The following release is being despatched to library press by post.
A Word 6.0 version is available from Robin Yeates at the email address
below.
PRESS RELEASE
Free ZNavigator information search software on Web:
EU funded CaseLibrary project beta version client on Web
For Immediate Release
Monday, January 13, 1997
Contact: Robin Yeates
LITC
+44(0)171 815 7871
[log in to unmask]
London - The CaseLibrary consortium funded by the European Union
Directorate General XIII has mounted ZNavigator, a beta version of its
information retrieval software for free download from the Web. The
software allows users of PCs running Windows 3.x or Windows 95 to search
a wide variety of library catalogues and databases via the Internet
using the Z39.50 international standard for information retrieval.
Developed by EnWare, S.A. of Madrid in cooperation with LITC (South Bank
University, London), CeSIT (University of Florence) and the University
of Alcala de Henares, Madrid, the ZNavigator is a Z39.50 version 3
(1995) client which runs under win3.1x, win95. It is based in part upon
the YAZ toolkit by Index Data of Denmark.
Z39.50 is becoming quickly the most widely used protocol for accessing
bibliographic, library and document databases. Unfortunately, most of
the commercially available Z39.50 clients are strongly tied to the
server software running on the opposite side of the connection. This
means that if you want to have access to different servers on different
locations you will probably need more than one client to meet the
specific needs of each server. ZNavigator overcomes this problem, having
been designed as a highly general tool, supporting most of the
requirements and facilities defined by the Version 3 of the Z39.50
standard. As the Z39.50 standard matures, ZNavigator will include more
and more facilities to allow for greater interoperability.
ZNavigator is a multi-threaded application allowing you to have more
than one session simultaneously opened against different targets, using
different syntaxes and schemas. You can even launch the same query on
several sessions at a time, receiving responses in parallel.
ZNavigator allows the use of "simple queries", constructed as a series
of terms joined together by a default operator. On the other hand,
queries of unlimited complexity can be constructed either manually,
using a Prefix RPN query syntax, or by means of a "fill in the blanks"
Query Builder.
Queries, record listings or full record contents can be transferred to
other applications via the clipboard or using the "export" facility, or
can be stored in private "folders" for future use. A history facility
makes it easy to return to a previous query. If the server supports
this functionality, you can use the results of a previous query as part
of a new one using the previous result set.
ZNavigator supports a wide variety of record syntaxes, including SUTRS,
several MARC formats and GRS-1, which should be the de-facto standard in
the next few years. ZNavigator supports and translates General, Meta and
Private Tags, and adapts dynamically to Z39.50 registered external
Schemas such as GILS.
ZNavigator may act as a "gateway" for external applications to the
Z39.50 world: ZNavigator is a DDE server supporting a set of simple
commands to open sessions, launch searches or retrieve records. Both
headings lists and full records can be received through DDE items.
Custom applications can be easily constructed for specialised purposes
using any platform that supports DDE. For instance, you can create an
Excel macro that, talking to ZNavigator, opens a session to a Z39.50
server, launches a search, retrieves the first 20 record headings,
inserts them into a spreadsheet area and performs some calculations on
the values retrieved.
The full power of Z39.50 is at your fingertips. The client currently
supports these Z39.50 standard services: Init(), Search(), Present(),
Scan(), NamedResultSets(). It features local sorts, saves, bookmarking
and copying, navigation among brief result sets, multiple target
sessions and user configurable translation of several record syntaxes
such as GRS-1, SUTRS, USMARC, UKMARC, UNIMARC. Session and connection
data are saved and the interface is configurable to fit the output of
each individual target.
The ZNavigator can be configured to cooperate with Cactus Network
Control Servers being developed under the CaseLibrary research project
to facilitate and/or control user access to a given set of Z39.50
targets. Such a configuration offers a virtual digital library
management system, allowing non-technical library staff to determine
access rights, monitor user activity and help users remotely.
Further details of the CaseLibrary project are on the Web at
http://www.sbu.ac.uk/litc/caselib/ and there are mirror sites in Spanish
and Italian linked from this page.
The ZNavigator beta release is available in the form of a
self-extracting archive from the Web site or by anonymous ftp from
ftp.sbu.ac.uk/pub/znavig/zn10d.exe
/ENDS
--
Robin Yeates
Senior Researcher/Centre Manager
Library Information Technology Centre (LITC)
South Bank University
103 Borough Rd, London SE1 0AA
UK
email: [log in to unmask]
tel : +44(0)171 815 7871 (direct, voicemail)
+44(0)171 815 7872 (switchboard)
fax : +44(0)171 815 7050
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