> > But that table won't be machine readable. For every index set that
> > anyone creates, we'll need to add logic for index structure.

> Of course it will be machine readable!  Why wouldn't it?  This is the most
> trivial variant on Explain imaginable.

Ahha!  The reason I thought that it wouldn't be was because currently we
have the DC set and the BATH set, and they're just prose text.  Obviously
their implementation as attribute sets is a trivial exercise (XD and BIB2)

So, each indexset has a full Z39.50 style ZeeRex record which is hosted at
a particular location and referenced by servers in the same way as we use
OIDs to reference attribute sets.  That's fine, but not something that
I've seen written down anywhere until now.

Will these new SRW inspired attribute sets then become part of the Z39.50
attribute set environment by being assigned OIDs and so forth?


> > Secondly, that table may not exist if the underlying implementation
> > isn't Z39.50.  I'm sure that Amazon would create indexes like 'actor'
> > 'format' 'director' and so forth... Which don't have attribute
> > combinations readily available.  Do we then create a Z39.50 attribute
> > set to map them into?
>
> The strenth of the whole attributes discussion over the years is that we
> have done an excellent job of identifying the semantic components of the
> concept of index.  So, yes, I think that if Amazon wants to expose an index,
> they need to define the underlying semantic concepts of the index and our
> attribute combinations is exactly how they should do that.

Then this should also be set out in the spec in no uncertain terms.  You
can't just create a foo set and stick random index names in it to suit
your liking, you need to actually define what you're talking about.

> Now, we may want to come up with some sort of semantic web name for z39.50
> attributes, for political purposes.  But the concepts contained in them are
> invaluable.

Agreed, of course :)

Rob

($5.04)

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