D-Lib Magazine
May 1997

ISSN 1082-9873

Clips and Pointers

In Print

Managing Access To Digital Information: Some Basic Terminology Issues
Patrice Lyons, Law Offices of Patrice Lyons, Chartered, Washington, D.C.

Work has been going forward on the development of a frame of reference for locating and invoking digital information services and objects over communication systems and pathways having computational capabilities. An important concept in this context is the notion of a 'digital object' as a set of sequences of bits, including a unique identifier for the object called a 'handle'. A digital object may incorporate digital works and other digital information in which copyright, patent, trade secret and other rights or interests are claimed, although this need not always be the case. To take full advantage of the global information infrastructure, it is helpful for a commercial enterprise to develop a flexible terminology for thinking about digital information from a copyright perspective; in this regard, the concept of 'digital work' is suggested. Clearance of rights and interests in connection with the 'contents' of digital objects may be treated separately from compliance with procedures for accessing digital objects viewed as entities that incorporate and identify contents. A suggested legal framework is discussed in this paper.

• RLG DigiNews is the first issue of a newsletter from RLG devoted to covering items of interest for "managers of digital initiatives with a preservation component or rationale." The first issue lists the winners of the Library of CongressAmeritech awards, an article on preservation scanning , and a brief technical review of scanners and digital cameras, with references to reviews and pointers to relevant web-sites.

• Retrospective Digitization of Library Materials. The report of the technical working group charged with analyzing the state-of-the art in digitization and formulating recommendations for establishing a distributed digital library in Germany under the sponsorship of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) has been issued. The report (written in German) is accessible via the home page of the Lower Saxony State and University Library at Goettingen (Niedersaechsische Staats und Universitaetsbibliothek). The following topics are discussed:
  1. Image Capturing
  2. Storage
  3. Indexing and administration (bibliographic metadata, internal structural metadata)
  4. Retrieval and access
  5. Offering (making available) the digitised documents

• Economics of Digital Information and Intellectual Property. The conference papers and session notes from this conference, held January 21-23, 1997 are now available. The conference was sponsored jointly by the Coalition for Networked Information, the Council on Library Resources, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard Law School with the object of broadening and deepening the "understanding of emerging economic and business models for global publishing and information access and the attendant transformation of information markets, institutions, and businesses."

• Access to and Services for Federal Information in the Networked Environment. This white paper, sponsored by the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) is available in draft form It focuses on issues related to federal information as understood by institutions serving users and addresses collecting information in the networked environment, locating and preserving federal information, and providing services and infrastructure to support delivering federal information.

Point-to-Point

• Argus Clearinghouse, a clearinghouse for over 1,000 subject-oriented Internet resource guides established by librarians in 1993, has been upgraded to include an extensive new subject classification scheme and improved navigation. The subject guides are selected from material created, submitted, and maintained by specialists from around the Internet.

• HealthWeb announces the addition of evaluated, Internet-accessible resources to its 30 existing subject areas. The new topics include: diabetes, endocrinology, genetics, geriatrics and gerontology, osteopathic medicine, laboratory medicine and pathology, pediatrics, physiology, psychiatry, transplantation, and women's health. The HealthWeb Project draws on the expertise of the health sciences librarians and information professionals from the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago (the CIC - Committee on Institutional Cooperation), who select critically evaluated resources.

• Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 13th edition, edited by Barbara F. Grimes and provided by the Summer Institute of Linguistics. This massive compendium contains from 6,703 languages to the countries in which they are spoken, providing users access to languages by country, or alphabetically and enabling them to see how many people speak these languages in each in each country. Linguistic, geographic, and other cultural information is also available.

Goings On

Computer Science Education Innovation Workshop, June 15-21, 1997, Blacksburg, Virginia
Contributed by Edward A. Fox, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia

Interactive Learning with a Digital Library in Computer Science
http://ei.cs.vt.edu
Virginia Tech and Norfolk State University

Twenty applicants will selected on the strength of support of their educational institution for innovation, and their interest and experience in Computer Science education. Preference will be given to under-represented populations. Three-page proposals should be send to [email protected] by May 18, 1997. A proposal for funding expenses is expected to be funded by the National Science Foundation.

