The voting members of US-based National Information Standards Organization (NISO) have approved a new project to formalise the 3M Standard Interchange Protocol (SIP) as an American National Standard. Introduced in 1993, the SIP protocol provides a mechanism for Integrated Library Systems (ILS) applications and self-service devices to communicate seamlessly to perform self-service transactions. This protocol reportedly became a de facto standard around the world, and remains the primary protocol to integrate ILS and self-service devices.
Since the protocol's inception, 3M has continued to produce updated versions of it – the most recent being version 3.0 in late 2011. A NISO Working Group will now shepherd SIP 3.0 through the standardisation process of becoming an American National Standard.
Anyone interested in participating in the working group to review SIP 3.0 and prepare it for balloting as a NISO standard may contact NISO at nisohq@niso.org.
