa, Canada:IFLA International Office for UDT. Dempsey, Lorcan. (1989). Bibliographic Access in Europe: First International Conference. England:Gower Publishing. Denenberg, Ray. (1985). Open Systems Interconnection. Library Hi Tech,3(1),15-26. Denenberg, Ray. (ed.)(1990). Library Hi Tech: Special Issue on Open Systems Interconnection. 8(4),Consecutive Issue 32. Durance, Cynthia J. and McLean, Neil J. (1988). Libraries and access to information in an open system. IFLA Journal,14(2),137-148. Judge, Peter. (1988). Open Systems: The Guide to OSI and its implementation. Wellesley, Massachusetts: QED Information Sciences. Malinconico, S.M. (1989). OSI and distributed, integrated library systems. Libri,39(2),79-90. McLean, Neil. (1989). Information Control: Open Systems Interconnection and Networking Strategies. Alexandria, 1(1),43-50. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (1991). Information Technology Standards: The Economic Dimension Information Computer Communications Policy:25 Paris, France:OECD. Smith, Christine H.(ed.)(1988). Open Systems Interconnection: The Communications Technology of the 1990's:papers from the Pre-Conference Seminar held at London, August 12-14, 1987. IFLA Publications 44. Munich:K.G. Saur Tuck, Bill. (1990). OSI and Library Services. British Library Research Paper 85. London:The British Library Research and Development Department. Turner, Fay. (1989). Interlibrary Loan Protocol Implementation Issues. Interlending and Document Supply,17(3),77-83. Rose, Marshall. (1990). The Open Book: A Practical Perspective on OSI. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice Hall, Inc. Wood, Bryan. (1988). Recent developments in international standards for information technology. Networking Technology and Architectures. United Kingdom:Online Publications, pp. 7-19. Revelant StandardsISO Documents ISO 7498 Information Processing Systems - Open Systems Interconnection - Basic Reference ModelISO 8571 Information Processing Systems - Open Systems Interconnection - File Transfer, Access and Management - Parts 1-5 ISO 9040 Information Processing Systems - Open Systems Interconnection - Virtual Terminal - Service Definition - Basic Class ISO 9041 Information Processing Systems - Open Systems Interconnection - Virtual Terminal - Protocol Specification - Basic Class ISO 9594/CCITT X.500 Information Processing Systems - Open Systems Interconnection - The Directory - Parts 1 to 8. ISO 9646 Information Processing Systems - Open Systems Interconnection - OSI Conformance Testing Methodology and Framework - Parts 1 to 6 ISO 10021 Information Processing Test Communications - Message Oriented Test Interchange System(MOTIS) / CCITT Recommendations for Message Handling Systems - The X.400 Series for 1988. IS0 10160 Information and Documentation - Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) - Interlibrary Loan Application Service Definition ISO 10161 Information and Documentation - Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) - Interlibrary Loan Application Protocol Specification ISO 10162 Information and Documentation - Open systems Interconnection (OSI) - Search and Retrieve Application Service Definition ISO 10163 Information and Documentation - Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) - Search and Retrieve Application Protocol Specification ISO/IEC/ TR 10000-1 :1990 - Information Technology - Framework and Taxonomy of International Standardized Profiles - Part 1: Framework ISO/IEC/ TR 10000-2 :1990 - Information Technology - Framework and Taxonomy of International Standardized Profiles - Part 2: Taxonomy Other StandardsNISO Z39.50 - American National Standard for Information Services - Information Retrieval and Protocol Service Definition for Library Applications.
application program interface (API) - standardized software specification which provides an interface between an OSI-based application and a non-OSI network. application protocol - a communications standard for an application at the seventh layer of the OSI Reference Model. application relay - software capable of receiving messages from a computer systems using one protocol suite (eg. OSI) and passing the message to a system using another protocol suite (eg. TCP/IP). arbitration testing - testing used to identify the incompatibilities between two implementations. association control service element (ACSE) - set of communications functions that support the establishment and release of communications between two systems in an OSI environment. Committee Draft (CD) - ISO terminology for a proposed international standard at the initial balloting stage. conformance testing - formalized testing of an implementation of a standard to insure that it follows the protocol specifications. data elements - smallest unit of data which can be manipulated within a protocol. development testing - the use of a conformance test tool during software development to help identify software errors prior to formal testing. Draft International Standard (DIS) - a committee draft of an international standard that has been distributed for final approval. dual-stack - term to describe a computer systems which supports two incompatible protocol suites. A stack refers to the set of protocols at all layers required for a particular function to be implemented in a particular system. Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transportation (EDIFACT) - the global standard for international trade communications (ISO 9735). front-end processor - in a computer network, a functional unit that relieves a host computer of processing tasks such as message handing, format conversion and error control. functional profiles - a set of OSI standards selected to support a particular function or application and the options and classes chosen from within these standards. gateway - a conceptual or logical network station that serves to interconnect two otherwise incompatible networks, network nodes or devices. interoperability testing - testing to verify that two implementations of the same protocol are able to interoperate. International Organization for Standardization - a body of international representatives that develop, ratify and publish international standards. International Standard (IS) - an approved ISO standard. International Standardized Profile (ISP) - an internationally agreed standard, together with the options and parameters necessary to accomplish a function or set of functions. ISO Technical Committee 46 - the ISO technical committee concerned with the standardization practices related to libraries, document and information centers, indexing and abstracting services, archives, information science and publishing. ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC1) - a joint committee within ISO responsible for standardization in the field of information technology. kernel software - a portable piece of computer code upon which a full implementation can be based. New Work Item Proposal (NWI) - the initial step in the standardization process which justifies the need for a new application standard, or revision of an existing one, and gives a broad outline of the approach. Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) - an abstract methodology arising from the need for different types of computer equipment to be able to talk to one another in a formalized standard way. OSI Basic Reference Model (ISO 7498) - the 7-layer model upon which OSI standards are based. It subdivides the standardization for the interconnection of computer networks into 7 distinct layers. packet switching - the process of routing and transferring data by means of packets (a sequence of binary digits) so that a communications channel is only occupied during the transmission of a packet. protocol - a set of formats and procedures for establishing and controlling communications. protocol specification - one of two formal technical documents used to define an OSI protocol. It defines the behavior of the communicating peer entities and how they must interact to support the services specified in the service definition as described below. protocol suite - in a layered network environment, refers to a set of protocol standards that can be used to support operations required at all layers. registration - the process of allocating an unambiguous name to a structured unit of information. A registration authority is the body or organization responsible for insuring that registered names are unambiguous within the network and for recording the registered information. script - an interactive prompting routine. service definition - one of two formal technical documents that describe an OSI protocol. It precisely describes the services provided by the protocol at a given layer to the user or the layer above. It is a companion document to the protocol specification described above. standard - a set of rules or procedures established by a national or international organization. The term de jure standard is used to distinguish an officially recognized standard from a de facto standards, that has no legal status, but is so widely used that it is in effect a standard. store-and-forward - a form of communication whereby no-end-to-end connections are established but connections are established with intermediary systems that perform a relaying function. test suite - a complete set of the test cases used to test an implementation in conformance testing. test tool - software which executes the tests as defined in the test suite. Working Draft (WD) - ISO terminology for a work item proposed to a standards committee or working group, with a view to the subsequent preparation of a Committee Draft.
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