- Email: [email protected]
EDI standards for acquisitions
Library Acquisitions:
Pergamon
Practice & Theory, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 119-121, 1994 Copyright 0 1994 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0364~6408/94 $6.00 + .OO
ALA ANNUAL 1993 ALCTS AUTOMATED ACQUISITIONS DISCUSSION GROUP EDI AND ACQUISITIONS: THE FUTURE IS NOW.’
ED1 STANDARDS
FOR ACQUISITIONS
They’re (Just About) He-ere BETTY Coordinator,
LANDESMAN Systems
Gelman George
Planning
Library
Washington
Washington, Internet:
. . .
University
DC 20052
[email protected]
A few years ago, we began hearing the initials “EDI” in scattered forums at ALA. Last year in San Francisco, there was a well-attended ALCTS/Book Industry Study Group/Data Interchange Standards Association/National Information Standards Organization preconference on “Electronic Data Interchange and the Library.” Today you are here because you know what ED1 is and why ED1 is, and you want to know when and how you can use it. I will try to outline the standards development process for the book and serials industries’ implementation of ED1 and bring you up to date on the status of the various formats being developed for this purpose. Most of us are familiar with the NISO “239” series of library, publishing, and information standards. In 1985, 239.49, “Computerized Book Ordering,” which had initiated with the Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee (BISAC), was adopted. At that same time the Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee (SISAC) put forth a preliminary draft of what would become the proposed 239.55, “Computerized Serials Orders, Claims, Cancellations, and Acknowledgements.” Both followed a traditional (at least for librarians) MARC-like structure with tags and subfields, fiied and variable fields. Implementation of 239.49 was limited to the fixed portion; 239.55 was never adopted and does not appear on any current list of NISO standards. Why? In 1989, Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor announced their plans to develop a network of standardized formats for telecommunications with their trad119
120
B. LANDESMAN
ing partners using X12. Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) Xl2 was chartered by the American National Standards Institute in 1979 to develop standards for the electronic interchange of business transactions. Xl2 formats for the computerized exchange of business documents had become widely implemented in transportation, distribution, retailing, and other industries. Comparisons of Xl2 formats and Z39-style standards showed Xl2 to be much less expensive to store and transmit, as well as allowing uniformity of electronic communications with libraries as well other business partners. And so BISAC and SISAC retooled their work to the Xl2 environment. This work does not involve developing standards in the traditional way, since Xl2 is already a standard. Instead, industry-specific subsets are developed for existing Xl2 formats. Xl2 is highly structured, using “transaction sets,” which include appropriate “segments,” which in turn draw upon “data element” tables for their values. Coded values and a minimum of freetext information are encouraged. Additional values required for the book and serials industries have been recommended to X12. For example, a new value for the “Product/Service ID” data element table, which is key in describing what is being ordered, has now been assigned for the SIC1 (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier, as specified in the 239.56-1991 ANSI/ NISO standard). BISAC and SISAC work closely with non-U.S. groups in the Xl2 development arena, including Canadian BISAC and SISAC (CBISAC and CSISAC) and the International Committee on ED1 for Serials (ICEDIS), a committee composed of subscription agents and publishers. ICEDIS developed the original Xl2 Despatch Notice format, which SISAC reviewed and approved in September 1992. This transaction set [X12 set 8561, which is used to electronically convey information about journals that have been shipped, has been implemented in a number of subscription agents’ systems. BISAC transaction sets for Invoice [Xl2 set 8101, Request for Quotation (For Permission to Photocopy Copyrighted Materials) [set 8401, Response to Request for Quotation (Response to 840 Request For Permission to Photocopy Copyrighted Materials) [set 8431, Purchase Order [set 8501, Purchase Order Acknowledgment [set 8551, Ship Notice/Manifest [set 8561, and Functional Acknowledgment [set 9971 have been adopted and published. The formats and guidelines for implementation are contained in a manual called HSAC Implementation Guidefines for EDZ, available from the Book Industry Study Group for $175.00. Work is proceeding to map BISAC’s Title Status format, and an Xl2 Price/Sales Catalog is expected in the fall. In addition to subcommittees for the various serials-related Xl2 subsets, SISAC now has two working groups whose function I must outline before giving the status of these subsets. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG), chaired by Bob Boissy of Faxon, was formed in March 1993. It is composed of people who are XlZconversant who take the input from the subcommittees as to the business needs, background, and scope of their subsets and prepare draft mapping of the data to X12. Subsets pass from the TAG to the Implementation Task Force, formerly chaired by Alan Nordman of Dawson and currently chaired by Ed Riding of Dynix. The ITF tests the evolving versions of the Xl2 subsets to ensure that they can, in fact, be implemented. Membership in the ITF is open to anyone who is capable of testing Xl2 subsets, i.e, has a translation package such as EDI/Edge or Sterling Software and a subscription to a value added network (VAN). SISAC transaction sets for Invoice [Xl2 set 810, version 1.21 and Order Status Inquiry (Claim) [set 869, version 3.01 were passed to the ITF in May 1993. Order Status Report (Claim Response) [set 870, version 1. l] is due out of the TAG very shortly. Purchase Order [set 850, version 1 .O] was sent to the TAG in March 1993 and is due to go to the ITF in September. Pur-