Guidelines for Proposals: We have an open first-come-first-served admission, but will give preference to:

• Those at minority institutions,
• Those working with minorities,
• Those who have the strongest institutional commitment (e.g promise from Dean or Department. Head that innovations will be allowed / used, promise of release time to extend work),
• Those with interesting educational innovation ideas that fit in with our efforts, and
• Those with background and experience that indicates they can benefit from the workshop.

Location: Virginia Tech, in the Donaldson Brown Center for Continuing Education and the Department of Computer Science, using a variety of labs, including those recently renovated through NSF Research Infrastructure grant for "Interactive Accessibility", and a CAVE (large VR environment). One event will be at scenic Mountain Lake. Blacksburg is in the Blue Ridge mountains of southwestern Virginia, 40 miles from Roanoke airport.

Schedule: Attendees arrive June 15, 1997 and depart June 21, 1997. Attendees receive 4 CEU credits for 40 hours of presentation, interactive activities, and discussion, plus evening access to labs (so groups can work to meet the educational development objectives of each attendee).

Coverage: This workshop will enable attendees to set up WWW sites to support Computer Science education, make use of the extensive courseware and lab materials developed at Virginia Tech and Norfolk State University since 1993, and to apply digital library and WWW logging methods for delivery and evaluation. There also will be coverage of other NSF Education Innovation WWW pages/projects.

Special Tools: SWAN for algorithm visualization, QUIZIT for WWW test-taking, IDEAL for recording and studying users' video and computer logs, full professional digital video capture and editing system.

Topical Areas: The most popular of the following topics will be covered. Where course numbers are given, these are new or EI-extended courses that could easily be offered at other sites, drawing on courseware at http://ei.cs.vt.edu/courses.html.

• Analog / digital video editing
• CS labs
• CS1604 Intro to Internet
• CS3414 Numerical Methods
• CS3504 Professionalism (e.g. Computers and Society)
• CS3724 Intro to HCI
• CS4624 Multimedia, Hypertext, Information Access
• Digital Libraries
• IDEAL and usability testing
• Java and Java Script
• Log analysis and visualization
• Networking / WWW Administration
• QUIZIT (WWW-based interactive quizes)
• SWAN (algorithm visualization)

Fourth DELOS Workshop: Image Indexing and Retrieval, August 28-30, 1997, San Miniato, Pisa, Italy. Call For Participation
Contributed by Carol Peters, Istituto di Elaborazione della Informazione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

The fourth workshop of the DELOS Working Group, to be held from Thursday August 28th till Saturday August 30th in San Miniato, Italy, will examine issues related to the indexing and retrieval of image data. The workshop is scheduled to begin in the early afternoon of Thursday and finish at lunch time on Saturday, so attendees may travel to San Miniato on Thursday morning and return home on Saturday afternoon. However, we remind you that the First European Conference on Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries will be held immediately after the workshop, from the 1st to the 3rd of September, with tutorials on Sunday the 31st of August.

The Workshop will have a limited participation of approximately 30 attendees and will be organized so as to allow substantial time for discussions of the issues raised. In addition to presentations from the DELOS consortium members, there will be a number of invited guest speakers from all over the world who will present details of relevant research and issues. We invite contributions in the form of position papers addressing topics relevant to the theme of the workshop. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

1. similarity retrieval of image data
2. semantic content-based image retrieval
3. agent-based image retrieval on the Web
4. metadata models for networked images

The workshop will take place in San Miniato, an historical town located about 50 kms south-west of Pisa, reachable by train or by bus. Participants will be given precise directions on how to reach the workshop venue.

DELOS will be able to reimburse the costs of one or two researchers per ERCIM institution to attend the workshop.

