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This draft version is a white paper that was discussed at the Coalition for Networked Information's Spring meeting. The authors explore the potential interactions between information environments and learning environments with a special focus on architecture, standards, and interfaces. Some of the major difficulties and technical challenges from the library and institutional perspective are discussed at length.
This is the report of the second workshop on linking bibliographic citations to journal literature. The workshop was held in Boston on June 9, 1999, co-sponsored by NISO, the Digital Library Federation, the National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services, and the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The model for reference linking that developed from the first workshop was described briefly. The use of identifier schemes such as the BibCode and the DOI to ensure persistence was noted. The importance of the metadata in the reference databases that broker the requests for the full text is critical. Panel reactions to the model are outlined. Several schemes including PubRef, SFX-Links and the DOI are described. Recommendations for standards development are included.
This web site includes the workshop presentations, the workshop report, the organization structure for the Reference Linking Working Group established as a result of this meeting, the link to the report from that group and resources on linking from bibliographic to full text. This is the result of the workshop held February 11, 1999, sponsored by the National Information Standards Organization, the Digital Library Federation, the National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services, and the Society for Scholarly Publishing.
The digital archival records research program at the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications investigates all aspects of creating and disseminating digital collections including proposed and adopted standards, emerging technologies and formats, effects on previously established processes, and protection of original materials. An example of early work conducted in this area is the Regional Medical Programs collection. Lister Hill is currently working with the NLM's History of Medicine Division (HMD) to effect a technology transfer which will result in a digital library developed and maintained by the Modern Manuscripts section of HMD. The section will house and disseminate historically significant digitized collections, particularly those of prominent biomedical scientists.
ISO Online provides links to information concerning the ISO technical committees, status and publication of ISO standards and calendar of events.
This site links to segments of Web pages for twenty-five information related private and not-for-profit organizations. The links connect to documents on information issues, standards, and policy both within and external to the organization. A final section links to Web sites on U.S. laws and statutes related to information issues.
ICSU is a non-governmental organization, founded in 1931 to bring together natural scientists in international scientific endeavor. The Council acts as a focus for the exchange of ideas and information and the development of standards. This site links to the conference program, committees, and summaries of invited papers for this joint conference with UNESCO. The 13 invited papers cover topics on standards, archiving, electronic publishing in developing countries, digital libraries, S&T information, copyright, data security, and economics of information.
The SLA Home Page links to association information, Competencies for Special Librarians of the 21st Century, and provides a virtual library of information resource centers. The SLA addresses policy development, continuing education, information value, and technology issues across federal and non-federal libraries.
ACRL, a subdivision of the American Library Association, represents academic librarians serving the higher education community. The ACRL Home Page provides association information for the national and local chapters and ACRL Sections, and links to ACRL publications and an extensive list of standards for academic libraries, collections, and services.
NCLIS is a permanent, independent agency of the federal government that advises the executive and legislative branches on national library and information policies and plans. Reports of studies, surveys and analyses of the nation's library and information needs are linked to the site in PDF format. Virtual Library Collections on "Libraries, Nationally" and "Libraries, Internationally" are included.
This assessment presents issues in improving public access to electronic Federal Government information from the Federal Depository Library Program and Federal Government information in general. Media types, formats, performance criteria, costs, and national federal policy for electronic information products are discussed.
An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration, NIST's primary mission is to promote U.S. economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards. It carries out this mission through a portfolio of four major programs: Measurement and Standards Laboratories, Manufacturing Extension Partnerships, Advanced Technology Program, and the Baldrige Quality Program. NIST issues more than 480 publications each year, such as reports on research results and standards, catalogs of products and services, and technical handbooks. Information on obtaining resources is available at the site. Among the eight laboratories are Technology Services and Information Technology Laboratory which are linked from the Guide to NIST page. The Advanced Technology Program is linked from the top page. These links provide access to emerging technologies with potential application to STI management.
Several CENDI agencies have historically shared bibliographic records. The records were reprocessed for inclusion in the receiving agency's database. With the advent of document management systems and the provision of images for the full text of technical reports, guidelines were developed for the sharing of images in addition to the corresponding bibliographic records. The guidelines include record and file layout, internal and external labeling conventions, and suggested processing for legacy images that must be matched against bibliographic records already in the recipient's database.
The workshop focused on the characteristics and features of images, image production and reformatting features, and image identification and integrity issues in relation to preservation and archiving. The group agreed on a preliminary list of technical metadata elements specifically required for images, and follow-up efforts needed to future standardize
This report was prepared for the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents to assess the status of electronic publishing among U.S. government agencies and the formats in which this publishing is being done. This is the result of interviews and surveys with over 120 agencies, offices, programs, and experts. This report is part of a project to ensure transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program. Key findings are in the area of policy and planning, permanent public access, authenticity issues, and product characteristics (including the most common formats).
