Overview
ISO 17933:2000 - GEDI (Generic Electronic Document Interchange) defines a standard format for exchanging electronic document copies between computer systems. The standard specifies a GEDI Record composed of a GEDI Header (metadata about requester, supplier, transaction and bibliographic description) plus one or more Electronic Document Copy parts. ISO 17933 is targeted at systems supporting Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and document transmission services.
Key Topics
- GEDI Record structure: clear separation of the GEDI Header and Electronic Document Copy; sample headers and tag lists are provided.
- GEDI Header elements: semantic and syntactic definitions are grouped (notably TYPE 1–TYPE 5 sections) to encode document format, destination/storage, transaction metadata, bibliographic description and padding.
- Service model & topology: roles and entities (Supplier, Consumer, Relay), the Domain concept (agreements on format, transfer mechanism and network technology), and the overall interchange topology.
- File transfer mechanisms: implementation profiles for FTP and MIME (email) are defined, including filename, addressing and supporting protocol stack considerations.
- Electronic document format registrations: Annex B documents registrations for common formats such as TIFF, PDF, JFIF/JPEG and discusses compression and format identification.
- Conformance: rules for sender/receiver roles, GEDI Header element conformance, document copy conformance and protocol conformance (FTP/MIME) are included.
- Normative references: related ISO standards and Internet RFCs (for example, ISO 10161 ILL protocol and RFC 959 FTP) are cited to ensure interoperability.
Applications
- Libraries and consortia implementing automated Interlibrary Loan systems that need a standardized electronic document interchange.
- Institutional repositories and document delivery services that require a consistent metadata header plus embedded document copies for automated processing.
- Systems integrating mixed transfer channels (FTP, SMTP/MIME) where a common header and file-format registration simplifies routing, storage and rendering.
- Middleware or relay services that bridge different organizational domains while preserving bibliographic and transaction metadata.
Who Should Use It
- Library system vendors, ILL service providers, document delivery developers, and archivists designing interoperable document exchange workflows.
- Network engineers and integrators implementing FTP/MIME profiles for document transmission that must meet international conformance criteria.
Related Standards
Using ISO 17933 (GEDI) helps ensure consistent metadata, predictable transfer behavior and format registrations across systems exchanging electronic document copies.
