Table of contents: issue10

Clifford Lynch in Interview

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Clifford Lynch, the Executive Director of CNI, was interviewed by John Kirriemuir at the Metadata: What Is It? workshop on 18 June 1997. Clifford shares some views on mirroring, caching, metadata, Z39.50 and how he sees his role in CNI.

Z39.50 has been around for a long time, now - why do you think it has not been assimilated into networked retrieval applications and technologies to the extent of e.g. CD-ROMs, the Web?

Web Editorial: Goodbyeee

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

The Web editor, John Kirriemuir bows out after ten Ariadne issues.

This is my last issue as editor of the Web version of Ariadne. In a few weeks time, I will leaving the fluffy bunch of people collectively known as "UKOLN" [1], to join the equally fluffy bunch of people known as the "ILRT" [2]. Just time for a quick look at what is in this issue, and then some thanks to various people who have been useful/groovy/fluffy to Ariadne over the last ooooh, two years or so, now.

Print Editorial: Introduction to Issue 10

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

John MacColl with the editorial from issue 10 of the print version.

In the mind of optimists, new computing and communications technologies are hard at work smoothing the path towards an ideal future. For pessimists, they combine to seduce us into activities which will ultimately ruin us because of the prevalence of foolish optimism.

Changing the Lightbulb – Er, the Culture: How Many eLib Projects Does It Take to Change the Higher Education Culture?

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Clare Davies, Alison Scammell and Matthew Hall discuss what it takes to change Higher Education culture.

As part of the eLib programme's overall evaluation activities, a recent eLib Supporting Study has been investigating something called 'Mobilisation effects of eLib activities on cultural change in higher education' (HE). This article describes what on earth that title means, and what we've been finding out about the 'culture' of eLib. The study, funded by JISC, is managed by the Tavistock Institute and ends this July. Among our activities, we've interviewed various key people in eLib, and examined project and programme deliverables for views and evidence about cultural change issues.

Cybercollege Scorecard: How Does Your University Score?

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Tony Durham, multimedia editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement, explains how to determine whether cultural change has affected your institute of learning.

Information technology is now essential to the effective running of a university or college, and a suitably high-tech image will help a higher education institution to compete in attracting the best students. The Cybercollege Scorecard will enable you to determine whether your institution is successfully riding the IT wave. Furthermore, if you have the necessary information you can go on to complete scorecards for rival institutions which you admire, envy or despise.

Dublin Core Management

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Andy Powell presents three models for the way in which metadata can be managed across a Web site and describes some of the tools that are beginning to be used at UKOLN to embed Dublin Core metadata into Web pages.

The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (the Dublin Core) [1] is a 15 element metadata set that is primarily intended to aid resource discovery on the Web. The elements in the Dublin Core are TITLE, SUBJECT, DESCRIPTION, CREATOR, PUBLISHER, CONTRIBUTOR, DATE, TYPE, FORMAT, IDENTIFIER, SOURCE, LANGUAGE, RELATION, COVERAGE and RIGHTS. As we begin to consider some initial implementations using the Dublin Core we need to consider how best to manage large amounts of metadata across a Web-site.

Electronic Journals: Problem Or Panacea?

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Judith Edwards outlines some of the problems faced by academia in the acquisition and provision of electronic journals.

Most staff and students in UK higher education now have online access to hundreds of academic journals, thanks to the HEFCs Pilot Site Licence scheme. Many more journals are also available in electronic form, access to which must be negotiated separately. The total number of electronic journals is now so large that the most ostrich-like of librarians can no longer ignore them. A recent posting to lis-elib maintained that "There will be 3000+ e-journals based on existing publications alone (i.e.

Electronic Document Delivery: A Trial in an Academic Library

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

In the first of a two-part article, Fiona Williams describes the trials of various electronic document delivery systems in University of Bath Library and Learning Centre over the last few years. A review of the latest trial, between BL Urgent Action Service and TU DELFT, as well as an overall comparison with the Blackwell's Uncover Service will be given in the next issue of Ariadne.