This document describes the draft Z39.50 profile for querying structured thesauri and displaying the results in a client/server environment.
XIWT is a multi-industry coalition defining the architecture and key technical requirements for a powerful, sustainable information infrastructure. Offers calendar of upcoming events, membership information, and papers and reports. Lists member companies and institutions. The goals and bylaws or the group are also included.
This study was conducted by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science under an Interagency Agreement with the U.S. Government Printing Office. The information presented is useful in facilitating improved access to electronic Federal Government information in general. Formats most appropriate for dealing with electronic information products throughout their life cycle are identified, agency plans are evaluated, the cost-effectiveness and usefulness of various electronic formats is examined, and formats most conducive to maintaining permanent accessiblity are assessed.
Minutes from a presentation by Pat Harris, Executive Director, National Information Standards Organization at the CENDI meeting on October 28, 1999. Ms. Harris discussed the upcoming revision of NISO's standard for Scientific and Technical Papers. It is one of the most widely used standards in both government and industry. Some of the issues to be examined in the upcoming review is this standard's place in the electronic world and the use of it as a tool for knowledge management. Since CENDI's agencies are key users, CENDI will be a key participant in the revision process.
Ms. Marsh provides a report from a presentation by Dr. McIlwaine, professor of library and information studies at the University of London at OCLC on October 26, 1999. Dr. Mcllwaine discussed the merits of the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) system and noted that its prinicipal difference from Dewey (DDC) was its flexibility. However its greatest strength-flexibility is also its greatest weakness because it lacks uniformity across libraries. Although bibliographic classifications are the basis of the UDC and the DDC, information classification is not limited to these systems. Librarians are urged to examine many different systems when constructing retrieval tools. She urged all to make greater efforts to coordinate what we are doing with the work of specialists in order to create adequate retrieval tools for the information that is available to us. We must reach some common agreement on both the systematic arrangements of concepts and vocabulary control. This will in turn improve communication and facilitate universal access to information.
The Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) standard registry is an initiative that creates a platform-independent, open framework for describing services, finding businesses, and integrating business services using the Internet. The UDDI standard was driven by platform and software providers, marketplace operators, and e-business leaders. The Web site explains the benefits of using the UDDI standard including the ability to reach new customers, extending market research, increasing access to customers, etc. The Web site prompts businesses to register their services. Also included on the UDDI homepage are press releases and news articles, as well as white papers that provide a more indepth explanation of UDDI and its specifications and structure.
This White paper prepared by a research team at RAND examines the adequacy of today's information technology standards. Analyses were made to see where these standards were leading the industry and if government intervention will be necessary to address systemic failures in the standards development process. Five case studies were undertaken covering existing Web standards; the extensible markup language, XML; digital library standards; issues related to payments, property, and privacy; and evolving electronic commerce value chains. The present system of standards development was found to be basically healthy. The success of standards in the marketplace depends upon many factors including corporations, interest groups and government. The best role for the government to play in the development and success of industry standards is to strenghten the efforts of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), especially its Information Technology Laboratory.
The author focuses on some of the challenges and opportunities for standards development in the digital library arena and offers some approaches that can be taken in response to these challenges. One of the major difficulties for standards development in digital libraries is that the digital library community is not really a community in the sense of "the library community". There are more heterogeneous players in the digital arena including publishers, hardware and software companies, computer scientists and others who are interested in digital audio and video. Other challenges working against collaborative standards development are competition, the need to allow for innovation and experimentation, an inherently international network which increases the diversity of the players, and the need for speed. The author points out several useful reactions to the challenges including the move towards undertaking smaller, more focused topics; encouraging use before a specification or practice is made a standard; adopting the most "lightweight" standardization that will serve the purpose. She suggests that identifying practices in a certain area may be the first step towards collaborative standardization. The next step may be to identify best practices which can be developed into local or global guidelines or standards as the circumstance warrants. After the standard is established, it may need further refinement. As for the international arena, we should include international input from the start and participate and learn from similar international organizations. The last challenge mentioned is the fact that “we may not be able to control all of the technology we depend on, but we can develop appropriate responses to it. The author concludes by stating that although standards cost significant amounts of time and effort to develop, document, publicize, and implement, they also encourage stability and promote interoperability.
The NDIIPP was begun as a collaborative effort by the U.S. Congress and the Library of Congress in 2000 provides news about the development of digital preservation policies, standards and technologies. Reports, presentations, meeting reports, commissioned studies, digital television, e-journals and other resources on digital preservation are available on the website.
This report outlines the NISO's discussion of Digital Rights, notably issues of reproduction and library usage.
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