This is a compilation of 12 primers on important information standards and protocols. These primers are: (1) Atom; (2) COinS; (3) MADS; (4) MARC 21/MARCXML; (5) MIX; (6) MXG; (7) OpenSearch; (8) PREMIS; (9) RESTful HTTP; (10) unAPI; (11) XMPP (aka Jabber); and (12) ZeeRex. The Atom Syndication Format defines a new XML-based syndication format for lists of entries in feeds. The Atom Publishing Protocol is a related, but separate initiative to define a new formal standard application programming interface for publishing Web resources. COinS is a simple HTML publishing convention that describes how to mark up OpenURL links in Web pages. MADS is an XML schema for an authority element set that can be used to provide metadata about agents (people, organizations), events, and terms (topics, geographics, genres, etc.). MARC is a suite of data element sets that provides the mechanism by which computers exchange, use, and interpret bibliographic, authority, holdings, classification, and community information data. MIX is an XML schema for a set of technical data elements that is required to manage digital image collections. MXG is a RESTful Web service designed to allow content providers to expose their data to metasearch engines. OpenSearch is a lightweight standard for representing and sharing search results on the Web. PREMIS commonly refers to a data dictionary that was developed as a specification with the goal of creating an implementable set of "core" preservation metadata elements that has broad applicability within the digital preservation community. REST is a proposed style for thinking about and designing Web applications. unAPI is a convention for identifying and fetching objects from Web sites. Jabber is an instant messaging protocol, similar to the protocols used by AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, etc., to pass messages back and forth. ZeeRex addresses two related problems: (1) finding online resources to search; and (2) discovering how to use those resources.