MIME Types for Use with the ISO ILL Protocol

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

This memorandum describes a set of MIME types for use with the ISO Interlibrary Loan Protocol (ISO 10160/10161). Two MIME types are specified below.

   The first is a media type to carry objects which are  BER [BER]
   encoded ISO ILL Protocol Data Units (PDU's). BER are the basic
   Encoding Rules used to encode  PDU's which have been described using
   ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation 1) [ASN.1] .

The second is for use with the associated document delivery instructions. Document Delivery Instructions (DDI) is an emerging protocol which enables automatic electronic delivery of items. It allows a request management system (which might have received a request for an item via the ISO Interlibrary Loan Protocol (ISO 10160/10161)) to pass details of the request, item, and delivery, to a delivery module, and to receive back reports on the delivery process or arrival of an item. It is currently being submitted to the ISO TC46/SC4/WG4 committee for approval as an ISO standard.

Registration Information

   Media type name: application
   Media subtype name:  iso-10161-ill-1 - for BER encoded ISO ILL APDU's
   
   Media type name:  application
   Media subtype name:  ill-ddi - For associated Document Delivery
                        Instructions
   
   Required Parameter:  transfer-encoding

For BER-encoded PDU's or DDI's, the only current legal value of this parameter is:

    iso-8825-ber

The transfer-encoding parameter describes the way the PDU has been encoded before being submitted to the transport service (in this case MIME/RFC822). The two protocols described in this RFC specify their APDU's using ASN.1 (ISO 8824:1990) and the most common way of encoding ASN.1 packets is to use the Basic Encoding Rules (BER ISO 8825)

The parameter is included to allow future use of these MIME types with other encoding schemes. As an example, the ISO 10161 standard also describes an encoding method using EDIFACT. In the future, other schemes might also be employed. (Since the EDIFACT encoding is not currently in use amongst the ISO 10161 and DDI communities, a value for the transfer-encoding parameter to describe it is not being registered in this RFC.)

   Optional  parameter: iso-10161-apdu-type

Valid values are:

   ILL-Request
   Forward-Notification
   Shipped
   ILL-Answer
   Conditional-Reply
   Cancel
   Cancel-Reply
   Received
   Recall
   Returned
   Checked-In
   Overdue
   Renew
   Renew-Answer
   Lost
   Damaged
   Message
   Status-Query
   Status-Or-Error-Report
   Expired

This parameter is optional and can be provided for informational or diagnostic purposes. The value of the PDU or DDI type can be determined from the actual data sent. The use and format of the PDU's and DDI's is defined in the relevant protocol documents which describe them.

Examples

   Content-Type: application/iso-10161-ill-1;  transfer-encoding=iso-
   8825-ber; iso-10161-apdu-type=Recall;
   
   Content-Type: application/ill-ddi;  transfer-encoding=iso-8825-ber;

Encoding

Since BER encoded material is binary in nature, some form of encoding is needed when 7bit or 8bit transport mechanisms are employed.

   The recommended  encoding for BER encoded PDU's  is Base64

PDU's per Message

When used to send BER encoded PDU's or DDI's. Each MIME body part will carry at most one BER encoded PDU or DDI. However, a single MIME message containing multiple body parts can be used to transport more than one BER PDU and or DDI.

Security Considerations

There are no known security risks associated with transmitting BER encoded PDU's in general. However, a particular BER encoded PDU or DDI may have security considerations that make it inappropriate for transmittal through public data networks unless appropriate protection mechanisms, like encryption, are used. Such a situation might occur, for example, when organizations are exchanging documents that contain secure or classified information and it is necessary to keep information about both the material being exchanged and the exchanging partners confidential.

Interoperability Considerations

BER is an international standard for encoding data meant to be transferred between two systems that may store data in different local formats internally [BER].

References

   [BER]   ISO/IEC 8825:1990 Information Technology - Open Systems
           Interconnection - Specification of Basic Encoding Rules for
           Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
   
   [ASN.1] ISO/IEC 8824:1990 Information Technology - Open Systems
           Interconnection - Specification of Abstract Syntax Notation
           One (ASN.1)
   
   ISO 10160:1997 Information  and Documentation - Open Systems
           Interconnection - Interlibrary Loan Application Service
           Definition

ISO 10161-1:1997 Information and Documentation - Open Systems

Interconnection - Interlibrary Loan Application Protocol Specification - Part 1: Protocol Specification

Additional Information:

The National Library of Canada has been designated the maintenance agency for the ISO ILL protocol. For more information on this MIME type contact:

Barbara Shuh
Library Network Specialist
Information Analysis and Standards
Information and Technology Services
National Library of Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario CANADA
K1A 0N4

   Phone: (819) 994-6969
   Fax:   (819) 994-6835
   EMail: barbara.shuh@nlc-bnc.ca

Authors' Addresses

Ruth Moulton
Consultant
65 Tetherdown
London N10 1NH
United Kingdom

   Phone: +44 (181) 883 5823
   EMail: ruth@muswell.demon.co.uk

Mark H Needleman
Data Research Associates, Inc.
1276 North Warson Road
P.O. Box 8495
St Louis, MO 63132-1806
USA

   Phone: (80)0 325-0888 (US/Canada)
          (314) 432-1100 x318
   Fax:   (314) 993-8927
   Email: mneedleman@dra.com

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