IT REVIEW
Newsletter of the IFLA Section on Information Technology

June 1995,
No. 25

Preliminary Plans for Istanbul

IT is planning to join with the Section on Serial Publications for an Open Session on the control of electronic publications, particularly journals. One important focus will be on standards issues. This is a timely topic in an area that is moving rapidly out of control as the electronic media proliferate.

In addition, the Section will sponsor a half day morning Workshop on Internet Basics, for colleagues who are just beginning to use the Internet and explore its many faces. Since Havana the number of WEB Home Pages has exploded and the interrelation of the various Internet discovery tools has become more complex. At least one other IFLA group plans to present a complementary afternoon program on a specific Internet topic.

IFLANET

http://www.ifla.org/index.htm

The current electronic services available through IFLANet include information about IFLA and its sections and round tables, a collection called the "IFLA Virtual Library" that contains Internet guides, virtual library papers and projects, key Internet standards, and other documents of special interest to the Section, and a selection of freeware or shareware. The UDT Newsletter is also available and at this time, the UDT Office is creating a place for the Section on Information Technology where this newsletter, papers from Section activities and other section information will be referenced.

One component of IFLANet is the new electronic listserv mounted by SilverPlatter. The Cuban organizing committee for the Havana conference had organized a special listserv for information concerning the IFLA conference in Cuba. That was a successful endeavor, so IFLA has established a permanent listserv for general IFLA discussion through SilverPlatter. To subscribe to the general IFLA list send the following message to LISTSERV@SILVERPLATTER.COM

SUBSCRIBE IFLA-L

(Leave the subject line blank)

The list participants are encouraged to use IFLA-L to:

• disseminate information about IFLA activities
• provide information on activities of interest to the IFLA community
• discuss issues of interest to the international library community

SilverPlatter also provides a document archive containing general information about IFLA's structure, activities, and publications. The archive can be accessed via anonymous ftp or via email for those without full internet access. Further information can be obtained by contacting IFLA headquarters.

The WEB Home Page in Ottawa references the listserv and documents on SilverPlatter rather than duplicating any services.

IFLANET WWW Administration note: At the time this Review went to print, changes were being made to the organization and maintenance of the IFLANET archive. IFLANET documents are now being referenced on the IFLANET server in Ottawa to facilitate ease of archive maintenance, regular updates and resolve certain difficulties with remote access to document stores.

IT Projects

Standing Committee member Jan van der Starre from the Netherlands Institute for Art History proposed a project that was considered in Havana. It is to carry out a feasibility study for preparing a guide to multimedia software. He reported that a number of organizations and interest groups, largely international and multinational, have been interested in seeing a thorough overview of the international market of multimedia software, software capable of integrated handling of text, sound, and still and moving images. The larger project is to produce first an overview of software, consisting of descriptive data, followed by the addition of qualitative data. IT approved funding of the initial phase of the project to get it started. This part is the definition of scope, review of existing sources, and preparation of a test survey of Dutch software packages, and, finally, definition of the follow on phases. After the report on phase one is complete, a decision will be made by Jan whether the project is feasible and where further funding might be sought. A budget of 950 NLG was obtained from the Coordinating Board of the Division of Management and Technology to carry out this first phase. Jan plans to submit a report on phase one early in 1995 and report on the future of the project at the Standing Committee meeting in Istanbul.

Standards for Graphical User Interfaces

One of the recommendations from the Section's satellite meeting in Madrid in 1993 on library automation in multilingual and multiscript environments was that the development of standard user interface graphics with universal prompt symbols be encouraged. IT Standing Committee members Wilda Newman (U.S.) and Bruce Royan (U.K.) volunteered to carry out a study to ascertain the feasibility, and if feasible, the scope, of a project to define such symbols. They will identify and review the range of standards relevant to graphical prompt symbols such as standard commands and approved guidelines for applications based on graphical user interfaces. If a standard appears feasible, they will define the scope of such a standard and make detailed recommendations for further work, including suggestions for drafting the standard and inserting it into the standards-making process. The Standing Committee approved the project proposal and the Division of Management and Technology Coordinating Board provided the requested funding of 1000 NLG. Wilda and Bruce will complete the study in 1995 and hope to have a preliminary report ready by the Standing Committee meeting in Istanbul.

Electronic Library Study

A major project was proposed by Standing Committee member Michael Malinconico (U.S.) to document the trends associated with increasing reliance on sources in electronic form. The study will survey university and national libraries to determine the extent to which they have begun replacing or complementing print, and other static information sources, with electronic sources, including document delivery services. Measures will be developed that can be used over time to chart progress toward the realization of electronic libraries, the current status will be described, and influences that might impede or advance the trends will be identified. The study will be a two year project, with IFLA funding being supplemented from other sources. In December, the Professional Board approved the two years of funding requested, 2,160 NLG in 1995 and 3,485 NLG in 1996.

Michael plans to disseminate the results in a formal report published by the Section in an IFLA publication, present results in journal articles, and make presentations. The report on the study may be ready for a presentation during the Annual Conference in Beijing in 1996.

