Heritage self-service module (SIP2)

Heritage self-service is a new module for Heritage. With it you can connect self-issue systems from 3M, Plescon, 2CQR. Intellident and others to Heritage, thus enabling users to issue stock to themselves.

The Heritage Self-service module utilises the SIP2 protocol which is the second version of the Standard Interchange Protocol (SIP) developed by 3M to enable their self-issue machines to talk to library management systems using a common language. It has since become the default language for this purpose and so has been adopted as an international standard. As a result any device that uses SIP2 over TCP/IP should be able to talk to the Heritage Self-service module.

To put this simply, SIP2 can be seen as a language via which a variety of systems can talk to a library management system. This includes library security systems, PC bookings software, telephone renewals and RFID systems, but in this case it is used in the context of self-issue stations integrating with the circulation facilities provided by Heritage, hence the name ‘Heritage Self-service’. It is worth noting though that the vocabulary defined in the standard is very large and as a result nearly all implementations, including Heritage Self-service, only support a subset of the available commands.

Self-service workstations are treated by Heritage as administration users and so each workstation will require a administration user licence in Heritage.