The NISO Question/Answer Transaction Protocol

(QATP)

AVIAC

January 2004

Donna Dinberg

Library and Archives Canada

Mark Needleman

Sirsi Corporation

Agenda The Reference Environment & Network

Models The NISO Committee Protocol Design Criteria Envisioned Usage Scenarios Protocol Messages Protocol Technologies Metadata Design Criteria Possible Metadata, Other Considerations Upcoming Activities

The Environment

Libraries using digital reference to extend services and reach more users

Reference services evolving, moving from art to science

Cooperation and collaborative services growing: Ask Eric, Virtual Reference Canada,

QuestionPoint, 24/7 Reference, Internet Public Library, others

Patron

Reference Professional

RegionalNetworks(state,National)

Commercial services

(Ask-A Services)

Subject BasedNetworks

(law, medical)

Your group referenceNetworks (branches, consortial)

Global

A Cooperative Model

A Cooperative Model

Your library reference staff

RegionalNetworks(state,National)

Commercial services

(Ask-A Services)

Subject BasedNetworks

(law, medical)

Your group referenceNetworks (branches, consortial)

Global

A Networked Reference Model

A Networked Reference Model

Background

Question Interchange Profile (QuIP)

Proposal to NISO

NISO-sponsored meeting April 2001 to explore areas for standardization

NISO AZ Committee on Networked Reference Services established December 2001

Committee Charge Develop question processing transaction protocol to

support: Processing and routing of questions and responses Packaging of other information to be exchanged Cross domain exchange

Develop metadata element sets to identify and describe key components of: Question and answer metadata Profiling metadata (institutional and personal data)

Conduct experimentation and/or research in both areas to test the proposed standard

Develop implementation guidelines & recommended best practices

Involved Parties Libraries and librarians Reference service providers Reference software and management

providers Integrated library system providers Database and information systems Other providers of community services

Tutoring programs Research services

Protocol Design Criteria

Client/Server Design Transaction based - transaction consists of one or more

messages Interaction is between 2 independent systems (although

nothing precludes use inside a single system) Must support a wide range of application areas Protocol does not speak to interactions with end user Automate the question/answer process but recognize

actual answers will be provided by people

Usage Scenarios

Subset of actual use cases being presented

Various scenarios are presented as being logically separate - in reality, they could be combined in multiple ways

Scenarios Simple Question/Answer Multipart Question Multipart Answer Clarifications Constraints Status reporting Suspend Resume Cancellation

Scenarios (2)

Failures Timeouts Forwarding Conversations Patron Redirect References to Archived Transactions

Current Protocol Messages Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Request Clarification . . . . Clarification . . . . . . . . . . . . Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constraint Reply . . . . . . . . Request Progress . . . . . . . Progress Reply . . . . . . . . . Report Status . . . . . . . . . . Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

client initiated server initiated server initiated client initiated client or server initiated client or server initiated client initiated server initiated server initiated client or server initiated client or server initiated client or server initiated

Protocol Technology

Encoding XML

Transports SOAP over HTTP/HTTPS SOAP over SMTP

Other technologies may be defined in the future

Metadata Design Criteria

Able to be used independent of Protocol Extensible where appropriate -- We don’t

know what we don’t know Flexible -- Provide facilities or services to

carry service-specific information Simple core data

Metadata Bundles

Protocol Metadata

Content Metadata

Profile Metadata

Possible Metadata

Demographic information about the user Information about the user’s library Information about the question and the

context in which it was asked Information about the types of resources

desired in the answer Information about services desired Metadata for describing various constraints

Other Considerations Needs in the community, e.g., directory services Interaction with other protocols and standards

NCIP, OpenURL, Z39.50, ILL, others? Additional models

Fee-based services (e-commerce) Local systems Knowledge bases

Measuring user satisfaction Legal considerations: privacy, copyright, jurisdictional

law Global considerations: language, cultural and national

relevancy

Upcoming Activities

Public review of Committee Documents Publicity and Community Feedback Initial Experiments Among Existing

Systems NISO Draft Standard for Trial Use Final Standardization

Committee Documents

Overview Use Cases Functional Model Protocol Specification Metadata Specification

Available at:

http://www.loc.gov/standards/netref/