---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SUNERGY Newsletter Part 4 SunFLASH Vol 40 #4 April 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** *4* Coalition for Networked Information: News and Views * *********************************************************** The following is an excerpt from issue #2 (August 1, 1991 - December 31, 1991) of _News and Views from the Director_ prepared and distributed by the secretariat of the Coalition for Networked Information to promote awareness of and participation in Coalition priorities and activities. The Coalition is a joint project of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), CAUSE, and EDUCOM that was organized in March, 1990 to promote the creation of and access to information resources in networked environments in order to enrich scholarship and to enhance intellectual productivity. NREN DEVELOPMENTS The High Performance Computing Act of 1991 was passed by the House of Representatives on November 20 and by the Senate on November 22 and was signed into law as PL102-194 by President Bush on December 9. The NREN (National Research and Education Network) provisions of this law provide a framework for coordinating and leveraging the networking programs of agencies of the Federal Government, a program for engineering and deploying billion-bit-per-second and higher performance networks, and a process for formulating and evaluating public policy. They also provide context and impetus for the host of institutional, subnational, regional, and international networking initiatives that are needed to ensure ubiquitous, affordable, and diverse access to the rapidly evolving global networked information infrastructure and environment. FALL 1991 MEETING OF THE TASK FORCE The Fall 1991 Meeting of the Coalition Task Force took place on November 21 and 22 in Washington, District of Columbia. Close to 300 individuals from over 200 institutions and organizations attended the Meeting. A special effort was made to invite representatives of the university press community to this Meeting, and over a dozen were in attendance, including Peter Grenquist, Executive Director of the American Association of University Presses. The Meeting theme, "Catalyzing the Flow of Networked Information," was introduced by two speakers in the opening plenary session, Richard Katz and Czeslaw Jan Grycz, both of the University of California, Office of the President. Further elaborating the Meeting theme, a panel examined issues related to new approaches to copyright and intellectual property in the networked information environment. Douglas Greenberg, Vice President, American Council of Learned Societies, gave a spirited and provocative address on the state and prospects for networked information resources and services in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. His address called for information technologists, librarians, and publishers to focus on problems of "access" rather than those of "excess" in the current system of scholarly communication and publication, and to recognize the importance of retrospective conversion of the literature record for a wide range of scholarly and pedagogical endeavors. The potential economic importance of the NREN and electronic networking in general was highlighted in an address by Lewis Branscomb. Branscomb is Albert Pratt Public Service Professor and Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Branscomb advocated the view that NREN public policy should focus on diffusion-oriented processes rather than on mission or producer-oriented ones. Meeting participants also attended sessions of the Coalition Working Groups and convened or participated in Synergy Sessions and Project Briefings. The sixteen Project Briefings sparked particular interest and enthusiasm as they demonstrated advancements in many working prototypes of networked information resources and services. MODERNIZATION OF SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING Work continues on articulating and analyzing alternative models for networked information access and delivery, and on comparing the life- cycle costs of printed information with those of networked information. The presentations made by Richard Katz and Chet Grycz at the Fall 1991 Meeting of the Coalition Task Force are being edited into a single document that will also contain a comprehensive bibliography of related materials. In addition, the Rights for Electronic Access to and Delivery of Information (READI) Program was announced as a special effort to encourage thought and discussion about whether contract law, in the form of licenses and related agreements between creators and users of published works, can be employed within the context of copyright law to make the market for networked information. TRANSFORMATION OF SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION The Architectures for Innovative Scholarly Communication and Publication Project, supported by a grant from the Digital Equipment Corporation, was launched. This Project strives to produce a statement of the architectural requirements of compound information applications that (a) include images, video, sound, algorithms, and datasets as well as text, and (b) result from collaborative, iterative, and derivative as well as individual / one-time authorship. This statement, which will also explore the meaning of "architecture" in this context and which will establish the need for architectural thinking in this area at this time, will be used in a series of discussions with a variety of concerned constituencies in order both to stimulate thinking in this area and to refine its findings and recommendations. DIRECTORIES AND RESOURCE INFORMATION SERVICES Work began on the creation of a directory of, a "TopNode" for, directories, catalogs, and other lists of networked information resources, services, and tools. It is anticipated that network endusers will use and benefit from the TopNode even though it is primarily intended to facilitate the network navigational duties, responsibilities, and tasks of staff in library, computer center, networking, and other similar institutional and organizational offices and operations. The Library of Congress issued a new draft of its discussion paper entitled _Providing Access to Online Information Resources_ and announced that this paper will be on the agenda of the January 27, 1992 meeting of the USMARC Advisory Committee held in conjunction with the 1992 Mid-Winter Meeting of the American Library Association in San Antonio, Texas. ARCHITECTURES AND STANDARDS The Z39.50 Interoperability Testbed Project was organized to promote and obtain the full promise of the Z39.50 computer-to-computer information retrieval protocol for the construction of information servers by expediting the process by which a full-function, implementation-proven Z39.50 standard is achieved. The Workshop on ID and Reference Structures for Networked Information was organized to provide a forum in which and a process by which working standards for referencing networked information objects can obtained and then progressed through the National Information Standard Organization (NISO) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). LEGISLATION, CODES, POLICIES, AND PRACTICES The first edition of _Information Policies: A Compilation of Position Statements, Principles, Statutes, and Other Pertinent Statements_ was released and steps are now being taken to provide access to the items in this compilation as one of the network services of the Coalition and to devise a strategy for updating and expanding this compilation on an ongoing basis. Work began on formulating model institutional and organizational principles, policies, and practices that address asocial behavior (such as hateful speech and predatory or criminal behavior) in networked environments. TEACHING AND LEARNING Work continued on the design of an award program to identify model uses and exemplary applications of electronic networking and networked information to enhance teaching and learning. Plans are being made to showcase a number of such uses and applications at the EDUCOM '92 Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. Work also progressed on defining a strategy for collecting, harmonizing, and disseminating a wide variety of brief items of information that could be called upon and assembled into packets for use when briefing a wide variety of "new user" communities like school administrators, distance learning professionals, community college officials, public librarians, museum executives, and others. Relationships were established and developed with the Educational Uses of Information Technology (EUIT) program of EDUCOM, with EDUCOM's K-12 Initiative, and with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). MANAGEMENT AND PROFESSIONAL AND USER EDUCATION Work began on the development of a packet of information for use in formulating and addressing institutional and organizational issues arising from the emergence of a global networked information infrastructure and environment. The items in this packet will each be two pages or less in length, and each is intended to provide a quick and easy reference and resource for individuals who are planning presentations to institutional or organizational constituency groups. Work also progressed on defining a strategy for establishing a clearinghouse for sharing information about training programs and materials and for devising metrics for measuring and comparing institutional and organizational excellence in networked information access and delivery. ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION The first meeting of the Working Group that will focus on this new element of the Coalition's program was held at the Fall 1991 Meeting of the Coalition Task Force and work began on formulating priorities for the Coalition in this area. Particular early attention is being given to the Government Printing Office Wide Information Network Data Online (GPO WINDO) Act (H.R. 2772) and how the Coalition might facilitate the preparation, evaluation, and dissemination of cost / benefit analyses of alternative models of how the proposed service would actually work. COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS The Coalition works with other institutions, organizations, and associations in collaborative efforts to advance the many issues encompassed by its mission and addressed by its priorities. The initiatives and activities of the Coalition Working Groups are the primary means for making progress on these issues, but joint endeavors with various partners present another strategy for attaining the CoalitionUs goals by leveraging the Coalition's interests in a wide variety of venues and by reaching and assisting an expanding number of new network constituencies. Scholarly Communication in the Network Environment Being developed by Brian Kahin, Director, Information Infrastructure Project, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, this project is designed to address principles, policy, and practice related to new forms of scholarly communication in the network environment. To achieve its goal of assisting researchers, professional societies, and others to develop appropriate policies and practices, the project will develop a series of background papers. The first phase of the project will examine social, ethical, and legal issues raised in the communication and dissemination of research results. Technology, Scholarship and the Humanities: The Implications of Electronic Information The American Council for Learned Societies and the Getty Art History Information Program are developing a conference to address the implications of electronic information resources for institutions of higher education and their faculties, students, libraries, and information offices. A publication advancing the consensus of the conference participants will be prepared and distributed widely. The conference will be organized around the deliberations of a set of working groups which will focus on practical recommendations that will "promote high standards of humanistic scholarship, improve the access of scholars in the humanities to electronic information tools, and assure a scholarly presence in the creation of such new tools as may be created in the future." The Council on Library Resources and the Research Libraries Group are also contributing to the cost of sponsoring this conference. 2020 Vision At its 1992 annual meeting in Montreal, the Society of American Archivists will offer a program that it is calling "2020 Vision" to focus upon the various technological, socio-economic, organizational, and research trends that are expected to have major impacts on archival institutions and how those institutions pursue their mission of collecting the evidence that allows social progress to be understood and interpreted. By planning and undertaking this program in partnership with the Coalition and others, the Society is starting a process of communication and collaboration that it hopes will continue long beyond the "2020 Vision" program at its 1992 annual meeting. Listening to Users: Case Studies in Building Electronic Communities The Faxon Institute for Advanced Studies in Scholarly and Scientific Communication will hold its 1992 conference on May 3 - 5 in Reston, Virginia. The 1992 conference will advance the thematic interest in network users, how they are faring and how they are changing, that the Faxon Institute first adopted for its 1991 conference. The 1992 conference will also occur at the midpoint of an electronic conference that will be devoted to the same subject and that will involve many of the same people as will be involved in the main conference, an approach to conferencing first introduced by the Faxon Institute in 1991. INVITATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT The Council on Library Resources, The Johns Hopkins University, and the University of California at San Francisco, sponsored an invitational symposium on October 27 - 29, 1991 that brought together sixty-three individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives to discuss the knowledge management model and to design action strategies for addressing the social, institutional, and economic barriers that impede wide testing and implementation of that model. The knowledge management approach is a shared and mutual responsibility among scholars, librarians, and users for the creation, structuring, representation, dissemination, and utilization of scholarly knowledge through the application of computing and communication technologies. Symposium participants were encouraged to find ways and means for colonizing carefully-selected distant locations in intellectual space with the practice of knowledge management. The recommendations presented at the conclusion of the Symposium highlighted three areas in which progress is needed to enable knowledge management implementations in the next three to five years: clarification of intellectual property and copyright issues for different classes of information; definition of a technology strategy for use in institutional and organizational planning; and, development of costing and pricing models appropriate for the electronic dissemination of information. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS NETWORK ADVISORY COMMITTEE This Committee met on December 9 - 11, 1991 to consider the question of the role of the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, and the National Library of Medicine (the "national libraries") in the evolving national information network. This was the last meeting of the Committee to be convened and chaired by Henriette D. Avram in her capacity as Associate Librarian for Collection Services, Library of Congress, a position from which she is retiring at the start of January, 1992. At Mrs. Avram's request, Paul Evan Peters, Director of the Coalition, presented a short, two page paper entitled Perceptions of the _New Environment of the Evolving National Information Network_ at the Meeting. Papers were presented by representatives from each of the national libraries and panels were conducted to explore the perspectives of the bibliographic utilities, the private sector, and other types of libraries on the basic question of the Meeting. The recommendations presented at the conclusion of the Meeting focused on four key needs: for the national libraries to develop their plans and programs in dialogue with their constituencies; for the national libraries, and other governmental agencies, to consider the impact of continuing technological advance on the people of the Nation and their libraries; for the national libraries to continue to invest in the realization of the promise of the NREN and in progress toward the goals of the Second White House Conference on Library and Information Services; and, for the national libraries to continue their leadership in the areas of bibliographic control, standards, and preservation extending the scope of that leadership to encompass the issues arising from the acquisition, organization, and delivery of networked information. INTERNET SERVER The new Coalition Internet server, made possible by a grant from the Digital Equipment Corporation, became operational, and a variety of network services are now either under consideration or in development. Some of these network services are made possible by the provision of BRS/SEARCH and related support services to the Coalition under an agreement signed in November with BRS Software Products, a division of Maxwell Online. BRS Software Products / Maxwell Online is the fifth Task Force member to make a special contribution to the Coalition. Effective immediately, electronic communications with staff of the Coalition Secretariat should use the following network addresses: Paul Evan Peters, Director, paul@cni.org or peters@umdc.bitnet; Joan K. Lippincott, Assistant Director, joan@cni.org or joancni@umdc.bitnet; and, Craig A. Summerhill, Systems Coordinator, craig@cni.org or summerhi@umdc.bitnet. 1992 MEETINGS OF THE TASK FORCE The Spring 1992 Meeting of the Coalition Task Force will be held in Washington, District of Columbia on March 24 and 25, 1992 immediately preceding the National Net '92 conference, and that the theme for this Meeting will be "Network Navigating and Navigators". The Fall 1992 Meeting of the Coalition Task Force will be held in Washington, District of Columbia on November 19 and 20, 1992 and that the theme for that Meeting will be "Architectures for Innovative Network Communication and Publication". FURTHER INFORMATION For additional information on matter pertaining to the Coalition, its mission, priorities, and activities, please contact Joan K. Lippincott, Assistant Director, at (202)232-2466, joan@cni.org, or joancni@umdc.bitnet. POSTSCRIPT The fact that this issue of _News and Views from the Director_ contains so much of the former and so little of the latter clearly demonstrates that the "vision into action" emphasis established by the Steering Committee for the Coalition's second year is at work and yielding results. The Coalition seeks to stimulate and facilitate progress toward the realization of the promise of advanced networks and computers to improve information access and delivery in support of scholarship and intellectual productivity. It also seeks to ensure that individuals in the broader networking community as well as in its member institutions and organizations are aware of the progress being made and that the results of that progress are widely diffused. By these means, the Coalition strives to make a significant contribution to the evolution of a global information infrastructure and environment that supports a large and diverse population. The Coalition welcomes any item of information, from any source, that may stimulate, facilitate, or diffuse progress in this evolutionary process.