RFC 1357
A Format for E-mailing Bibliographic Records
A Format for E-mailing Bibliographic Records 🎀
okay bestie, the header stuff first 📋 this is RFC 1357 from the Network Working Group 🦋 it was written by D. Cohen, the Editor at ISI, and it came out in July 1992 ✨ its status is that it provides information for the Internet community, and it does not specify an Internet standard 🫶 the title block doesn't list any RFCs it obsoletes or updates, so no drama there 💅
Status of this Memo 📜
okay so this memo provides information for the Internet community 🌸 it does not specify an Internet standard, just facts and vibes. Distribution of this memo is unlimited 💖
Abstract 💌
this memo defines a format for E-mailing bibliographic records of technical reports 📮 the whole goal is to speed up how news about new Computer Science Technical Reports (CS-TR) gets around 🚀
INTRODUCTION 🧚
lots of Computer Science R&D orgs announce their new technical reports by snail mail 🐌 (via the postal services), sending out the bibliographic records of those reports.
those mailings are not cheap and they take forever ⏳ and the people who get them can't easily file them electronically for later retrieval and searches 😭
so the suggestion is that publishing orgs e-mail these announcements using the format below 💌
orgs may automate as much or as little as they like (or skip it entirely 🤖), both when they make records about their own publications and when they handle records from other orgs.
this format is built to be simple for people AND machines 🧚 easy to read (the "human readable" kind), easy to make without any special programs, and totally compatible with E-mail 💜
this format only defines how the records get sent 📨 it doesn't tell you what to do with them once they land 🙈
it's a "tagged" format with self-explaining alphabetic tags 🏷️ it should be possible to prepare and to read bibliographic records using any text editor, no special programs needed 💅
shoutout to the CS and Library folks from CMU, CNRI, Cornell, ISI, Meridian, MIT, Stanford, and UC 🙌 who helped build this thing! Jerry Saltzer of MIT and Larry Lannom of Meridian made key contributions 🫶 and the very first draft was by Danny Cohen and Larry Miller of ISI 🎀
using this format is encouraged 💖 and there are no limitations on it ✨
THE INFORMATION FIELDS 🎀
the various fields should follow the format described below 💅
<M> means Mandatory (a record without it is invalid ❌), and <O> means Optional 🌈
the tags (aka Field-IDs) are shown in upper case 🔠
<M> BIB-VERSION of this bibliographic records format
<M> ID
<M> ENTRY date
<O> ORGANIZATION
<O> TITLE
<O> TYPE
<O> REVISION
<O> AUTHOR
<O> CORP-AUTHOR
<O> CONTACT for the author(s)
<O> DATE of publication
<O> PAGES count
<O> COPYRIGHT, permissions and disclaimers
<O> RETRIEVAL information
<O> CR-CATEGORY
<O> PERIOD
<O> SERIES
<O> FUNDING organization(s)
<O> MONITORING organization(s)
<O> CONTRACT number(s)
<O> GRANT number(s)
<O> LANGUAGE name
<O> NOTES
<O> ABSTRACT
<M> ENDMETA FORMAT 🧩
- Keep It Simple. ✨
- One bibliographic record for each publication, where a "publication" is whatever the publishing institution defines as such. 📚
- A record contains several fields. 🗂️
- Each field starts with its tag (aka the field-ID) which is a reserved identifier (containing no separators) at the beginning of a new line with or without spaces before it), followed by two colons (
"::"), followed by the field data. 🎯 - Continuation lines: Lines are limited to 79 characters. When needed, fields may continue over several lines, with an implied space in between. In order to simplify the use no special marking is used to indicate continuation line. Hence, fields are terminated by a line that starts (apart from white space) with a word followed by two colons. Except for the
"END::"that is terminated by the end of line.) For improved human readability it is suggested to start continuation lines with some spaces. 📏 - Several fields are mandatory and must appear in the record. All fields (unless specifically not permitted to) may be in any order and may be repeated as needed (e.g., the AUTHOR field). The order of the repeated fields is always preserved. 🔁
- Only printable ASCII characters may be used. Hence, the permissible characters are ASCII codes 040 (Space) through 176(~) and line breaks which are
\012(LF) or\012\015(CRLF). Empty lines indicate paragraph break.\009(tab) must be replaced by spaces before submission. This specifically forbids tabs, null characters, DEL, backspaces, etc. (i.e., if used, the record is invalid.) 🚫
throughout this document the word "publisher" means the publishing organization of a report (e.g., a university or a department thereof), not necessarily an organization authorized to issue ISBN numbers. 🏛️
EXAMPLE 🦋
EXAMPLE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BIB-VERSION:: CS-TR-v2.0
ID:: OUKS//CS-TR-91-123
ENTRY:: January 15, 1992
ORGANIZATION:: Oceanview University, Kansas, Computer Science
TITLE:: The Computerization of Oceanview with High
Speed Fiber Optics Communication
TYPE:: Technical Report
REVISION:: 2, FTP retrieval information added
AUTHOR:: Finnegan, James A.
