YAZ proxy installation to enhance Z39.50 server performance

Purpose The purpose of this article is to promote the usage of an opensource gateway product that will enhance the functionality of a Z39.50 server that is maintained by a thirdparty vendor. Designmethodologyapproach The required functionality improvements, needed by the LC Z39.50 server i.e. the problems LC needed to solve will be listed and described. Possible approaches to solving the problems will be listed. The selected opensource gateway product and its features will be described. A possible instance of the product's configuration file will be provided and annotated. Findings It is possible for many thirdparty server problems to be corrected or controlled even if the server application is not accessible by vendor APIs. LC was able to do this by installing the YAZ Proxy, a product that is both a Z39.50toZ39.50 gateway and an SRUtoZ39.50 gateway. The proxy provides a way to filter and sanitize problematic Z39.50 requests, and it also allows the ILS system server to support retrieval of XML records and to support access via an XMLbased search protocol. Dramatic system performance improvements resulted from the installation of this product. Originalityvalue The paper describes an inexpensive way to provide performance improvements to a ILS system Z39.50 server and to provide enhancements that allow XML retrieval of MARC records and the support of an XMLbased search protocol.