Ongoing Projects

Database of Multiscript Systems

One project builds on the information on multiscript library systems collected for the 1993 Madrid satellite meeting on automation in multilingual and multiscript environments. A recommendation from the meeting was to build a fuller database of descriptive information about vendor systems that could handle multiple scripts and make it available on an IFLA electronic access mechanism. Monica Ertel (U.S.) assumed responsibility for the task. The current list will be augmented through a questionnaire to be sent to the original list of systems and any that are subsequently discovered. IT received 500 NLG from the Coordinating Board of the Division of Management and Technology to support the survey and keying needed.

Character Set Mappings

A similarly small grant of 500 NLG was obtained by the Standing Committee to assist with a report on mapping activities from the currently used 8-bit character sets to the 16-bit Universal Character Set (UCS) (also known as UNICODE). This initial study is to focus on the roman character sets with possible extensions later. Xavier Agenjo (Spain) is responsible for the project.

Russian Network Report

A final project due for completion in 1995 is a report being prepared by Standing Committee member Yakov Shraiberg (Russia). Yakov will describe the planning and technology being used to implement the first Russian computer library network. The approach may be useful to other countries with library networks beginning to be formed. The Professional Board allocated the requested 1600 NLG for the project.

Projects Completed in 1994

One was the technical report commissioned to Liv Holm (Norway), Models for Open System Protocol Development. Liv presented part of that study at the Section's Open Session in Barcelona and that article was subsequently published in IFLA Journal. The complete study, a comprehensive look at the many and varied application protocols available for library applications today, was published in the summer of 1994 in the UDT report series. (See the IT Bibliography for citations.)

Classification Format Specifications

A small study was approved in 1993 to assist with a joint project with the Section on Classification and Indexing. The joint project is to develop a classification format for the exchange of classification data, and the report, carried out by a consultant, Elaine Woods (U.S.), specified requirements for a UNIMARC format for Classification data. The study was completed in the summer of 1994 and distributed to the members of the Standing Committees of the two section and the maintenance committee for UNIMARC, the Permanent UNIMARC Committee, for review and comment. Based on the report and comments received the joint drafting committee will proceed with the format work.

IT Brochure

Wilda Newman (U.S.) completed the brochure advertising the activities of the Section in time for the Barcelona meeting. It was made available at the IFLA headquarters booth during the conference. Copies are available from IFLA Headquarters and Section members are invited to make additional copies for colleagues who are interested in joining the Section.

ISBD(CF) Initiative

The International Standard Bibliographic Descriptions are standardized data elements, with semantic and display recommendations, that have been developed by IFLA over the last 25 years to support global standardization of cataloging. The development activity is coordinated by the UBCIM Core program, which publishes the standards, with the Section on Cataloging, Section on Information Technology, and other relevant sections participating. The ISBD for Computer Files (ISBD(CF) was completed in 1990 thus is due for its 5-year review in 1995. In the fast moving and varied computer environment, several significant advances have occurred and new characteristics of the medium have emerged that need to be taken into account in the ISBD(CF). Among these are the following:

• emergence if interactive multimedia
• development of optical technology
• availability of remote electronic files on the Internet
• reproductions of computer files

UBCIM has asked the Section on Cataloging together with the Section on Information Technology to form a working group to review these issues and suggest revisions to the ISBD(CF). Sten Hedberg, from the University of Uppsala in Sweden, is on the review group representing the Section on Information Technology, and Maria Luisa Martinez-Conde is a corresponding member representing the Section. If Section members have any comments regarding problems with the use of the ISBD(CF) that they would like to see treated in this review, please contact one of our representatives. Their Internet addresses are sten.hedbers@ub.uu.se (Hedberg) and uci@bne.es (Martinez-Conde).

IT Bibliography

Albiges, Luce-Marie. "Remote Public Access to Picture Databanks." IFLA Journal, Vol.18, No.1, 1994, p.37-42. [Paper presented at the IT Open Session in Moscow, August 1991]

Automated Systems for Access to Multilingual and Multiscript Library Materials, Proceedings of the Second IFLA Satellite Meeting, Madrid, August 18-19, 1993. K.G.Saur: Munchen, 1994. (IFLA Publications 70) [Papers from an IT Satellite meeting in Madrid, August 1993]

Hobohm, Hans-Christoph. "Entering the New Market Place: On the Role of Traditional Social Science Information Providers Within the Internet Community" IFLA Journal (forthcoming)

Holm, Liv A.. Connectivity and Protocols - The Technical Side: OSI and TCP/IP, FTP, TELNET, SR, ILL, Update" IFLA Journal, Vol.20, No.2, 1994, p.158-170. [Paper presented at the IT Open Session in Barcelona, August 1993]

Holm, Liv. Models for Open System Protocol Development: A Technical Report. Ottawa: IFLA UDT Core Programme, 1994. (UDT Series on Data Communication Technologies and Standards for Libraries, Report #6, ISSN 1018-0311) [IT Project Report]

Lau, Jesus and Martha Castro. "Computer and Software for Information Services: An Overview of Mexican Progress." Resource Sharing & Information Networks (Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth Press) Vol.9, No.2, 1994, p.91-100. [Paper presented at the IT Open Session in New Delhi, August 1992]

