The Standard Interchange Protocol is a proprietary standard for communication between

library computer system An integrated library system (ILS), also known as a library management system (LMS), is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed. An ILS usually is co ...

s and self-service circulation terminals. Although owned and controlled by 3M, the protocol is published and is widely used by other vendors. Version 2.0 of the protocol, known as "SIP2", is a

de facto standard A ''de facto'' standard is a custom or convention that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance or market forces (for example, by early entrance to the market). is a Latin phrase (literally " in fact"), here meaning "in practice b ...

for library self-service applications.

History

SIP version 1.0 was published by 3M in 1993. The first version of the protocol supported basic check in and check out operations, but had minimal support for more advanced operations. Version 2.0 of the protocol was published in 2006 and added support for flexible, more user-friendly notifications, and for the automated processing of payments for late fees. SIP2 was widely adopted by library automation vendors, including ODILO, Bibliotheca, Nedap, Checkpoint, Envisionware, FE Technologies, Meescan, Redia and

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

integrated library system An integrated library system (ILS), also known as a library management system (LMS), is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed. An ILS usually is co ...

software such as Koha and

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

. The standard was the basis for the

NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol {{unreferenced, date=November 2012 NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol (NCIP) is a protocol that is limited to the exchange of messages between and among computer-based applications to enable them to perform functions necessary to lend and borro ...

(NCIP) standard which is eventually intended to replace it.

Description

SIP is a simple protocol in which requests to perform operations are sent over a connection, and responses are sent in return. The protocol explicitly does not define how a connection between the two devices is established; it is limited to specifying the format of the messages sent over the connection. There are no "trial" transactions; each operation will be attempted immediately and will either be permitted or not. The protocol specifies messages to check books in and out, to manage fee payments, to request holds and renewals, and to carry out the other basic circulation operations of a library.

Encryption and authentication

SIP has no built in

encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can decip ...

, so steps need to be taken to send the connection through some sort of encrypted tunnel. Two common methods are to use either stunnel or

SSH The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are remote login and command-line execution. SSH applications are based on a ...

{{Cite news, url=https://coffeecode.net/setting-up-secure-self-check-connections-using-sip-tunneled-through-ssh.html, title=Setting up secure self-check connections using SIP tunneled through SSH, last=Scott), first=dan@coffeecode.net (Dan, date=2010-04-16, work=Coffee{{!Code: Dan Scott's blog, access-date=2018-10-30, language=en-US to add a layer of encryption and/or an extra level of authentication.

References

Library automation Network protocols