Last in the group of recent notifications from Cindy Hepfer, long-suffering ALA Voting representative to NISO, is for “ISO 23081-1, Metadata for records– Part 1: Principles.†From the ballot itself: “This is a systematic review ballot of the published standard, ISO 23081-1, Information and documentation: Records management processes –Metadata for records –Part 1: Principles.†If you’re thinking that this description isn’t very helpful, you’re not alone! I had, in fact, heard about this standard via another channel, and it sounds like one of those superficially boring but actually quite critical efforts, particularly if one thinks that “packaging†and sharing metadata in future is going to be quite different than it is in our current environment. This is essentially administrative or meta-metadata we’re talking about. As usual, access to the proposed standard is only available by applying directly to Cindy (HSLcindy@buffalo.edu) –please don’t forget to confirm your ALA membership. Her deadline…
Category: Standards Watch
RFID Balloting–last chance for change
Our second notice from Cindy Hepfer, erstwhile ALA Voting representative to NISO, concerns an issue close to many ALA hearts: RFID. There are three ballots on RFID coming down the pike. Each is a separate ballot but are described together in this message for conciseness. First: “ISO/DIS 28560-1, RFID in librairies– Part 1: General requirements.†Part 1 establishes an abstract data model for the use of RFID tags. Second: “ISO/DIS 28560- 2, RFID in librairies –Part 2: Encoding based on ISO/IEC 15962.†Part 2 deals with the encoding rules based on ISO/IEC 15962, which uses an object identifier structure to identify data elements. Third: “ISO/DIS 28560-3, RFID in librairies– Part 3: Fixed length encoding.†Part 3 specifies how to encode a subset of data elements (taken from the total set of data elements described in part 1) in a straightforward way in a basic block on the RFID tag. Cindy…
Data interchange standards–take note!
Cindy Hepfer, ALA’s ever vigilant voting representative to NISO has sent us a new clutch of standards information. The first one is “ISO/FDIS 8459, Classification of bibliographic data elements for use in data interchange†Quoting from the information that comes with the ballot: “First edition of the standard that merges and revises ISO 8459-1, ISO 8459-2, ISO 8459-3, ISO 8459-4 and ISO 8459-5. It specifies and describes data elements required in the interchange of data between bibliographic systems (i.e. terminal or browser to computer or computer to computer).” Cindy adds: “This is the last ballot prior to publication. A Yes vote cannot contain any substantive comments (editorial comments are acceptable). If you have substantive comments, you should vote No.“ There’s a relatively short window for input to Cindy to provide advice for voting on this—she needs to have something in hand by Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. Those ALA members interested…
Thesauri & interoperability, oh my!
Cindy Hepfer, our vigilant ALA Voting representative to NISO, has forwarded to us a new ISO ballot: ‘ISO/CD 25964-1, Thesauri and interoperability…, Part 1: Thesauri for information retrieval’ As usual, she provides us some text to pique our interest: ‘ISO/CD 25964-1, Thesauri and interoperability…, Part 1: Thesauri for information retrieval’ This is the first ballot on a new standard, Information and documentation — Thesauri and interoperability with other vocabularies — Part 1: Thesauri for information retrieval. This standard is a revision and merger of the two existing standards for monolingual (ISO 2788) and multilingual (ISO 5964) thesauri. The new standard is planned to be issued in two parts. This ballot is for Part 1, which covers the development and maintenance of thesauri, both monolingual and multilingual, including formats and protocols for data exchange. Part 2 is still in development; it will deal with interoperability between different thesauri and with other…
Formation of Voting Pools for NISO Standard Reaffirmations
This is the third in a series of messages regarding voting pools for NISO standards reviews, transmitted from Cindy Hepfer, ALA Voting representative to NISO. The text of this new ballot sent to NISO voting members is as follows: “This is the third group of standards due for five-year reviews for which NISO will be issuing ballots. In accordance with NISO procedures, we are offering you the option of joining the voting pool for two of those standards that are under the responsibility of the Content and Collection Management (CCM) Topic Committee.†[Full disclosure: I’m a member of the NISO Content and Collection Management Topic Committee.] Joining the voting pool allows ALA to vote on the standard and provide comments. Once the voting pools have been formed, separate ballots for each standard will be issued only to those who have joined the pool. NISO needs at least 15% of the…
Last Stage for Dublin Core
Ha, I knew that headline would get your attention! But before you panic, let me reassure you, DC is not going away, or anything of the sort. This latest of notifications from Cindy Hepfer, ALA Voting representative to NISO, has to do with ISO/FDIS 15836, The Dublin Core metadata element set. To clarify, this is the Simple DC set, the original 15 elements only, recently revised and available in a new NISO version. The balloting by ISO is the last stage in making the standard versions consistent with one another. The introduction in the standard reads as follows: “In 2006, the DCMI Usage Board undertook an editorial review of terms in the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES) in order to clarify intended semantics and bring the wording of their definitions and usage comments into line with the language of the DCMI Abstract Model [DCAM]. A set of proposed changes…
ISO 6630:1986, Bibliographic control characters
Our busy ALA Voting representative to NISO, Cindy Hepfer, has notified us of a systematic review ballot of the published standard, ISO 6630:1986, Bibliographic control characters. According to the scope note in the standard: “This International Standard contains a set of 15 bibliographic control characters for use in cataloguing rules, filing rules and indexing rules of the countries and language groups of the bibliographic community. The bibliographic control character set is an extension of the basic control character set defined by IS0 646 (IS0 escape sequence ESC 2/l 4/O). This International Standard consists of a code table and a legend specifying each bibliographic control character and indicating its code position. In addition, it includes explanatory notes, in which the functional characteristics of the individual control characters are described in detail. This bibliographic control character set is primarily intended for the interchange of bibliographic information.” This is another of those situations…
International Standard Collection Identifier (ISCI)
Cindy Hepfer, ALA Voting representative to NISO has forwarded us information on ISO/CD 27730, International Standard Collection Identifier (ISCI), now up for vote by ISO. The scope note in the new standard reads as follows: “The purpose of this International Standard is to establish the specifications for the International Standard Collection Identifier (ISCI) as a unique international identification system for each collection and fond and part(s) of collections and fonds. It specifies the structure of an identifier, and promotes the use of the identifier with regard to pre-existing systems. Any issues related to the description of collections and fonds in general–such as defining a collection or fond, or describing relations between collections and subcollections–are dealt with in NISO standard Z39.91-200X (Collection description specification) and related documents. Each identified collection or fond must however be described as defined in clause 5. Recommended metadata elements are listed in annex B. The ISCI…
Ah, Holdings Statements!
In a former life, I spent a lot of time with holdings standards, so the one below took me back a bit to those thorny issues of display. Cindy Hepfer, our ALA Voting Representative to NISO, has forwarded yet another systematic review for us to consider: ISO 10324:1997, Information and documentation — Holdings statements — Summary level (1st edition). This is not the NISO standard, but is being balloted by ISO, which means that ALA is not voting on the standard itself but rather is providing feedback to NISO as to whether to approve or disapprove the standard. Vote options are Confirm (as is), Revise/Amend, Withdraw (the standard), or Abstain (from the vote). Comments are required for all votes other than Confirm. The scope note for the standard states: “This International Standard specifies display requirements for holdings Statements at the summary level for serial and non-serial items, to promote consistency…
Guidelines for Bibliographic References and Citations
We have another standard out for ballot, forwarded for our comments by Cindy Hepfer, ALA Voting representative to NISO. This one is for the Draft International Standard version of edition 3 of ISO/DIS 690, Guidelines for bibliographic references and citations to information resources. The scope note in the draft standard reads as follows: “This International Standard makes recommendations for the preparation of references and citations in Latin scripts in works that are not themselves primarily bibliographical. It applies to references and citations to all kinds of information resource, such as monographs, serials, contributions, patents, cartographic materials, electronic information resources (including computer software and data bases), music, recorded sound, prints, photographs, graphic and audiovisual works, and moving images. It does not apply to machine-parsable citations. This document does not prescribe a particular style of reference or citation. The examples used in this document are not prescriptive as to style and punctuation….