But, the shopping center as a whole must also help customers shop efficiently. Frustrated shoppers may go elsewhere. Sharing directory information helps not only the customers. The shopping center itself has an information infrastructure that must include locators. Libraries have taken this directory idea one step further.
Many libraries share their complete inventory listing in a common way.
This allows for creation of a union catalog spanning many otherwise separate libraries. For example, one such union catalog brings together 33 million items across 10,000 libraries. People on public networks search this standardized locator directly. It is one of many already existing pieces of the emerging Global Information Locator Service. The Global Information Locator Service initiative focuses on sharing locator information across organizations.