Another approach to reduce the barriers to interoperability is through the use of cross-system searches. Unlike a union catalog where a union database is maintained and a central search is used to retrieve data, the cross-system search stores metadata records in multiple databases, which are retrieved using the search facilities associated with each individual database system. ANSI/NISO Z39.50 is an example of an international standard protocol that allows one client system to request a search to be performed within another target system (Caplan, 2003). Here, the client receives the results back in a format that it can display. This cross-system search requires that the search be expressed in a common syntax so that every system only needs to comprehend its own search language and that of the international standard protocol.
References:
Caplan, P. (2003). Metadata fundamentals for all libraries. Chicago: American Library Association.
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This is an interesting concept. It would be very interesting to see the numbers of systems that subscribe to these sorts of controlled structures to allow cross-system searching. I would think that only so many system would be able to connect to each other in this way due to the disparate types of information that they contain, but for those systems that could be connected, this sort of ordering system would greatly increase their value.
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