CONTACT:: Prof. J. A. Finnegan, CS Dept, Oceanview Univ, Oceanview,
KS 54321 Tel: 913-456-7890 <Finnegan@cs.ouks.edu>
AUTHOR:: Pooh, Winnie The
CONTACT:: 100 Aker Wood
DATE:: December 1991
PAGES:: 48
COPYRIGHT:: Copyright for the report (c) 1991, by J. A. Finnegan.
All rights reserved. Permission is granted for any
academic use of the report.
RETRIEVAL:: For full text with color pictures send a self-addressed
stamped envelope to Prof. J. A. Finnegan, CS Dept,
Oceanview University, Oceanview, KS 54321.
RETRIEVAL:: ASCII available via FTP from JUPITER.CS.OUKS.EDU with the
pathname PUBS/computerization.txt. Login with FTP,
username ANONYMOUS and password GUEST.
File size: 123,456 characters
CR-CATEGORY:: D.0
CR-CATEGORY:: C.2.2 Computer Sys Org, Communication nets, Net Protocols
SERIES:: Communication
FUNDING:: FAS
CONTRACT:: FAS-91-C-1234
MONITORING:: FNBO
LANGUAGE:: English
NOTES:: This report is the full version of the paper with the
same title in IEEE Trans ASSP Dec 1976
ABSTRACT::
Many alchemists in the country work on important fusion problems.
All of them cooperate and interact with each other through the
scientific literature. This scientific communication methodology
has many advantages. Timeliness is not one of them.
END:: OUKS//CS-TR-91-123
---------------------------- End of Example ---------------------------for reference, the above example has about 1,750 characters (220 words) including about 250 characters (40 words) in the abstract 📊
THE ACTUAL FORMAT 🌈
in the following double-quotes indicate complete strings 💬 they are included only for grouping and are not expected to be used in the actual records.
