Tracy Gardner
The MODELS (MOving to Distributed Environments for Library Services) [1] series of workshops has been running since 1995, successfully providing a forum for discussion of issues relevant to distributed information provision in the library, archive and museum communities. Two MODELS workshops were held recently. Tracy Gardner was a speaker at MODELS 9 (MIA and Hybrid Information Environments) and a participant at MODELS 10 (Rights Management).
The ninth MODELS workshop took place at Scarman House Training and Conference Centre, University of Warwick, on 13-14 October 1999.
The MODELS Information Architecture (MIA) is a key development of the MODELS initiative; it suggests some functional components of distributed information environments and arranges them in a logical architecture. MODELS 9 was concerned with the ongoing MIA requirements analysis study. The objective of this study is to provide documentation to support organisations that are planning and developing various forms of 'hybrid' information environment, by helping them to specify their own particular requirements. MIA aims to support managers in understanding key issues and components, and enable comparison of products and validation of technical solutions. The workshop provided an opportunity to influence this work.
MODELS 9 was a lively workshop, initially there were discussion-provoking questions over whether abstract models, such as MIA, were of practical value. The workshop continued with examples of how such models had been used in practice and suggestions for future applications of MIA. The workshop ended on a positive note with a number of recommendations for further work on MIA.
One specific recommendation was that MIA should be revisited in the light of rights management. Fortunately, there was only a fortnight to wait before MODELS 10 - Rights Management, which was an ideal opportunity to get input into such work.
A key outcome of the workshop was the proposal for the MODELS 11 workshop: UKOLN/mda Terminology Workshop. The need for consistent usage of controlled terminologies and thesauri was highlighted during MODELS 9. MODELS 11 aims to raise awareness in this area and move towards construction of a single high-level term list of value to services within Higher Education and beyond.
A full workshop report will be made available from [2].
The tenth MODELS workshop took place at Scarman House Training and Conference Centre, University of Warwick, on 1-2 November 1999.
Effective rights management is becoming increasingly important in the electronic information environment. An agreed framework involving all players is needed, within which the complexities of rights administration can be managed. The MODELS 10 workshop brought together key players from the different communities involved in rights management to talk about the central issues, discuss current initiatives, and try to agree on sensible common approaches.
The workshop provided an opportunity for the MODELS community (libraries, museums, archives) to find out about current rights management models, projects and initiatives. It also allowed the MODELS community to make their rights management requirements known so that they can be considered in future work in this area.
Mark Isherwood presented the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) Business Model from the IMPRIMATUR project. The model defines roles, attributes, relationships and transactions, relevant to IPR systems. One of the major discussion topics of the workshop was whether this model also applied to the scenarios encountered in the MODELS community. Although different terminology was used in the different communities, the conclusion was that the IMPRIMATUR model was applicable to libraries, museums and archives.
A full workshop report will be made available from [3].
The homepage of the MODELS initiative: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/dlis/models/
The MODELS 9 homepage: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/dlis/models/models9/
The MODELS 10 homepage: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/dlis/models/models10/
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Tracy Gardner Email: t.a.gardner@ukoln.ac.uk |
Article Title: "MODELS 9 and MODELS 10" Author: Tracy Gardner
Publication Date: 21-Dec-1999 Publication: Ariadne Issue 22 Originating URL: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue22/at-the-event/models9and10.html
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