The paper provides a brief review of the ANSI/NISO Z39.50 (ISO 23950) standard and the CIMI Profile. This standard Z39.50 describes the Application Service and specifies the Application Protocol for search and retrieval of information in databases. Z39.50 is intended for unification of network access to databases and specifies procedures and formats for a client to search and to retrieve database records. The CIMI Profile is a set of technical specifications for using ANSI/NISO Z39.50 to search and retrieve information related to our cultural heritage. Z39.50 basic services, information search and retrieval models are considered, the definitions of Abstract Database, Access Points, Database Schema, Abstract Re-cord Structure, RPN Query are determined, Attribute Sets and Tag Sets defined in Z39.50 are given, the definitions are illustrated by examples. The paper gives a brief review of the CIMI Profile. The database records search, selection and transfer specifications are considered; CIMI-1 Attribute Set, CIMI Tag Set, CIMI Schema and Abstract Record Structure are given; three levels of semantic interoperability are described; an example of Z39.50-based distributed information retrieval system is given.