the term "Open Ended Format" in the following means arbitrary text 🧠
the BIB-VERSION, ID, ENTRY, and END field must appear as the first, second, third, and last fields, and may not be repeated in the record. All other fields may be repeated as needed 🔁
BIB-VERSION (M) 🎀
this is the first field of any record. It is a mandatory field. It identifies the version of the format used to create this bibliographic record. 🪧
BIB-VERSIONs that start with the letter X (case independent) are considered experimental 🧪 bib-records sent with such a BIB-VERSION should NOT be incorporated in the permanent database of the recipient. 🚨
using this version of this format, this field is always:
Format: BIB-VERSION:: CS-TR-v2.0
ID (M) 🪪
this is the second field of any record. It is also a mandatory field. Its format is "ID:: XXX//YYY", where XXX is the publisher-ID (the controlled symbol of the publisher) and YYY is the ID (e.g., report number) of the publication as assigned by the publisher. This ID is typically printed on the cover, and may contain slashes 📄
the organization symbols "DUMMY" and "TEST" (case independent) and any organization symbol starting with <X> (case independent) are reserved for test records that should NOT be incorporated in the permanent database of the recipients 🧸
Format: ID:: <publisher-ID>//<free-text>
Example: ID:: OUKS//CS-TR-91-123
**** See the note at the end regarding the ****
**** controlled symbols of the publishers *****ENTRY (M) 📅
this is a mandatory field. It is the date of creating this bibliographic record. 🗓️
the format for ENTRY date is "Month Day, Year". The month must be alphabetic (spelled out). The "Day" is a 1- or 2-digit number. The "Year" is a 4-digit number. ✍️
Format: ENTRY:: <date>
Example: ENTRY:: January 15, 1992
ORGANIZATION (O) 🏫
it is the full name spelled out (no acronyms, please) of the publishing organization. The use of this name is controlled together with the controlled symbol of the publisher (as discussed above for the ID field). 🔐
avoid acronyms because there are many common acronyms, such as ISI and USC 🙅♀️ please provide it in ascending order, such as "X University, Y Department" (not "Y Department, X University"). 📈
Format: ORGANIZATION:: <free-text>
Example: ORGANIZATION:: Stanford University, Computer Science
TITLE (O) 🎬
this is the title of the work as assigned by the author. This field should include the complete title with all the subtitles, if any. 💎
if the publication has no title (e.g., in withdrawal), a blank TITLE field should be included 🫥
Format: TITLE:: <free-text>
Example: TITLE:: The Computerization of Oceanview with High
Speed Fiber Optics CommunicationTYPE (O) 🌟
this indicates the type of publication (summary, final project report, etc.) as assigned by the issuing organization 🏷️
Format: TYPE:: <free-text>
Example: TYPE:: Technical Report
okay so REVISION (O) 💅 is for when a record is a revision of one that was already issued, and the new one is meant to replace it ✨ That's the whole glow-up energy 🦋 Revision info is an integer, then a comma, then open-ended text 🌸
Here's the rule, bestie: the revised record should contain a complete record for the publication, not just a list of changes to the old record 🙅♀️ No "here's what changed" notes. Send the whole thing. The default assumption is that a record is not a revision, with that integer being zero, so you only specify REVISION if it actually is one 🌈
The first token in this field is an integer revision number, and higher numbers mean later revisions 🔢 Use the text to describe the revision 📝 Reasons to send out a revised record include an error in the original, a change in the retrieval information, or withdrawal (more on that below) 👀
Format: REVISION:: N, <free-text>Example: REVISION:: 2, FTP retrieval information addedWITHDRAWING
ngl this one is iconic 💀 A withdrawal of a record is a special case of revising it. So the standard way to withdraw a record is to send a revision record with (at least) all the mandatory fields, plus an optional explanation in the NOTES field 🗑️
It's OK on withdrawal to eliminate the title, either by not providing the TITLE field or by providing it with no text (blank) 🫶
Example for withdrawing a bibliographic record::
BIB-VERSION:: CS-TR-v2.0
ID:: OUKS//CS-TR-91-123
ENTRY:: January 25, 1992
ORGANIZATION:: Oceanview University, Kansas, Computer Science
TITLE::
REVISION:: 4, withdrawn
NOTES:: Withdrawn, found to be irrelevant
END:: OUKS//CS-TR-91-123This new record will replace all the fields of the previous record for that publication 🔥 In this example it will eliminate the title, the retrieval information provided earlier, and not mention the authors 😭
AUTHOR (O)
Personal names only, with the normal last name first inversion 🧑🎓 Editors should be listed here as well, identified with the usual "(ed.)" as shown in the last example below 📚
If the report was not authored by a person (e.g., it was authored by a committee or a panel), use CORP-AUTHOR (see below) instead of AUTHOR 🏛️
Multiple authors are entered by using multiple lines, each in the form of AUTHOR:: <free-text> 📝 The system preserves the order of the authors, so the lineup is sacred 👑
Format: AUTHOR:: <free-text>Example: AUTHOR:: Finnegan, James A.
