Quasi-natural language retrieval

近幾年圖書館的OPAC系統服務建設，雖可讓讀者時空無礙的連線查詢，但不同的圖書館採用的系統並不一致，使用者必須面對不同的操作畫面與使用上的些許差異，而查詢時也必須一一連線才得以進行。為改善此種缺點，本文透過系統實作方式，探討在WWW架構下，利用免費的軟體開發符合Z39.50資訊檢索標準的OPAC系統，並使其具備近似自然語言查詢功能的過程，並說明其中可能遭遇的困難或隱含的問題，以作為其他單位的參考。希望本文的內容，對推廣Z39.50資訊檢索標準的運用與服務，有所助益。

Recent development in OPAC systems have made search and retrieval of library catalogs anywhere, anytime possible. However, due to the discrepancies among different systems, users have to face different interfaces and usage. Furthermore, searching among several OPAC systems requires serial connection to one after another. To overcome this problem, this article discusses an implementation of an OPAC system based on the WWW and Z39.50 protocols. The implemented OPAC system allow multi-database search and natural language-like queries, thus reducing the tedious work and difficulties in query formulation. Possible problems encountered in developing such a system are discussed. It is hoped that the implementation experiences will help other libraries in establishing a similar Z39.50 service.