Universal Dataflow and Telecommunications

Archive - Historical Material

Fall 1995

Announcement to Subscribers

Building upon its earlier efforts to improve communications between IFLA HQ, its membership, and the international library community, UDT has been working towards the establishment of an electronic information infrastructure for IFLA that will permit enhanced communications and information exchange.

IFLANET

UDT’s well-regarded Web service, which provides information about IFLA and about trends and issues of concern to the library community as a whole, is a starting point for this effort. Robert Wedgeworth, in his presidential address last year in Havana, described his dream of creating a “virtual IFLA” which would “act as a stimulant to national and local library activity”. This virtual organization would be available to its members and to the wider international library community, not just once a year at a conference, but anytime, at the touch of a few keys. This dream has come to fruition through the development of IFLANET. When IFLANET was first proposed by the UDT Core Programme in 1993, one of the possibilities was to distribute electronic newsletters and electronic journals. This idea is now a reality. IFLANET uses a combination of networking and communications technologies to provide IFLA with an unprecedented opportunity to deliver information services to members and non-members alike.

URL: http://www.ifla.org/

Suspension of UDT Newsletter

In keeping with this attempt to reach an ever-wider audience in a time of fiscal restraint, the UDT Core Programme has suspended the publication and distribution of the printed edition of UDT Newsletter. The final issue was Number 28, Summer 1995. The UDT Newsletter is to be replaced with an electronic UDT Digest, which will be distributed through electronic mail and through the IFLANET World Wide Web service. This new electronic publication will allow the UDT Programme to distribute current and fast-breaking news about technological and information policy developments of general interest to the library community.

The use of IFLANET for this purpose means that information can now be disseminated far beyond the possibilities of paper. IFLANET is globally accessible and current, and has capabilities that go far beyond paper. The flurry of activity and discussion on the future of libraries in the emerging global information infrastructure cannot be adequately represented in a paper newsletter published three times a year! IFLANET is a much more powerful publishing tool that can offer more information to its users more rapidly than was ever possible on paper.

Other UDT Core Programme Publications

The UDT Core Programme has initiated a series of electronic Occasional Papers to address current technological developments. Thus far, this educational series includes papers on networking in Russia, document management systems, and the Z39.50 standard.

URL: http://www.ifla.org/pubs/core/udt/occasional/udtop.htm

The UDT Core Programme is also developing a series of papers relating to Visions and Issues of the Digital Library. The first of this series is a paper by Professor Luciano Floridi of Oxford University entitled Internet: Which Future for Organized Knowledge, Frankenstein or Pygmalion? The intent is to include statements of interest to the profession in this critical area of development.

Discussion Forums

IFLANET is expanding its communications services to include new forums for the discussion of issues of interest to librarians and information professionals. The year-old IFLA-L mailing list provides such a forum; it is a moderated list and has over 500 subscribers.

A recent addition to IFLA discussion lists includes DIGLIB, dealing with the concept of digital libraries, an area in which research and development is expanding dramatically. IFLANET will be maintaining this moderated Internet mailing list to facilitate the transfer of information about projects and current research.

LIBJOBS is a new mailing list that provides a moderated employment listing service for library and information professionals around the world.

To subscribe to any of the above lists, simply send the following email message:

TO: listserv@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca
subscribe

Conclusion

All sections of IFLA are encouraged to participate in the “virtual IFLA” — to peruse the various Web pages, subscribe to the electronic discussion lists, and provide the content that enriches and enhances these forums of communication. With IFLANET, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions has entered an era in which networked communications allows it to be in touch with its members and to have a constant presence in the international library community. Through IFLANET, IFLA makes an invaluable contribution to the development of libraries around the world.

Latest Revision: June 9, 1996