For additional information, please contact:

Carlo Meghini - IEI-CNR
Tel: +39 50 593405
[email protected]

or

Pasquale Savino - IEI-CNR
Tel: +39 50 593450
[email protected]

FAX: +39 50 554342

• Working Together: A Seminar for Library and Information Technology Professionals, Newark, Delaware, May 21, 1997. Sponsored by the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), the Working Together Program is designed to support collaboration among librarians and technologists. The workshop precedes the CAUSE/CNI conference, Delivering the Curriculum and Student Services in a Technologically Enriched Fashion, announced last month in this magazine. Information about both events is on the CNI Website at: http://www.cni.org

• Digital Tool Kit. Spring/Summer Short Courses for the Information Professional, May - August 1997, University of Michigan, School of Information. Topics include web development, collaborative tools, preservation, and publishing. More information on courses and schedules is available at the institute's web site. Courses are two-to-five intensive days, and earn 1.5-3.0 CEUs.

• ACM MULTIMEDIA'97: The 5th ACM International Multimedia Conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Seattle, Washington, November 8-14, 1997. Submissions close June 3, 1997. ACM's annual MULTIMEDIA conference scope spans technology, tools and techniques for the construction and delivery of high quality, innovative multimedia systems and interfaces. Balance is sought between issues relating to underlying system design and delivery: hardware and architectures, networking and communications, compression and synchronization, databases and information retrieval, collaboration environments, digital libraries, and human-computer interfaces.

• Beyond The Beginning: The Global Digital Library and Metadata - What Is It?. Two conferences in London, the first at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, June 16-17, 1997, and the second at Church House Conference Centre, Westminster, London, June 18, 1997. For further information, see http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/global- digital-library/.

• Internet Society (ISOC) Middle East - North Africa Internet Training Workshop, September 13-18, 1997, National Information Centre, Amman, Jordan. With funding from U.S. Department of Commerce in cooperation with the TABA Ministers' Peacenet project, this workshop will focus on assisting countries within this region in developing and extending their national publicly accessible Internet and in accelerating the integration of these national networks into the global Internet. Approximately fifty students Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian National Authority, and Tunisia are expected. Further information on the program, eligibility, and application process are available at http://www.isoc.org/conferences/itw/97/amman/.

Pointers in This Column:

Access to and Services for Federal Information in the Networked Environment	http://www.cni.org/projects/fedinfo/
ACM MULTIMEDIA'97 November 8-14, 1997 Crowne Plaza Hotel, Seattle, Washington	http://www.acm.org/sigmm/MM97
Argus Clearinghouse	http://www.clearinghouse.net/
Beyond The Beginning: The Global Digital Library June 16-17, 1997 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, UK	http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/global- digital-library/
Digital Tool Kit University of Michigan, School of Information	http://www.si.umich.edu/hp/institutes/
Economics of Digital Information and Intellectual Property	http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/iip/econ/econ.html
Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 13th edition edited by Barbara F. Grimes	http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/
Fourth DELOS Workshop: Image Indexing and Retrieval August 28-30, 1997 San Miniato, Pisa, Italy	http://www.area.pi.cnr.it/ErcimDL/fourth.html
HealthWeb	http://www.ghsl.nwu.edu/healthweb/
Interactive Learning with a Digital Library in Computer Science Computer Science Education Innovation Workshop Virginia Tech and Norfolk State University June 15-21, 1997 Blacksburg, Virginia	http://ei.cs.vt.edu
Internet Society (ISOC) Middle East - North Africa Internet Training Workshop September 13-18, 1997 National Information Centre, Amman, Jordan	http://www.isoc.org/conferences/itw/97/amman/
Lower Saxony State and University Library at Goettingen (Niedersaechsische Staats und Universitaetsbibliothek)	http://www.gwdg.de/~sub/homepage.htm
Managing Access To Digital Information: Some Basic Terminology Issues Patrice Lyons, Law Offices of Patrice Lyons, Chartered, Washington, D.C.	http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoethics/speech/lyons.htm
Metadata - What Is It? June 18, 1997 Church House Conference Centre, Westminster, London, UK	http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/global- digital-library/
RLG DigiNews	http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews1.html
Working Together: A Seminar for Library and Information Technology Professionals May 21, 1997 Newark, Delaware Sponsored by the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)	http://www.cni.org

Copyright © 1997 Corporation for National Research Initiatives

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