An operating assumption for the networked environment is that many different information systems need to interoperate for users to successfully discover and retrieve distributed resources. Meaningful interoperability is often elusive. In the library community, the Z39.50 standard protocol (ISO 23950/ANSI/NISO Z39.50) for information retrieval promised seamless and transparent networked access to library resources. Too often, the reality has not lived up to the promise. This paper discusses two efforts that offer solution paths to Z39.50 interoperability.

This paper discusses interoperability of networked information. Interoperability is a fundamental challenge for networked information discovery and retrieval. Often treated monolithically in the literature, interoperability is multifaceted and can be analyzed into different types and levels. This paper discusses an approach to map the interoperability landscape for networked information retrieval as part of an interoperability assessment research project.