AUTHOR:: Pooh, Winnie The
AUTHOR:: Lastname, Firstname (ed.)CORP-AUTHOR (O)
This is the corporate author (e.g., a committee or a panel) that authored the report 🫂 It may be different from the ORGANIZATION issuing the report, so don't mix them up 🙈
When entering the corporate name, please omit the initial "the" or "a" ✂️ If it is really part of the name, please invert it.
Format: CORP-AUTHOR:: <free-text>Example: CORP-AUTHOR:: Committee on long-range computingCONTACT (O)
The contact for the author(s). Open-ended, most likely E-mail and postal addresses 📬
You may provide a CONTACT field for each author separately, or for all the AUTHOR fields 💌
E-mail addresses should always be in "pointy brackets" (as in the example below) 💜
Format: CONTACT:: <free-text>Example: CONTACT:: Prof. J. A. Finnegan, CS Dept, Oceanview
Univ., Oceanview, Kansas, 54321
Tel: 913-456-7890 <Finnegan@cs.ouks.edu>DATE (O)
The publication date 🗓️ The formats are "Month Year" and "Month Day, Year". The month must be alphabetic (spelled out, no shortcuts). The "Day" is a 1- or 2-digit number. The "Year" is a 4-digit number ✨
Format: DATE:: <date>Example: DATE:: January 1992
Example: DATE:: January 15, 1992PAGES (O)
Total number of pages, without being too picky about it 📄 The final numbered page is actually preferred, if it is a reasonable approximation to the total number of pages 🎀
Format: PAGES:: <number>Example: PAGES:: 48COPYRIGHT (O)
Copyright, permissions and disclaimers, in an open-ended format ⚖️ The COPYRIGHT field applies to the cited report, rather than to the current bibliographic record. Very important distinction, bestie. On advice of counsel, it is suggested that you seek the advice of yours 🙃
Format: COPYRIGHT:: <free-text>Example: COPYRIGHT:: Copyright for the report (c) 1991,
by J. A. Finnegan. All rights reserved.
Permission is granted for any academic
use of the report.RETRIEVAL INFORMATION (O)
Open-ended format describing how to get a copy of the full text 📥 It can include anything from FTP instructions to a variety of files (e.g., ASCII, TeX, and PostScript), all the way to Send $4.50 to ... or Send E-mail to <X@Y> 💸
It is suggested to repeat this field for each retrieval option (e.g., one line for the FTP instructions to the ASCII version, and another for the PostScript version) 🔁 When offering files like TeX, all the related files (e.g., \input mystyle) should be included 🧩 Please provide file sizes (in characters) 📏
Means are not defined yet for providing the information needed for automatic retrieval of files (such as via FTP). They are expected to be defined in the near future 🔮
No limitations are placed on the dissemination of the bibliographic records. If there are limitations on the dissemination of the publication, it should be protected by some means such as passwords. This format does not address this protection 🔒
Format: RETRIEVAL:: <free-text>Example: RETRIEVAL:: For full text with color pictures send
a self-addressed stamped envelope to
Prof. J. A. Finnegan, CS Dept,
Oceanview University, Oceanview, KS 54321.
RETRIEVAL:: ASCII available via FTP from
JUPITER.CS.OUKS.EDU with the pathname
PUBS/computerization.txt.
Login with FTP, username ANONYMOUS and
password GUEST.