ED1 Standards
for Acquisitions
121
chase Order Acknowledgment [set 8551, Purchase Order Change Request [set 8601, and Purchase Order Change Acknowledgment [set 8651 are in the draft stage. X12 is not the only ED1 standard in use. EDIFACT [EDI For Administration, Commerce and Transport] is a United Nations-backed format to enable traders from Europe, the United States, and the Far East to exchange electronic information. Xl2 has agreed to move to the syntax used by EDIFACT in a gradual transition, so that by 1997 there will be a single international standard. While there are some syntax differences, mapping from X12 to EDIFACT is expected to be an easy transition. Therefore this announcement should not deter any of the book and serials ED1 efforts currently taking place in the Xl2 environment. Standards for ED1 for monographic and serials acquisitions are therefore in place, or at least in draft form. The Xl2 development process is intended to get versions out frequently so that implementers can test and gain experience with them more quickly than often happens with some NISO standards. We want our local systems to support ED1 in order to reap the benefits of timeliness and improved quality already described by the other panelists. There are as yet only a few systems represented by active participation in the Xl2 implementation process. We have come far enough in the development to be able to discuss the possibility of different ways a system can be EDI-capable, from creating, transmitting, and receiving full Xl2 transactions to ensuring that the necessary data elements are present in the acquisitions or serials module so that a VAN or ED1 conversion package could be used for the translation and transmission. A workshop for system vendors, book wholesalers, and subscription agents was held here in New Orleans on Friday, June 25. The workshop was aimed at answering questions about Xl2 ED1 and reviewing the required and optional data elements in the book and serials industry transaction sets. The sources for at least reviewing the data elements a system will need to include are available. Testing formats is encouraged and provides an opportunity to influence development. The SISAC Implementation Task Force would welcome additional system representatives, and I am sure there are libraries out there that would welcome the opportunity to participate in testing ED1 if their local systems supported it. It has become apparent that the use of ED1 is imperative for us to make the best use of our automated systems and improve the quality of service we can provide our users. It is incumbent on us as librarians to see that ED1 is not a nicety but a necessity for an automated acquisitions system and to demand it as an integral part of our local systems. As to the standards, I believe there is now enough of a “there there” to enable system vendors to begin planning the necessary development work. As the title of this meeting states, for ED1 and acquisitions the future is now.
Pergamon
Practice & Theory, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 119-121, 1994 Copyright 0 1994 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0364~6408/94 $6.00 + .OO
ALA ANNUAL 1993 ALCTS AUTOMATED ACQUISITIONS DISCUSSION GROUP EDI AND ACQUISITIONS: THE FUTURE IS NOW.’
ED1 STANDARDS
FOR ACQUISITIONS
They’re (Just About) He-ere BETTY Coordinator,
LANDESMAN Systems
Gelman George
Planning
Library
Washington
Washington, Internet:
. . .
University
DC 20052
[email protected]
A few years ago, we began hearing the initials “EDI” in scattered forums at ALA. Last year in San Francisco, there was a well-attended ALCTS/Book Industry Study Group/Data Interchange Standards Association/National Information Standards Organization preconference on “Electronic Data Interchange and the Library.” Today you are here because you know what ED1 is and why ED1 is, and you want to know when and how you can use it. I will try to outline the standards development process for the book and serials industries’ implementation of ED1 and bring you up to date on the status of the various formats being developed for this purpose. Most of us are familiar with the NISO “239” series of library, publishing, and information standards. In 1985, 239.49, “Computerized Book Ordering,” which had initiated with the Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee (BISAC), was adopted. At that same time the Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee (SISAC) put forth a preliminary draft of what would become the proposed 239.55, “Computerized Serials Orders, Claims, Cancellations, and Acknowledgements.” Both followed a traditional (at least for librarians) MARC-like structure with tags and subfields, fiied and variable fields. Implementation of 239.49 was limited to the fixed portion; 239.55 was never adopted and does not appear on any current list of NISO standards. Why? In 1989, Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor announced their plans to develop a network of standardized formats for telecommunications with their trad119
120
B. LANDESMAN
ing partners using X12. Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) Xl2 was chartered by the American National Standards Institute in 1979 to develop standards for the electronic interchange of business transactions. Xl2 formats for the computerized exchange of business documents had become widely implemented in transportation, distribution, retailing, and other industries. Comparisons of Xl2 formats and Z39-style standards showed Xl2 to be much less expensive to store and transmit, as well as allowing uniformity of electronic communications with libraries as well other business partners. And so BISAC and SISAC retooled their work to the Xl2 environment. This work does not involve developing standards in the traditional way, since Xl2 is already a standard. Instead, industry-specific subsets are developed for existing Xl2 formats. Xl2 is highly structured, using “transaction sets,” which include appropriate “segments,” which in turn draw upon “data element” tables for their values. Coded values and a minimum of freetext information are encouraged. Additional values required for the book and serials industries have been recommended to X12. For example, a new value for the “Product/Service ID” data element table, which is key in describing what is being ordered, has now been assigned for the SIC1 (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier, as specified in the 239.56-1991 ANSI/ NISO standard). BISAC and SISAC work closely with non-U.S. groups in the Xl2 development arena, including Canadian BISAC and SISAC (CBISAC and CSISAC) and the International Committee on ED1 for Serials (ICEDIS), a committee composed of subscription agents and publishers. ICEDIS developed the original Xl2 Despatch Notice format, which SISAC reviewed and approved in September 1992. This transaction set [X12 set 8561, which is used to electronically convey information about journals that have been shipped, has been implemented in a number of subscription agents’ systems. BISAC transaction sets for Invoice [Xl2 set 8101, Request for Quotation (For Permission to Photocopy Copyrighted Materials) [set 8401, Response to Request for Quotation (Response to 840 Request For Permission to Photocopy Copyrighted Materials) [set 8431, Purchase Order [set 8501, Purchase Order Acknowledgment [set 8551, Ship Notice/Manifest [set 8561, and Functional Acknowledgment [set 9971 have been adopted and published. The formats and guidelines for implementation are contained in a manual called HSAC Implementation Guidefines for EDZ, available from the Book Industry Study Group for $175.00. Work is proceeding to map BISAC’s Title Status format, and an Xl2 Price/Sales Catalog is expected in the fall. In addition to subcommittees for the various serials-related Xl2 subsets, SISAC now has two working groups whose function I must outline before giving the status of these subsets. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG), chaired by Bob Boissy of Faxon, was formed in March 1993. It is composed of people who are XlZconversant who take the input from the subcommittees as to the business needs, background, and scope of their subsets and prepare draft mapping of the data to X12. Subsets pass from the TAG to the Implementation Task Force, formerly chaired by Alan Nordman of Dawson and currently chaired by Ed Riding of Dynix. The ITF tests the evolving versions of the Xl2 subsets to ensure that they can, in fact, be implemented. Membership in the ITF is open to anyone who is capable of testing Xl2 subsets, i.e, has a translation package such as EDI/Edge or Sterling Software and a subscription to a value added network (VAN). SISAC transaction sets for Invoice [Xl2 set 810, version 1.21 and Order Status Inquiry (Claim) [set 869, version 3.01 were passed to the ITF in May 1993. Order Status Report (Claim Response) [set 870, version 1. l] is due out of the TAG very shortly. Purchase Order [set 850, version 1 .O] was sent to the TAG in March 1993 and is due to go to the ITF in September. Pur-
ED1 Standards
for Acquisitions
121
chase Order Acknowledgment [set 8551, Purchase Order Change Request [set 8601, and Purchase Order Change Acknowledgment [set 8651 are in the draft stage. X12 is not the only ED1 standard in use. EDIFACT [EDI For Administration, Commerce and Transport] is a United Nations-backed format to enable traders from Europe, the United States, and the Far East to exchange electronic information. Xl2 has agreed to move to the syntax used by EDIFACT in a gradual transition, so that by 1997 there will be a single international standard. While there are some syntax differences, mapping from X12 to EDIFACT is expected to be an easy transition. Therefore this announcement should not deter any of the book and serials ED1 efforts currently taking place in the Xl2 environment. Standards for ED1 for monographic and serials acquisitions are therefore in place, or at least in draft form. The Xl2 development process is intended to get versions out frequently so that implementers can test and gain experience with them more quickly than often happens with some NISO standards. We want our local systems to support ED1 in order to reap the benefits of timeliness and improved quality already described by the other panelists. There are as yet only a few systems represented by active participation in the Xl2 implementation process. We have come far enough in the development to be able to discuss the possibility of different ways a system can be EDI-capable, from creating, transmitting, and receiving full Xl2 transactions to ensuring that the necessary data elements are present in the acquisitions or serials module so that a VAN or ED1 conversion package could be used for the translation and transmission. A workshop for system vendors, book wholesalers, and subscription agents was held here in New Orleans on Friday, June 25. The workshop was aimed at answering questions about Xl2 ED1 and reviewing the required and optional data elements in the book and serials industry transaction sets. The sources for at least reviewing the data elements a system will need to include are available. Testing formats is encouraged and provides an opportunity to influence development. The SISAC Implementation Task Force would welcome additional system representatives, and I am sure there are libraries out there that would welcome the opportunity to participate in testing ED1 if their local systems supported it. It has become apparent that the use of ED1 is imperative for us to make the best use of our automated systems and improve the quality of service we can provide our users. It is incumbent on us as librarians to see that ED1 is not a nicety but a necessity for an automated acquisitions system and to demand it as an integral part of our local systems. As to the standards, I believe there is now enough of a “there there” to enable system vendors to begin planning the necessary development work. As the title of this meeting states, for ED1 and acquisitions the future is now.