# /research/staff/levan.xml

originally: http://www.oclc.org/research/staff/levan.htm

        Ralph LeVan
        Senior Research Scientist
        <P>I've been in the bibliographic retrieval business since I left college. I spent ten years working at SDC (later Burroughs and Unisys) ORBIT. With the sale of ORBIT to Robert Maxwell, I chose to join OCLC and have been here for the last&nbsp;20 years. </P>
    <P>During that time I led the development of the retrieval software that underlies the <A href="../../worldwide/firstsearch">FirstSearch</A> service (Newton). With the successful launch of FirstSearch, my attention shifted to database interfaces, the most significant being Z39.50. I continue to be active in the <A href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/zig/">Z39.50 Implementors Group</A> (ZIG). </P>
    <P>Moving up the interface stack, I led the development of OCLC's Z39.50-to-Web gateway (WebZ), which became the interface development environment for FirstSearch. WebZ, combined with the Newton database software, became the SiteSearch product. More recently, I have produced a second generation of database software (<A href="../software/pears/default.htm">Pears</A>), which is available as <A href="../software/opensource.htm">Open Source</A> from OCLC Research. </P>
    <P>Recapitulating previous work, I am again working on database interfaces, specifically the initiative to implement Z39.50 as a Web Service (<a href="http://www.loc.gov/standards/sru/">SRU</a>), and an initiative to allow content providers the ability to describe how to access their content rather than prescribe how their content should be exposed (<a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=search-ws">OASIS SWS</a>).  I have also been working with Thom Hickey and Jenny Toves on the <a href="http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/006/research.htm">Identities</a> project.</p>

        <ul>
    <LI><a href="../presentations/levan/20080327-nisoforum.ppt" target="_blank">Search Web Services</a> <SPAN class=small>(.ppt: 351K/28 slides)</span>.  NISO Discovery Tools Forum, 27 March 2008, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA) </LI>
    <LI><A href="../presentations/levan/sru-lucene.ppt" target=_blank>SRU and Lucene</A> <SPAN class=small>(.ppt: 98K/21 slides)</SPAN>. Texas State Library and Archives Commission workshop, "<A href="http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/workshops/SRU/">SRU: Search / Retrieve via URL</A>," 9 November 2006, Austin, Texas (USA) </li>
    <LI><A href="../presentations/levan/cil06.ppt" target=_blank>Interoperability Standards and Searching Multiple Repositories</A> <SPAN class=small>(.ppt: 391K/46 slides)</SPAN>. With Ray Denenberg (Library of Congress). <A href="http://www.infotoday.com/cil2006/">Computers in Libraries 2006</A> <A href="http://www.infotoday.com/cil2006/postconference.shtml">postconference workshop 20 </A>, 25 March 2006, Washington DC (USA) </LI>
    </ul>
        <A href="http://staff.oclc.org/~levan/" target=_self>http://staff.oclc.org/~levan/</A>
        <A href="mailto:levan@oclc.org" target=_self>levan@oclc.org</A>
        +1-614-764-6115
        +1-614-718-7603
        <IMG alt="Ralph LeVan" src="../images/people/levan.jpg" width=150 border=0 ASSETID="3787">