http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/ Recent content in Issue 16 on Ariadne Hugo -- gohugo.io en-gb Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/cartoon/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/cartoon/ "With all the new skills we've learned, we've become a university within a university - and we're declaring UDI" http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/down-your-way/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/down-your-way/ Knowsley Library Learning Resource Centre, Knowsley Library, visited by Sarah Ormes, is a light and airy building which still smells of fresh paint and new carpets. Just six months old, the £2.5 million building is situated in the centre of Knowsley, in the Merseyside Metropolitan Borough of the same name. It was built when the previous library building was sold to make way for a supermarket car park extension. The finance for the Learning Resource Centre came through an imaginative combination of internal funding and a mix of Capital Challenge and Urban money and the European Union’s Single Regeneration Budget (SRB). http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/events/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/events/ IntroductionA conference on Electronic Access: Archives in the New Milennium was held at the Public Record Office (PRO) [1], Kew, on 3-4 June 1998. The Conference was held as part of the UK Presidency of the European Union. Present (over the two days) were about one hundred and twenty delegates representing a large number of organisations based in the European Union, countries in east-central Europe and the Russian Federation. The conference opening speech was given by Geoff Hoon MP who is Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/cover/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/cover/ The Internet comes wrapped up with so much hype and vested interest that it is difficult to gauge whether it is changing much in the libraries, workplaces, and industries around the country. This makes it fertile ground for researchers. The Media was chosen as the area to study the phenomenon because it seemed likely that it would be hit very hard, one way or another. Furthermore, it seemed from the statements pouring out of the industry that nobody really had a clue about the outcome. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/heron/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/heron/ In August 1998, the HERON (Higher Education Resources Online) project will begin to create a resource bank of teaching and learning support materials for higher education. Funded by eLib and overseen by the CEI (Committee on Electronic Information) the entire resource will have copyright clearance and will be based on a consortium of the universities of Stirling, Napier and South Bank, with Blackwell’s Information Services and Blackwell Retail Ltd. It will draw on the combined technical, marketing and project management skills of both the university and the private sector. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/ill/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/ill/ The National Library of Australia has selected Fretwell-Downing’s OLIB VDX, the same product chosen by the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee’s LIDDA (Local Interlending and Document Delivery Administration) Project as the heart of the new interlending and document delivery support services for the nation’s libraries. OLIB (Open Library Systems) is Fretwell-Downing Informatics’ library management system, consisting of a family of products of which VDX (Virtual Document eXchange) is the product supporting ILL management. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/landscapes/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/landscapes/ The third UKOLN conference in the series Networking and the future of libraries was held at the University of Bath, 29 June-1 July. There were around 240 delegates, nearly a third of whom were from overseas. Its central theme was the construction of information and learning landscapes. The programme ranged from the exploration of distributed library architectures now being developed, to future gazing with the help of some visionary speakers. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/law/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/law/ This was the subject of an exciting and amusing, albeit tongue-in-cheek, debate that rounded off the “50 Years of Information Developments in Higher Education” conference held in Manchester from 16 - 18 June 1998. The motion that “Librarians are Better Equipped to Run Merged Information Services” was proposed by Derek Law, Librarian at Kings College London and opposed by Andy Jordan, Director of Computer Services at Huddersfield. Robin McDonough, Director of Information Services at Manchester University, seconded the motion and Chris Hunt, Librarian at Manchester supported Andy Jordan. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/delos/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/delos/ Since 1996 the DELOS Working Group [1] has organised a series of workshops with the intention of promoting research into the further development of digital library technologies. Castelo dos Templários, Tomar The sixth workshop in the DELOS series was held in the Hotel dos Templários, Tomar (Portugal) on the 17th - 19th June 1998 [2]. Tomar is a small town about 140 km. north of Lisbon and is famous for its Templar castle and the magnificent Convento de Christo, an UNESCO World Heritage Site [3]. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/minotaur/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/minotaur/ Looking at the ACRL web pages I noticed that their set of guidelines for extended campus library services was drawn up in 1981, revised in 1988, approved by the ALA Standards Committee in 1990 and is still on their web site. It is a noble and earnest document stuffed with investigation, assessment, profiling, planning, consultation, co-ordination, implementation, finance, personnel, services and standards. I know that librarianship is essentially a practical calling. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/news/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/news/ Netskills has announced a change in its charging arrangements from 1 August 1998. JISC has agreed to fund the continued production of Netskills material at the level of 50% of current funding. This means that the system of making material available at a discount of 100% cannot be maintained after 31 July of this year. In connection with this Netskills has been consulting with interested parties to develop a suitable and simple site licensing arrangement for the training materials after the end of eLib funding. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/planet-sosig/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/planet-sosig/ Browsing the Environment SectionSOSIG has chosen to use the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) scheme to produce the browsable sub-sections for its database. The sections from this scheme that I selected from the general class of Environmental Sciences [1] were: Social and socio-economic aspects of human impact on the environment (social ecology); Adverse effects of human activity on the environment; and Protection of the environment, Management of environmental quality. (For convenience these have been shortened to Social ecology, Adverse effects of human activity, and Protection of the environment respectively). http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/editorials/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/editorials/ ARIADNE readers will be aware that this publication has been fully supported since its inception by JISC through the Electronic Libraries Programme. Initially funded only for two years, we were successful in obtaining a third year of eLib funding, allowing the publication to continue with its mission of featuring developments in networked information in the HE community and commissioning writing from key figures in the field. In the three years of our existence we have provided coverage of all of the major developments which have emanated from the Programme’s many projects, and provided a forum, both in print and on the Web, for individuals and teams working on projects to describe their work. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/pub-lib/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/pub-lib/ And they’re off!… The going was good, not only for the Grand National runners at Aintree, but also for the future of our public library services, as the public librarians gathered for LA’s Public Libraries Group study school (the alternative event of the weekend) set out their visions for the future. Resurrection: a new life for powerful public libraries was the title of the Library Association’s Public Libraries Group bi-annual study school, that I attended in April. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/skip/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/skip/ The SKIP (Skills for new Information Professionals) Project Report, summarising research by the University of Plymouth Academic and Information Services in 1996-1997 is now on the UKOLN Web site at http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/other/skip/. The project looked at the changing learning environment and the impact of information and communications technology on staff in higher education library and information services. Around 200 staff in 18 institutions, from Heads of Service to Library Assistants, took part and the report incorporates many of their views on issues ranging from skills requirements and training needs to organisational cultures and structures. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/search-engines/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/search-engines/ Are you trying to search for something difficult and end up with enormous and completely useless results? The query in the table below is rather contrived but indicates the problem. In this article I hope to help you with these kinds of situation by pointing you in the right place, showing you the best of the search engine (SE) features and giving tips on managing the output that you get when a query returns thousands of answers. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/main/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/main/ The imperative for widening access to educational opportunity and attainment shows no sign of abating if recent national reports inter alia : Dearing, Kennedy and Fryer are considered indicators of interest. These reports, and government exhortation in United Kingdom, encourage delivery through vision, strategic thinking and resource application. This, together with the Prime Minister’s announcement of an additional half million students in further and higher education by 2002, suggest it is timely to consider the role of the library support services. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/digital/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/digital/ The latest estimate of the number of Web sites worldwide is almost 2.25 million [1]. It is part of the job of many of us - librarians or information managers - to select what our users will find useful from this mass of information. How do we decide whether or not to add details of an Internet site to our resource guide or Web page? What criteria should we use when recommending Internet resources to an individual or class? http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/view-hill/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/view-hill/ Birkbeck CollegeAn institution owing its origins to a 19th Century Mechanics’ Institute, yet with 40% of its work at postgraduate level, a high research rating and only 5% of its fte drawn from full time students is a place where you might reasonably expect a pragmatic mix of the old and the new in its attitude to widening access. You would not be disappointed as Philippa Dolphin begins to describe her approach to the issue. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/editorials/webeditorial.html Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/editorials/webeditorial.html Ariadne welcomes Bernadette Daly, who has joined UKOLN as Information Officer, and will be co-editing the web version of the magazine. Bernadette comes to us from Canada, and will be fielding much of the general UKOLN web service, in addition to work on Ariadne. On the 30th of July, a web form will be inserted into this issue of the Web version of Ariadne, linked from the contents page, as well as this editorial page. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/web-focus/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/web-focus/ Since February 1998 HTML 4.0 [1], CSS 2.0[2], the Mathematical Markup Language MathML [3] and the Extensible Markup Language XML [4] have all become W3C Recommendations. These web protocols, all of which are concerned with the way in which information can be represented and displayed, were initially Working Drafts which were developed by the appropriate W3C Working Group. The Working Drafts were then made publicly available as W3C Proposed Recommendations. Following a review period the Proposed Recommendations were voted on by W3C member organisations. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/what-is/ Sat, 18 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue/16/what-is/ BackgroundThe What Is …? article in the last edition of Ariadne gave an introduction to XML, the Extensible Markup Language [1]. XML has been developed to overcome HTML’s lack of extensibility - with XML you will be able to define your own element tags. We have already seen a variety of communities defining element tags for use within their community, such as MathML [2] and MusicML [3]. Besides lacking extensibility, HTML is also limited in its hyperlinking functionality.