Press Release – JISC / Caul Collaboration Agreement

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Kelly Russell outlines the collaboration between JISC and CAUL, and announces the appointment of the post of International Co-ordinator.

Following the recent international conference on the Global Digital Library held in London 16/17 June, representatives from the UK Joint Information Systems Committee met with colleagues from the Council of Australian University Librarians to consolidate an agreement for co-operation which was initiated in the autumn of 1996. JISC/CAUL collaboration began in October 1996 when it was agreed that the current technological and economic climate made collaborative work possible, attractive and increasingly necessary.

Setting Priorities for Digital Library Research

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Graham Jefcoate outlines the rationale of the British Library Research and Innovation Centre's Digital Library Research Programme.

The British Library Research and Innovation Centre's Digital Library Research Programme aims to help the library and information community formulate an appropriate and effective response to the challenge posed by the 'digital library'. It also seeks to address the issues raised by rapid technological change for library staff and users, and to assess its relevance for the information needs of the wider community. We believe that few greater challenges face libraries and information services today.

Revolutionaries and Captives in the Information Society

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Trevor Haywood on the shackles that bind us to the information revolution.

Every generation believes that it is at a seminal point on the time-line of technological progress. It is either the age of iron, the age of the train, the age of flight or, in our case, the information age. We can thus always say that we stand at an interesting moment in the development of technology. Nowhere does this 'interesting moment' look more intriguing than our current location on the map of rapidly evolving information technology, particularly networking technology.

Beyond the Web: The Potential Uses of HTML in Library Disaster Control Planning

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

During a lifelong library career, 2 out of 5 librarians will face a major disaster in their library. Emma Blagg describes the design and evaluation of a HTML-based disaster control plan, used to provide the counter measures taken to minimise the effects of such a disaster.

A disaster control plan for the Pilkington library was created using HTML to link existing documentation. The plan was then evaluated by both students and library staff in order to assess the usefulness of a disaster control plan in this format. It was hoped that using hypertext would create a structured, easily accessible information resource. The resulting hypertext system was called "Pilkplan". In this article, the positive aspects and problems of using HTML in this area of library management are considered as well as feedback from users.

Copyright Management Technologies: The Key to Unlocking Digital Works?

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Anne Ramsden brings us up to date with current developments in copyright management technology

Digitisation of copyright works and other protected objects has many benefits for the user not least in terms of ease of access, however, for the rights owners it can represent both an opportunity and a threat.

ACORN Implemented

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Jon Knight and Richard Goodman describe the technical implementation of the ACORN system.

Education-Line

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Sam Saunders reports on a pre-print project for education professionals.

ERCOMS

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

The ERCOMS team explain the intricacies of their Electronic Reserve Copyright Management System project.

The ERCOMS [1] project, one of eLib's electronic short loan projects, focuses on electronic copyright management. The partners in the project are the International Institute for Electronic Library Research [2] at De Montfort University [3], the Library and GeoData Institute at Southampton University, and The Open University Library.

Netskills

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Jill Foster brings us an update of one of the flagship eLib projects, which aims to train many thousands of HE staff on various aspects of networks and the Internet.

A Digital Library Showcase and Support Service - the Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Roy Tennant describes a resource used to create digital libraries and services, and to help others do the same.

Few topics in librarianship seem as "hot" these days as digital libraries, and yet for all the heat being generated there is little light. What are digital libraries? How are they built? How are they maintained and preserved? How will they be funded? These questions and more abound, while answers are few and far between. We don't have all the answers, but we're a great place to start looking for them. We are the Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE [1], and this article is about who we are and how we may be able to help you.

NISS: National Information Services and Systems

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Annette Lafford and Oren Stone talk us through NISS, one of the major sources of on-line information for academics and librarians

NISS. What does it mean ? What does it do ? Why ? Answers to these questions will strike different chords for everyone reading this article, depending upon your experience of networked information resources and the type or area of work with which you're involved. Can NISS help with your work ?

BUBL : How BUBL Benefits Academic Librarians

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Alan Dawson and Jan Simpson take us through BUBL, an old service recently transformed from being Gopher-based to Web-based.

The Library Association Web Site

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Alan Cooper and Finbarr Joy talk about the past, present and future of the Library Association Web Site.

r·cade: Resource Centre for Access to Data on Europe

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Sharon Bolton describes r-cade, an interdisciplinary resource centre that helps researchers and analysts to identify and acquire data for the European Social Sciences.

Access to Newspapers and Journals for Visually Impaired People: The Talking Newspaper Association of the UK

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Neil H. McLachlan describes the work and electronic products of the Talking Newspaper Assocation (TNAUK).

Planet SOSIG: The New SOSIG Interface

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Tracey Hooper describes the new interface and features of SOSIG, the premier Web-based subject gateway for the Social Sciences.

OMNI-Corner: LA 97: 'I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore, Toto!'

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Sue Welsh, the globe-trotting OMNI project manager, presents a report of the 97th Annual Meeting of the Medical Library Association of the U.S.A, held in Seattle from 24 – 28 May, 1997.

The Librarian of Babel: The Self-Citation Machine

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

The Librarian, talking to Mike Holderness, uncovers the true purpose of the World-Wide Web.

Public Libraries Corner: Stories from the Web

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Sarah Ormes talks about an exciting new BLRIC funded children's library project.

Search Engines Corner: Keyword Spamming - Cheat Your Way to the Top

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Tracey Stanley shows how metadata can be abused to enhance the search engine ranking of Web pages.

Interface: Dennis Nicholson

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Chris Bailey finds a crusader at Strathclyde: Dennis Nicholson.

Metadata Corner: Working Meeting on Electronic Records Research

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Michael Day reports from the Working Meeting on Electronic Records Research, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania May 29-31, 1997.

Archivists and records managers share an interest in the archival management and preservation of what are today known as electronic records. Recognition of important issues related to the archival management of electronic records dates back to the early 1970s when archivists began to investigate the accessioning of what were then known as machine-readable data files.

View from the Hill: Chris Zielinski

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

John MacColl meets Chris Zielinski, a champion of authors' rights.

Minotaur: Metadata -To Be, Or Not to Be (Catalogued)

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Gordon Dunsire thinks that all is not rosy in the garden that is metadata, and wonders how it can assist cataloguing in a real-world sense.

Web Focus: Technical Aspects of Copyright and the Web

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Brian Kelly reports on the TALiSMAN seminar: Copyright and the Web.

In April a former colleague of mine from Leeds University sent a message to me about a strange copyright statement she had come across on the web, and asked for my comments. I was also intrigued by the statement and, on 23 April, sent the following message to the lis-elib Mailbase list

A strange copyright statment (sic) at the URL http://clans.cla.co.uk/www/auths.html has been brought to my attention.

It states that readers are not authorised to:

Down Your Way: Thames Valley University

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Sarah Ashton stumbles across a new learning centre in the Thames Valley University.

Around the Table: Film and Cinema

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Frank Parry discusses some of the many possible sources for Internet information on film and cinema.

The Horse That Isn't There: 1997 US Digital Libraries Initiative Meeting

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Chris Rusbridge reports from the June 1997 US Digital Libraries initiative (DLi) meeting in Pittsburgh.

"ASQ-not!" seemed to be a catch phrase at the US Digital Libraries initiative (DLi) meeting in Pittsburgh in July. The phrase roughly expands to "do not automate the status quo" and in part might be seen as an excuse for these heavily computer science-oriented projects to ignore the pressures of the real world that librarians face every day.

Netskills Corner: The 2nd International Symposium on Networked Learner Support (NLS)

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

Walter Scales summarises the 2nd International Symposium on Networked Learner Support (NLS), held on the 23rd and 24th June 1997 in Sheffield.

Cartoon

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:00:00 +0000

New cartoon work by Malcolm Campbell.