Leonhard, Joachim-Felix. "Managing projects for retrospective Catalogue Conversion in the Federal Republic of Germany" International Cataloging and Bibliographic Control (IFLA UBCIM Programme) Vol.21, No.3, July/September 1992, p.38-41. [Paper from the IT workshop on retrospective conversion in Moscow, August 1991]

"Retrospective Conversion Workshop at IFLA Moscow, 22 August 1991" including: Fernanda Campos, "Standards: Bibliographic and Encoding"; Donna Duncan "Technical Options for Retrospective Conversion; and Dorothy McGarry, Priorities for Retrospective Conversion" International Cataloging and Bibliographic Control (IFLA UBCIM Programme) Vol.21, No.1, January/March 1992, p.3-10. [Papers from the IT workshop on retrospective conversion in Moscow, August 1991]

Summerhill, Craig. "Connectivity and Navigation: An Overview of the Global Inter-Networked Information Infrastructure." IFLA Journal, Vol.20, No.2, 1994, p.147-157. [Paper presented at the IT Open Session in Barcelona, August 1993]

The following papers are available on IFLANet:

Cabezas, Alberto. "Internet: Potential for Services in Latin America" [Paper presented at the IT Open Session in Havana, August 1994]

Pierce, Anton R. "Adapting Technologies for Library Processing Projects: Africa, Asia, and South America" [Paper presented at the IT Open Session in New Delhi, August 1992]

Overview of Havana Conference

"New Communications Options in use: Focus on Social Sciences" was the theme of the Open Session in Havana, the program being jointly planned with the Section of Social Science Libraries and the UDT Core Programme. It provided a follow-on to Information Technology's Barcelona Open Session that focussed on Internet technology and protocols. The following papers were presented.

Entering the New Market Place:
On the Role of Traditional Social Science Information Providers within the Internet Community
by Hans-Christoph Hobohm

On the basis of the experience of implementing the German national Internet information server for the social sciences some general reflections are made on the status of the activity of providing information through this information and communication channel. At least for a certain time the dissemination of information via the Internet will mean an extra load for the majority of the traditional participants in the information market. The other information and publishing media, like books, journals or databases, will remain the central part of the business. On the other hand it is obvious that Internet information activities will have an essential impact in the near future, and the market players positions will undergo a fundamental redefinition. Therefore, it is argued in the present paper that before entering the new market the providers of information have to carefully analyse their own goals, strengths, and possibilities, since the task of social science information specialists is to assure the scientific quality in the information they are offering.

Internet: Potential for Services in Latin America
by Alberto R. Cabezas Bullemore

Internet connections are increasing rapidly in Latin America, however, there is danger in focusing on the net as if it were a photograph, frozen in a specific moment, without taking into account its previous development and current and future user demands. This paper describes the evolution of connectivity in the region, the diverse "worlds" of domains that have and continue to participate in this effort, and points out possible future tendencies. The paper helps to develop a strategic vision of the phenomena of the Internet and raising new questions, especially with respect to the role of national networks, libraries, and user training.

The Role of Libraries in the Development of Social Sciences
by Yolanda Ricardo

The author presents an outline on the current situation of social science libraries in Cuba. Recommendations are made of important measures for improving the situation now and in the future, including the role of IFLA for the social science libraries in Cuba.

Workshop

Telecommunications Options for the 90's was the theme of a successful Workshop held during the Havana Conference. The all day program was jointly sponsored with the UDT Core Programme and the Sections on Social Science Libraries and on Science and Technology Libraries. The agenda for the Workshop was the following. (Workshop papers are not available.)

Internet Basics

Internet Basics - Paula Tallim
Internet Protocols - Marcos Silva
Navigation Tools - Steve Cisler
Overview of Information Packet - Monica Ertel

Communications Options

Overview of Communications Options from the User's Point of View - Daniel Pimienta
Wired and Wireless Access for Computer Networks - Ermanno Pietrosemoli
Satellite-based Communications - David Price

Options/Issues for Developing Countries

Panel - above speakers, Luis Mourelos, Jesus Martinez

Newsletter Scope

Given the convergence of the document content, the Standing Committee recommended that the IT Review be oriented to reports on Section activities, with the UDT Newsletter viewed as a companion news source that carries articles on technology and other announcements. There may still be some overlap but the Section newsletter content will be targeted to the Section membership. This approach will be reviewed by the Standing Committee during the Annual Conference to ascertain whether the Section membership is being adequately served. Any comments by Section members are welcome and should be sent to the editor of IT Review (see masthead for address).

It is important to the Standing Committee that ALL Section members receive the IT Review, so they will know about the activities of the Section, and the UDT Newsletter, so they will receive more general information on technology.

Editor's Note

IT Review - Newsletter of the IFLA Section on Information Technology
Published occasionally by the Section
Editor - Sally McCallum
Network Development and MARC Standards Office,
Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540, USA
FAX: 1-202-707-0115
eMail: SMCC@LOC.GOV
Contributions are welcome.