Linked Systems Project, Part 1: Authorities Implementation
| Published date | 01 February 1985 |
| Pages | 61-68 |
| Date | 01 February 1985 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047596 |
| Author | Sally H. McCallum |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Linked Systems Project, Part 1:
Authorities Implementation
Sally H. McCallum
The Linked Systems Project,
directed towards implementing computer-
to-computer communications, consists
of two major program components.
One component is the development
of the Standard Network
Inter-
connection. The other is the
creation of
a
practical application:
Authorities Implementation.
This article describes the design
and
use
of the Authorities
application. The next article (p.71)
describes the Standard Network
Interconnection.
The Linked Systems Project (LSP) formally
began in 1980 with funding from the Council on
Library Resources. The initial participants, the Li-
brary of Congress (LC), the Research Libraries Group
(RLG),
and the Washington Library Network (WLN),
have now been joined by a fourth participant, the
Online Computer Library Center (OCLC).
There are two components of LSP: Authorities
Implementation (AI) and Standard Network Inter-
connection (SNI). Authorities Implementation, the
first of the LSP applications, involves the develop-
ment and maintenance of a consistent, replicated
database of name authority headings. Standard
Network Interconnection encompasses the develop-
ment, coordination, and implementation of the LSP
protocols. These protocols are independent of any
given system's hardware or software; any two systems
that implement them can communicate with each
other. The SNI communications protocols will sup-
port not only the Authorities application, but with
appropriate additions to the top protocol layer,
will also support a variety of library applications,
such as interlibrary loan, acquisitions, and document
delivery.
This two-part article discusses these two com-
ponents of LSP. The first part is an overview of
Authorities Implementation, describing record con-
tribution, record distribution, and intersystem
searching. The second discusses the LSP/SNI Pro-
tocols, in terms of the Open Systems Interconnection
(OSI) Reference Model, on which these protocols
are based.
McCallum is Head of the Network Development
and MARC Standard Office at The Library of Con-
gress.
ISSUE 10 61
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