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January 28, 2010

NCIP Conference Call
January 28, 2010
Present on the call
Sue Boettcher - 3M
Mary Campbell - Auto-Graphics
Susan Campbell - College Center for Library Automation (CCLA)
Rob Walsh - EnvisionWare (Maintenance Agency)
Mike Dicus - Ex Libris
Mien-Too (M.T.) Wesley - eXtensible Catalog Project
Lynne Branche Brown - Innovative Interfaces
Eric Leckbee - Innovative Interfaces
John Bodfish - OCLC
Collette Mak - University of Notre Dame
Robert Gray - Polaris
Gail Wanner (Chair) - SirsiDynix
Agenda
Updates from Implementers
Jackson reported that Auto-Graphics is now in production with Agent Resource Sharing 
exchanging with TLC at Mt. Vernon Parish in Louisiana. Wanner reported that 
SirsiDynix is involved in on-going testing with CARL and preparing to start testing with 
Voyager from Ex Libris.
Wesley provided an update on the use of NCIP with the eXtensible Catalog (XC; http://
www.extensiblecatalog.org/) Project. He indicated that NCIP is used to communicate 
from the ILS through a Java application called the NCIP Toolkit, an interface that 
functions as an NCIP responder. The project also includes a Drupal Toolkit with an 
NCIP module written in PHP. This module functions as an NCIP initiator and allows for 
various queries that go either to a native NCIP responder or to the NCIP Toolkit. The 
Drupal NCIP module has no dependencies (other than Drupal itself), and it would be a 
relatively easy task to extract the portions of the PHP code that do NCIP so that it could 
be used outside of Drupal.
While implementing the NCIP Toolkit, the XC Project added a service that is not part of 
NCIP: xcGetAvailability. This service allows lookups for multiple items using a single 
query to improve efficiency. Wesley indicated, also, that some of the other NCIP 
messages are not fully compliant with the Standard. Some data elements were 
simplified because the structure as defined by the Standard was more complex than 
was necessary to accomplish the task at hand. Physical and Electronic Address are 
examples of data elements that are not fully NCIP compliant. Bibliographic Description 
is another complex element that, according to the Standard, requires sub-fields that 
may not even be available from the ILS.The XC hosts an issues queue on the projectʼs Google Code page (http://
code.google.com/p/xcnciptoolkit/issues/list). Approximately 35 issues are there 
describing implementation, particularly where the implementation deviates from the 
Standard.
The NCIP and Drupal Toolkits use NCIP Version 1. Bodfish noted that it would be 
interesting to see whether any of the issues identified during implementation are 
resolved in Version 2. The project chose Version 1 since there were no existing 
implementations based on Version 2.
Wesley asked why NCIP permits only one service per request. “Applications would be 
simpler and more efficient if multiple requests could be sent and ordered so responses 
could be matched,” he said. Further, he indicated that the overhead of the HTTP 
protocol is greater per request than when used with raw TCP.
Wanner indicated that it would be nice if someone from the XC Project could attend the 
spring meeting in Syracuse in April. Wesley indicated that he would not be able to 
attend, but he would pass our invitation to others involved in the project.
News from the Standards Community
Mak provided a brief summary of the NCIP update provided by Walsh to the LLAMASASS/RUSA STARS forum at ALA MidWinter. She said that her take-aways from the 
meeting were that, while technical work is progressing, interoperability remains 
challenged by issues associated with building a business case. Walsh elaborated on 
Makʼs summary indicating that he made an effort to explain the major efforts and 
milestones since ALA Annual 2009, including the recent work of the XC Project and the 
importance of communicating “real” needs and use cases to vendors and in RFPs. He 
and Mak agreed that the forum was under-attended, probably only 10-20 people.
Walsh indicated that some in attendance at the LLAMA-SASS/RUSA STARS forum 
expressed interest in getting ILLiad to build an NCIP interface. Wanner said that she 
spoke to people at Atlas about two years ago, and they had no real interest at that time. 
However, she offered to reach out to them again.
Dicus reported that NISO held an AVIAC meeting at ALA MidWinter. Those in 
attendance discussed ways to get vendors to implement standards in general and 
NCIP specifically.
Continuous Maintenance
Wanner and Walsh reported that ANSI has approved our request to move NCIP from 
periodic review to continuous maintenance. Walsh briefly summarized the procedures 
and announced that the full procedures document is now available at the NISO website 
(http://www.niso.org/workrooms/ncip/continuous/).Defects
Gray described a defect (or inconsistency) between the schema and the Standard with 
respect to the ordering of certain elements within Authentication Prompt.
Walsh reported that another defect had been reported to NISO and responded to on the 
NCIP general interest list. This one relates to an XML code example for the Amount 
element in the Implementation Profile that still uses scheme/value pairs.
Walsh agreed to compile a list of all currently know defects, including those identified 
during and after the Version 2 balloting, and post to the list as soon as possible so that 
they can be reviewed and amended prior to the March 1 deadline for submitting change 
requests for considerations at the spring meeting.
Progress on Tasks
Wanner proposed that updates to the RFP Guidelines and work on an introductory 
guide to NCIP be deferred until the spring meeting. She suggested that small work 
groups be convened at the meeting so that tangible work could be done during the 
meeting.
Outreach
Wanner suggested that we plan a social event at ALA Annual 2010, possibly Sunday 
afternoon around 5:30 pm. Further plans will be made either at the next conference call 
or at the spring meeting.
Spring Meeting (Repeated from December 2009 call minutes)
The dates for the spring meeting are April 27-29, 2010. The meeting will be held at The 
Craftsman Inn, 7300 East Genesee Street, Fayetteville, NY 13066. The phone number 
for the hotel is 315-637-8000, and the website is http://www.craftsmaninn.com. Polaris 
has arranged for a group rate of $109/night. To get this rate, mention that you are with 
Polaris Library Systems when you make your reservation.
2010 Conference Calls (Repeated from December 2009 call minutes)
Calls in 2010 are planned for the 3rd Thursday of each month at 1 pm Eastern / 11 am 
Pacific. Specific dates are:
* Feb 18
* Mar 18
* Apr 15
* May 20
* Jun 17
* Jul 15* Aug 19
* Sep 16
* Oct 21
* Nov 18
* Dec 16
Adjournment
Wanner adjourned the call.
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