File size: 123,456 charactersCR-CATEGORY (O)
Specify the CR-category 🏷️ The CR-category (the Computer Reviews Category) index (e.g., "B.3") should always be included, optionally followed by the name of that category. If the name is specified, it should be fully specified with parent levels as needed to clarify it, as in the second example below. Use multiple lines for multiple categories 🌸
The January 1992 issue of CR has the full list of these categories, with a detailed discussion of the CR Classification System and a full index. Typically the full index appears in every January issue, and the top two levels appear in every issue 📖
Format: CR-CATEGORY:: <free-text>Example: CR-CATEGORY:: D.1Example: CR-CATEGORY:: B.3 Hardware, Memory StructuresPERIOD (O)
Time period covered (a date range) 🗓️ This is applicable primarily to progress reports, etc. Any format is acceptable, as long as the two dates are separated with " to " (the word "to" surrounded by spaces), and each date is in the format allowed for dates, as described above for the date field 🩷
Format: PERIOD:: <date> to <date>Example: PERIOD:: January 1990 to March 1990SERIES (O)
Series title, including the volume number within the series 📚 Open-ended format, with the producing institution strongly encouraged to be internally consistent 🫶
Format: SERIES:: <free-text>Example: SERIES:: CommunicationFUNDING (O)
The name(s) of the funding organization(s) 💰
Format: FUNDING:: <free-text>Example: FUNDING:: DARPAMONITORING (O)
The name(s) of the monitoring organization(s) 👀
Format: MONITORING:: <free-text>Example: MONITORING:: ONRCONTRACT (O)
The contract number(s) 📝
Format: CONTRACT:: <free-text>Example: CONTRACT:: MMA-90-23-456GRANT (O)
The grant number(s) 🌟
Format: CONTRACT:: <free-text>Example: GRANT:: NASA-91-2345LANGUAGE (O)
The language in which the report is written. Please use the full English name of that language 🌍
Please include the Abstract in English, if possible 💖
If the language is not specified, English is assumed 🇬🇧
Format: LANGUAGE:: <free-text>Example: LANGUAGE:: EnglishNOTES (O)
Miscellaneous free text 🧁
Format: NOTES:: <free-text>Example: NOTES:: This report is the full version of the paper
with the same title in IEEE Trans ASSP Dec
1976ABSTRACT (O)
Highly recommended, but not mandatory 🌈 Even though no limit is defined for its length, it is suggested not to expect applications to be able to handle more than 10,000 characters 📏
The ABSTRACT is expected to be used for subject searching, since titles are not enough 🔍 Even if the report is not in English, an English ABSTRACT is preferable. If no formal abstract appears on the document, the producers of the bibliographic records are encouraged to use pieces of the introduction, the first paragraph, etc. ✨
Format: ABSTRACT:: xxxx .............. xxxxxxxx
xxxx .............. xxxxxxxx
xxxx .............. xxxxxxxx
xxxx .............. xxxxxxxxEND (M)
This is a mandatory field 🚨 It must be the last entry of a record, identifying the record that it ends by stating the same ID that was used at the beginning of the record, in its "ID::" 🔚
Format: END:: XXXExample: END:: OUKS//CS-TR-91-123>>>>>>> [END OF FORMAT DEFINITION] <<<<<<<
A Note Regarding the Controlled Symbols of the Publishers
In order to avoid conflicts among the symbols of the publishing organizations (the XXX part of the "ID:: XXX//YYY"), it is suggested that the various organizations that publish reports (such as universities, departments, and laboratories) register their <publisher-ID> symbols and names 🏫 This works in a way similar to the registration of other key parameters and names in the Internet 🌐
Danny Cohen <Cohen@ISI.EDU> of ISI has agreed to coordinate this registration for the publishers of Computer Science technical reports 🫡 It is suggested that, before using this format, the publishing organizations coordinate with him (by e-mail) their symbols and the names of their organizations 📧
[Discussions are in progress to have these publisher-IDs registered with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and listed in future editions of the Assigned Numbers document.] Ooh, the plot thickens 👀
In order to help automated handling of the received bibliographic records, it is expected that the producers of bibliographic records will always use the same name, exactly, in the ORGANIZATION field 🤖 No freestyle spelling, bestie 🙅♀️
Security Considerations
Security issues are not discussed in this memo 💀 (Dramatic, I know. Nothing to see here. Moving on 🙈)
Author's Address
Danny Cohen
USC - Information Sciences Institute
4676 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, California 90292-6695
Phone: 310-822-1511
Fax: 310-823-6714
EMail: Cohen@ISI.EDU📦 where this page comes from
- ietf: rfc1357 1992-07
- 💖 girlified by claude-haiku-5-5 on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms