Clips & Pointers

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D-Lib Magazine
October 2003

Volume 9 Number 10

ISSN 1082-9873

In Brief


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MOAC (Museums and the Online Archive of California) Update and Report

Contributed by:
Richard Rinehart
Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
University of California, Berkeley
<rinehart@uclink.berkeley.edu>
<http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/moac>

MOAC (Museums and the Online Archive of California) is pleased to announce the new MOAC website with access to expanded collections, a new interface, and the comprehensive new MOAC Report 2003, which includes an "Introduction" by Robin Chandler, "Project Manager's Report" by Richard Rinehart, "Standards and Best Practices" by Guenter Waibel, and "Field Reports" from several of the consortium partners.

Users can browse or search selected collections from MOAC partner institutions. This resource currently includes 75,000 records and images from 11 California cultural institutions, presented online in collaboration with the California Digital Library.

MOAC began in 1997 when 10 California museums began working with the California Digital Library to integrate access to collections of art, historical artifacts, photography, and manuscripts from museums, archives, and libraries throughout the state. In addition to developing unparalleled content resources for research and instruction, MOAC had a second, equally important, goal: developing best practices for museums so that museums of all sizes and types could cost-effectively participate in the "digital revolution" and provide sophisticated, standards-based access to their collections. The Institute of Museum and Library Services generously funded a MOAC testbed project from 1999-2001.

MOAC has developed into a growing community of like-minded museums and archives in California who continue to participate in several projects that further the initial goals of the group. Detailed documents describing the project can be found under "Project Documentation" on the project website at <http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/moac>.

For more information, contact Richard Rinehart at <rinehart@uclink.berkeley.edu>.


New Venture for King's College London: KCL Digital Consultancy Services

Contributed by:
Simon Tanner
Director, KCL Digital Consultancy Services
King's College London
London, United Kingdom
<simon.tanner@kcl.ac.uk>

KCL Digital Consultancy Services (KDCS) (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cch/kdcs) is a new venture for King's College London to provide digital consultancy services within the College and also to external cultural organizations. This venture is led by its Director, Simon Tanner, and is based within the Centre for Computing in the Humanities (CCH) (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cch) at King's College London (http://www.kcl.ac.uk) . The service will help the development of new digitisation projects and assists research that involves the digitisation of source materials. Simon Tanner will also reach out beyond the College to develop joint activities with other institutions and provide consultancy.

Services for KCL

KCL has a wide range of important research projects that rely upon the existence of digital resources, and the College is also looking to expand and develop its digital collections. KDCS works closely with colleagues in CCH (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cch) and in Information Services and Systems (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/iss/library), the School of Humanities (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/humanities/schoff) and the College more widely, to assess the potential in the College for digitisation projects and to assist research projects that involve the digitisation of source materials. It is hoped that more of the College's important special collections (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/iss/library/speccoll/index.html) and archives (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/iss/archives) can be made available to research in digital form and KDCS will have a supportive role to Information Services and Systems in enabling this to come to fruition. KDCS will also provide support to research bids and grant writing with digitisation advice and budget preparation.

Services for the Community

KDCS carries out consultancy for cultural organizations within the UK and internationally in the area of digitisation and digital resource management. KDCS is already providing support to the National Library of Ireland (http://www.nli.ie) to digitise their extensive photographic collections and will help develop a digitisation unit for the Library. Further projects include a Text Capture study for the Oxford University Digital Library Service (http://www.odl.ox.ac.uk) to develop guidance, benchmarks, case studies, workflows and scenarios to ensure a more uniform approach to delivering effective, accurate and cost efficient text capture at Oxford University. KDCS will deliver consultancy and research services to external clients from any sector, although it is aimed primarily at non-profit organisations.

Key services offered by KDCS include:

  • Digitisation and image management expertise
  • Funding application assistance
  • Tendering and service procurement support
  • Feasibility and pilot studies
  • Digitisation workflow assessment
  • Systems and infrastructure specification
  • Stakeholder surveys
  • Change management for digital projects
  • Sustainability and economic development advice
  • Research and development

KDCS contact details are:
Simon Tanner
Director
KCL Digital Consultancy Services
Centre for Computing in the Humanities
Kings College London
The Strand
London
WC2R 2LS
Email: <simon.tanner@kcl.ac.uk>
Phone: +44 (0)20 7848 1678
Mobile: +44 (0)7793 403542


The European Library (TEL)

Contributed by:
Dr. Britta Woldering
Senior Librarian
Die Deutsche Bibliothek (German National Library)
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
<woldering@dbf.ddb.de>

The European Library (TEL) is a pioneering collaboration between the national libraries of Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the national central cataloguing institute (ICCU) from Italy. TEL was created under the auspices of the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL). It will establish a professionally designed and maintained single access point to selected holdings spanning a range of collections in all the partner national libraries so that the informed citizen in any country can utilise the resources not only of his or her own national library but also—during the same search session—the resources of any other partner national libraries that may hold material relevant to the citizen's interest.

In the TEL project (February 2001 to January 2004) with partial funding from the European Commission, the feasibility of the TEL venture is being tested, and the results are encouraging. TEL partners have committed themselves to moving from the project phase to a fully operational TEL service. The launch of this service is anticipated to take place at the beginning of 2005.

To focus on the successes of the TEL project, the partners:

  • have achieved consensus on the mission for TEL;
  • have developed and will support the TEL Metadata Profile that will serve as the basis for the operational service;
  • have agreed on a subscription-based business model that results in a free resource discovery service;
  • have taken a pragmatic and flexible approach to the technical development of the service, resulting in what they believe will be a low risk and functional service open to development as resources allow and to a change of platform as and when desirable.

During the afternoon of 24 September 2003, the TEL Final Conference was held at the National Library of Lithuania in Vilnius before the Annual Meeting of the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL). The presentations held at the TEL Final Conference as well as further results of the project are now available on the project website: <http://www.europeanlibrary.org>.


Danish Libraries Offer Digital Sheet Music

Contributed by:
Jonathan Irons, CEO
Sheet Music Now A/S
Copenhagen, Denmark
<ji@sheetmusicnow.com>
<http://www.sheetmusicnow.com>

SheetMusicNow.com - Digital Distribution of Sheet Music in Denmark

The digital sheet music distributor SheetMusicNow.com has introduced a new subscription offer to Danish libraries for the purchase and distribution of digital sheet music.

A pilot phase was successfully completed this summer. In cooperation with the Danish National Library Authority seven main libraries in Denmark (Gentofte, Copenhagen, Odense, Herning, Aarhus and the State Library) took part in the program. The subscription offer has now been opened up to all libraries in Denmark.

Library users can have their own copy of high quality original editions downloaded and printed for them to take away and keep. The costs are covered by the libraries through their agreement with SheetMusicNow.com. The composers, artists and publishers receive a royalty for each copy distributed.

The participating libraries have welcomed the new service, as it presents valuable cost reduction possibilities and access to a large amount of new music.

"The cooperation regarding digital sheet music is an example of a project where cultural institutions and a private enterprise working together not only benefit the public, but also secure the rights of the artists. With the cooperation between Sheet Music Now A/S and the libraries for the distribution of digital sheet music, Denmark puts itself at the forefront of the field with the first project of this kind in Europe." -- Jens Thorhauge, Director of the Danish National Library Authority.

The SheetMusicNow.com catalog contains thousands of published classical and jazz editions from Schott Musik International, Josef Weinberger Ltd., Oxford University Press, Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia, Muzyka and many other publishers. It also presents for the first time new jazz arrangements from the new syllabus of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London.

In addition to the published editions, SheetMusicNow.com also presents the works of world famous artists such as Sir James Galway, Chick Corea, Steven Isserlis, Joe Lovano and Stephen Hough.

SheetMusicNow.com was founded in 1998 by the musicians Inge Mulvad Eje and Niels Eje and is headed today by CEO Jonathan Irons. It currently holds a portfolio of distribution rights to more than 30,000 works.

For more information, please contact:
Jonathan Irons (CEO)
Sheet Music Now A/S
<ji@sheetmusicnow.com>.


Illinois State Library Oversees Pilot Project Offering Digital Talking Books to Visually Impaired and Physically Challenged Library Users

Sharon Ruda
Associate Director
Illinois State Library
Springfield, Illinois, USA
<sruda@ilsos.net>

The Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service (TBBS), a division of the office of Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White, is overseeing and participating in a one-year, multi-state pilot project offering digital talking books to visually impaired and physically challenged library users.

The Lobe Library is offering digital talking books to readers from July 2003 to June 2004. Patrons participating in the TBBS Talking Book program who have a temporary or permanent physical or visual inability to read regular printed material are eligible to participate in the pilot program. They receive a handheld MP-3 type player by Audible that is loaded with a digital audio book, headphones, an instruction sheet and a bibliography of available books and order form. Patrons may test the player for three weeks. In June 2004, a national electronic book expert will write an evaluation report based upon the experiences of readers who participate to determine if and how the service will be continued and whether it should be expanded.

Currently, patrons receive talking books on cassettes and use cassette recorders. Digital talking books would allow users to access more modern and convenient technology. The goal of the Lobe Library is to ensure that our print disabled population has the same access to new technologies as sighted persons. If the pilot program is a success, it is hoped that TBBS would eventually be able to offer digital talking books on a permanent basis.

Four of Illinois' regional Talking Book Centers located in Pekin, Carterville, Chicago and Geneva are also participating in the program, along with libraries in Hawaii, New Jersey, Montana and Mississippi.

Persons interested in signing up for the pilot program may contact the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service at 1-800-665-5576, extension 5, or <psalamon@ilsos.net>. For information about the Lobe Library, visit <http://www.lobelibrary.org/page/page/438618.htm>.


Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog Now Available Via Mailing List

Contributed by:
Charles W. Bailey, Jr.
Assistant Dean for Digital Library Planning and Development
University of Houston
Houston, Texas, USA
<cbailey@uh.edu>

The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog (SEPW) is now available via the mailing list sepw@listserv.uh.edu. SEPW provides information about new resources related to scholarly electronic publishing, such as conference presentations, journal articles, mailing lists, news items, newsletters, press releases, software releases, technical reports, white papers, and Web sites. It is part of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography. At this time, the Weblog is updated on Mondays.

To subscribe, send the following message to <listserv@listserv.uh.edu>:

SUBSCRIBE SEPW First Name Last Name

Or, use the Web form at <http://listserv.uh.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=sepw&A=1>.

The URL for the HTML version of the Weblog is <http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepw.htm>.


In the News

Excerpts from Recent Press Releases and Announcements

Digital ID World Presents Awards

At the Digital ID World conference in Denver, Colorado, 15 - 17 October 2003, three awards will be presented "for 'balancing innovation and reality' in the realm of digital identity."

This year's awards go to:

  • CNRI's Digital Object Architecture, for its innovations in the realm of persistent portable identity.
  • The Security Assertion Markup Language, for successfully achieving a blend of simplicity and functionality that has created a foundation for standardized cross-platform identity exchanges.
  • The Next Generation Secure Computing Base (FKA Palladium) for its innovative approach to trusted computing that allows identity based data and application security without having to secure the bulk of the network or operating system it runs on.

"Nominations for the Digital ID World awards come from a number of industry sources. The award winners are selected by a vote of teh Digital ID World Conference Executive Advisory Committee."

The Digital ID World website is located at <http://www.digitalidworld.com>.


Survey for visual resource librarians and museum personnel

Announced 7 October 2003 by Abby Goodrum, Syracuse University

"The Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS) at Syracuse University is engaged in a project designed to build collaborative digital museum and library references services. The project team is currently developing and evaluating processes that enable museums and libraries to work together in providing reference assistance over the Web to support patrons' image information needs. As a first step, we are asking visual resource librarians and museum personnel to participate in a short survey. The purpose of this survey is to collect baseline data about visual resource librarians and museum's digital reference practices. Access to the survey is: <http://quartz.syr.edu/dii>."

"The data you provide will be analyzed in aggregate, thus there will not be any identification of individuals. Participants are invited to provide their demographic information so that we can follow-up, however, that is not required."

"For further information please contact Carol Chau: <clchau@ericir.syr.edu>."


Open Archives Initiative and Project RoMEO Initiate OAI-rights

"September 29, 2003, Ithaca, NY, Los Alamos, NM & Loughborough, UK -- The Open Archives Initiative and Project RoMEO announce the formation of OAI-rights. The goal of this effort is to investigate and develop means of expressing rights about metadata and resources in the OAI framework. The result will be an addition to the OAI implementation guidelines that specifies mechanisms for rights expressions within the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH)."

"The area of rights expressions is wide-open with many organizations proposing languages and mechanisms. Therefore, the OAI-rights effort will aim to be extensible, providing a general framework for expressing rights statements within OAI-PMH. These statements will target both the metadata itself and the resources described by that metadata. In the context of this broader framework, OAI-rights will use Creative Commons licenses as a motivating and deployable example."

"A white paper describing the scope and issues in OAI-rights is available at <http://www.openarchives.org/documents/OAIRightsWhitePaper.html>."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.openarchives.org/news/oairightspress030929.html>.


Library of Congress Announces Release of Online Collection of the Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers

Announced 29 September 2003, by Laura Gottesman, Library of Congress

"The Library of Congress is pleased to announce the release of the online collection of the Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers available at the American Memory Web site at <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wrighthtml>."

"The online presentation of The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers at the Library of Congress, comprising about 10,121 library items or approximately 49,084 digital images, documents the lives of Wilbur and Orville Wright and highlights their pioneering work which led to them making the world's first powered, controlled, and sustained flight. Included in the collection are correspondence, diaries and notebooks, scrapbooks, drawings, printed matter, and other documents, as well as the Wrights' collection of glass-plate photographic negatives. The Wright Brothers' letters to aviation pioneer and mentor Octave Chanute, from the Octave Chanute Papers, were also selected for this online collection. The Wright Papers span the years 1881 to 1952 but largely cover 1900 to 1940. "

For further information, please see the Library of Congress press release at <http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2003/03-146.html>.


xrefer Releases Version 2.0 of xreferplus

Announced 29 September 2003, by Ellen McCullough, xreferplus.com

"xrefer, the online ready reference service that provides full-text, aggregated content to academic, public and corporate libraries, announced today that it has released version 2.0 of its xreferplus service, which includes improved information visualization capabilities (a new "Research Mapper"), a host of new content and unit conversions."

"The Research Mapper is a visual map that displays how search terms and topics in xreferplus are interconnected. Users can access the Mapper from any set of search results, enabling them to quickly explore the links among topics within the area they're researching."

"...The Research Mapper displays all of the xreference links that are included in a set of search results in an interactive and easy-to-use format that illustrates how--and how closely--the search results are connected to other xreferplus entries. Research Maps can guide users to the most relevant information related to their research, and can lead users to areas that warrant further exploration. A public version of the Mapper is available at <http://www.xrefer.com/research>."

To obtain the full press release, please contact <ellen.mccullough@xrefer.com>.


New England Law Library Consortium and The Berkeley Electronic Press Create Legal Scholarship Repository

"29 September 2003 - The New England Law Library Consortium (NELLCO) and The Berkeley Electronic Press today announced the launch of the NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository, a major new scholarly publishing initiative. The NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository will improve dissemination and visibility of a variety of scholarly materials throughout the academic and legal research communities."

"The NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository (http://lsr.nellco.org) provides a free and persistent point of access for working papers, reports, lecture series, workshop presentations, and other scholarship created by faculty at NELLCO member institutions. Five NELLCO members—Yale, Cornell, University of Connecticut, Suffolk, and Fordham—have created publication series within the repository for launch. Over 75 publications have been posted to date (all freely available), in series such as Yale's Occasional Papers and Cornell's International Speaker Series. Based on the results of early adopters, the NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository may expand to include other participants from NELLCO's membership roster of sixty-five law libraries."

For further information about this resource, please contact Tracy Thompson, <tracy.thompson@yale.edu>.


New Jersey State Library and Rutgers University receive a $460,000 "Digital Highway" grant

"September 26, 2003, New Jersey State Library: The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced today that the New Jersey State Library and Rutgers University will receive a $460,000 grant to build "The New Jersey Digital Highway," a portal to the state's rich historical and cultural heritage materials. The grant will focus on accessing and using digitized collections of materials available in libraries, historical societies, museums and archives around the state so that educators, students and the public can have access to these materials online for their research and personal use."

"Norma Blake, New Jersey State Librarian describes the project as an 'exciting collaboration between the state's cultural heritage institutions and New Jersey educators to immerse New Jersey's rich historical resources in a 21st century digital environment.' Blake notes that New Jersey educators will develop lesson plans and activities using the digital collections that will become available around the state."

"Rutgers University Libraries will build the portal and technical infrastructure to support and house the New Jersey Digital Highway collections...The State Library oversees the statewide advisory committee that envisioned and proposed the New Jersey Digital Highway. It also hosts the project website, and plans to provide training and support materials for implementing digitization projects. Susan Kaplan, Consultant in the Library Development Bureau of the State Library and a co-writer of the grant states, 'Training in digital collection building is a major component of the project. We will also be purchasing laptops and high quality scanners that will be 'loaned' to participants so that they can manage the onsite digitization of their materials.'"

For further information about this resource, please contact Cindy Warrick, <cwarrick@njstatelib.org>.


President Signs Legislation to Improve Library and Museum Service

"September 25, 2003, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): Washington, DC. - At a ceremony today in the White House President George W. Bush signed into law H.R. 13 the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003. The legislation reauthorizes federal support provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Thousands of U.S. libraries and museums receive IMLS funds each year; the agency is the primary source of federal support for these institutions. All types of museums, art, history, natural history, science and technology centers, children's museums, botanical gardens, and zoos; and all types of libraries, public, academic, school, research, and archives are eligible for funding from the IMLS."

"...This legislation advances the role of libraries and museums to connect people to knowledge and ideas in a new era. Today innovative technologies, increasing diversity, and shifts in industry and labor markets combine to make adapting to change a way of life. Navigating change, and achieving prosperity and individual productivity, require the ability to learn continually, to adapt readily, and to evaluate information critically. This legislation will help museums and libraries work together and with their communities to meet these challenges."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/092503.htm>.


$13.7 Million to Advance Leadership and Innovation at Nation's Museums and Libraries

Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services Announces National Leadership Grants for Museums and Libraries

"September 24, 2003, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): Washington, DC. - The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal funds for the nation's museums and libraries, today announced grants in five categories that advance leadership and innovation. Over $13 million ($13,758,471) is awarded to 49 museum and libraries throughout the nation. The recipients will match the awards with an additional $14,384,885. For a list of the National Leadership Grant recipients organized by State, please see: <http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/stategrants0903nlg.htm>. You may also read an html version of this press release at: <http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/092403-1.htm>."

"'The grants we make today will develop leading-edge technologies to expand access to collections, support original research to improve professional practices, and form powerful partnerships between libraries and museums and other community organizations and to enrich educational programs for all ages,' said Robert Martin, Director of the Institute."

"...The five grant categories announced today are: National Leadership Grants for Libraries, Research and Development and Preservation or Digitization categories; National Leadership Grants for Museums, Museums Online and Professional Practices categories; and National Leadership Grants for Museum and Library Collaborations."


ALA issues new guidelines for developing library privacy policy

"September 19, 2003, American Library Association (ALA): The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the Guidelines for Developing a Library Privacy Policy, prepared by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC)."

"Increased identity theft, emerging technologies that profile and identify individuals, new and expanded federal and state privacy laws, and increased law enforcement monitoring prompt the IFC to urge libraries to act now to develop and/or revise their privacy policies. Librarians play an essential role in protecting confidential user information from abuse. Written and up-to-date guidelines help ensure that libraries remain free from liability and public relations problems".

"...The guidelines are based on the Federal Trade Commission's "Fair Information Practice Principles." These five principles outline the user rights of Notice, Choice, Access, Security and Enforcement."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releases&template=/contentmanagement/
contentdisplay.cfm&ContentID=44685
>.


New center to improve technology-enhanced teaching and learning of science

"September 18, 2003, University of California, Berkeley - 'Science education does not yet take full advantage of modern technology,' says Marcia Linn, a University of California, Berkeley, education professor. But as principal investigator of the new Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science center, she hopes that's about to change."

"The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $10 million for the center, which is designed to bring together teachers, students, researchers, policy-makers and high-tech designers from Berkeley to Boston to study how instructional technology can improve science education in grades 6 through 12. It also will create classroom-tested technological tools to be woven into science teaching."

"The Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science center (TELS) is one of 16 centers the NSF has established "to understand more deeply what it means to be a good teacher and what it takes to help students be successful in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," according to Judith Ramaley, assistant director of NSF's Education and Human Resources Directorate."

"The goal of the center, said Linn, is to increase the number of teachers who are using innovative, proven, technology-enhanced science curricula to impart key scientific concepts and methods to their students. Eight universities, six school districts, and the Concord Consortium in Concord, Mass., are participating in the center. The Concord Consortium is a non-profit educational research and development organization."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/09/18_center.shtml>.


National Library of The Netherlands and BioMed Central agree to open access archive

"17 September 2003, BioMed Central - "Jan Velterop, Director and Publisher of BioMed Central, and Wim van Drimmelen, Director General of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB), the National Library of the Netherlands, today signed an agreement to secure the long-term digital archiving of all research published by BioMed Central."

"The KB will act as an official archival agent for BioMed Central. As well as archiving all of the publisher's research articles, the KB has committed to updating the archive as technology changes. This will preserve the articles as a usable resource and ensure open access in perpetuity...."

"...Should the BioMed Central website be inoperable for a long period of time, for example in the case of a disaster, the KB would be part of the interim service system. In the unlikely event that BioMed Central or a successor should be forced by circumstance to cease to make these journals available, as an official archive the KB would continue to keep them accessible to all indefinitely, maintaining the open access promise."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/pr-releases?pr=20030917>.


All Systems Go for the 21st Century Public Library

"London, 17 September 2003 - Resource: Resource has today launched the Master Plan that will see public libraries across England transformed into centres of knowledge, learning, creativity and inspiration, fit for the citizen of the 21st Century."

"In February 2003 the Government launched Framework for the Future, its vision for public libraries, with the aim to promote public libraries, set out why libraries matter to everyone and illustrate how they can best serve their communities in the 21st century."

"...At the heart of the vision is the promotion of reading and informal learning; access to digital skills and services including e-government and measures to tackle social exclusion, build community identity and develop citizenship. The three-year Action Plan prepared by Resource and developed with a wide range of partners, aims to help library services to achieve the Framework vision. It presents a range of projects and programmes covering the three key development themes for public libraries."

"...The Framework for the Future: Action Plan 2003-06 is available on the Resource website at <http://www.resource.gov.uk/action/framework/framework.asp>. A pamphlet summarising Turning Vision into Action for Public Libraries is also available on the website. Hard copies are available by emailing a request to <info@resource.gov.uk>."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.resource.gov.uk/news/press_article.asp?articleid=613>.


eBooks Get Serious: Sales expected to top $10 million in 2003, Unit Sales Grow 40% Over 2002

"New York, NY -- September 16, 2003 -- Churning steadily just below the high profile of the music industry's digital drama, electronic publishing has quietly become a major force in the worlds of media and technology. In the first half of this year, alone, eBook sales revenues are up by 30% and unit sales up by 40% over the same period in 2002. This compares to an annual growth rate of just about 5% in traditional print publishing. The Open eBook Forum (OeBF), the electronic publishing industry's trade and standards organization, reveals detailed statistics on the current state of eBooks and provides a comprehensive industry analysis in its first quarterly eBook and eDocument Publishing and Retail Statistics."

"Compiled from data submitted by 34 of the world's leading publishers and retailers, the analysis marks the first-ever quantitative assessment of the electronic publishing industry."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.openebook.org/pressroom/pressreleases/stats.htm>.


Project announced to develop DOIs for scientific data: German National Library of Science and Technology joins IDF

"15 September 2003: The International DOI Foundation is pleased to welcome a new member, the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB), the world's largest library of science and technology. TIB is to act as IDF contact for a major project, initially of one year duration from 1 October, made possible by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), which will implement the use of DOIs to persistently identify scientific data sets. The project is co-ordinated by the World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) at the Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie in Hamburg."

"This follows from earlier work by a National Committee of CODATA, the Committee on Data for Science and Technology of the International Council for Science (http://www.icsu.org), resulting in a report "Concept of Citing Scientific Primary Data" in May 2002 recommending the use of DOIs. A continuation through a one year project for pilot implementation has now been made possible by a grant from DFG, the central research organisation that promotes research at universities and other publicly financed research institutions in Germany."

"A team from several data centres, led by Dr. Michael Lautenschlager at the World Data Centre for Climate, will focus on providing a means of publicly registering data sets with a persistent identifier and structured basic description. The pilot deployment will use geo-reference data (e.g., from observational stations, satellites, and climate models), but will in principle be extensible to any scientific data. This use of DOI will provide for the effective publication of primary data using a persistent identifier for long-term data referencing, allowing scientists to cite and re-use valuable primary data. The DOI's persistent and globally resolvable identifier, associated to both a stable link to the data and also a standardised description of the identified data, offers the necessary functionality and also ready interoperability with other material such as scientific articles. "

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.doi.org/news/TIBNews.html>.


DOI funding success good news for digital print industry

"11 September 2003: A new project assisting Australia's digital print industry was launched in Canberra yesterday by the Federal Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, The Hon Ian Macfarlane MP".

"The project will trial a significant new enabling technology, called Digital Object Identifier (DOI), that will assist the digital print industry in developing its economic potential."

"Coordinated by Copyright Agency Limited [CAL], this important endeavour has been made possible thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Federal Government's Book Production -- Enhanced Printing Industry Competitiveness Scheme (EPICS). The EPICS scheme funds projects that encourage the use of innovative technologies, improved business practices and training and skills development."

"...CAL and its partners have chosen the university sector to begin trials of DOI-enabled technology. Over the coming months a series of pilot programs will be undertaken with the aim of developing an online model for the delivery of coursepack material to students."

For further information, please see the full press release at <http://www.copyright.com.au/news%20releases/11_09_03.htm>.


LexisNexis to Create a Digital U.S. Congressional Serial Set: Ambitious Project Will Broaden Research Opportunities

"DAYTON, OH, September 9, 2003 -- In a bold move designed to broaden research and access to important historic documents, LexisNexis U.S., a leading global provider of legal, business, and news information, today announces an ambitious project to digitize the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Upon completion, users will be able to access content spanning 1789-1969, including 325,000 documents drawn from nearly 13,000 volumes, 52,000 maps, and the American State Papers. The Serial Set is a vast historical resource that contains an ongoing collection of U.S. Government publications compiled under directive of the Congress, and consequently traces virtually all aspects of American history, including trade and commerce, military history, geography, scientific exploration, and anthropology."

"LexisNexis' new digitization project is creating opportunities for full-text searching and online retrieval of digital images, including statistical tables, illustrations, photographs, lithographs, and maps. Users will be able to search all the elements currently found in the LexisNexis CIS U.S. Serial Set Index as well as perform full-text searches on OCR-generated ASCII text and full bibliographic metadata...."

For further information, please contact Jennifer Aleknavage <jennifer.aleknavage@lexisnexis.com>.


Copyright 2003 © Corporation for National Research Initiatives

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DOI: 10.1045/october2003-inbrief