There’s lots going on in standards, and Cindy Hepfer, our ALA Voting representative to NISO, is working hard to keep up (with the rest of us puffing hard in her wake). The next few standards posts are going to be more compact than usual, so I can get the word out before inundation hits. These are all NISO standards up for review, so can be downloaded from the NISO site. So here, in the order I got them, with deadlines in bold: 1. ANSI/NISO/ISO 12083-1995 (R2002), Electronic Manuscript Preparation and Markup. This is a periodic review ballot for the published standard, ANSI/NISO/ISO 12083-1995 (R2002), Electronic Manuscript Preparation and Markup. This standard is a national adoption of the international standard ISO 12083:1994. It is available for download from: http://www.niso.org/standards/iso12083-1995r2002/. Comments on this standard are due to Cindy by May 13, 2009. ——————————– 2. Review of ANSI/NISO Z39.2-1994 (R2001), Information Interchange Format….
US National Z39.50 Profile (Z39.89-2003)
This post relates to ANSI/NISO Z39.50, but is specifically about Z39.89-2003, the US National Z39.50 Profile for Library Applications. The earlier post about Z39.50-2003 concerned the original standard, also up for review ballot. The profile standard can be downloaded from: http://www.niso.org/standards/z39-89-2003/. Cindy Hepfer, the ALA Voting Representative to NISO notes: “In accordance with NISO’s Operating Procedures, all review ballots are accompanied with a recommended action from the leadership group managing the review. NISO’s Discovery to Delivery Topic Committee recommends a vote of ‘Reaffirm’ for ANSI/NISO Z39.89-2003, The U.S. National Z39.50 Profile for Library Applications. As a member of the voting pool, we are required to vote on this ballot.†ALA’s options are: • Reaffirm with no change • Revise (If this action is approved, NISO will appoint a Working Group to develop the revised standard. The current version remains in effect until a revised version is approved.) • Withdraw (If…
Don't Miss LITA Preconferences at ALA Annual
There is still time to register for one of these LITA preconferences – held on Friday, July 10, 2009 in Chicago. A Thousand Words: Taking Better Photos for Telling Stories in Your Library If you want to learn how to capture library events more effectively and artistically, don’t miss this hands-on workshop in Chicago this July. You will learn techniques for shooting and editing better photos, camera settings that make for the best photos, and basics of editing an image. You will also learn how to take and select better photos for websites and promotional materials. Licensing work and finding others via Creative Commons will also be covered. Participants should bring a digital camera and laptop; familiarity with moving photos from camera to computer is a must. Presented by: Cindi Trainor, Michael Porter, and Helene Blowers Friday, July 10, 2009 in Chicago Creating Library Web Services: Mashups and APIs Presented…
ALA Connect now available
ALA Connect is a single virtual location in which members can collaborate and work on LITA committee and interest group projects. ALA Connect (connect.ala.org) has launched its first phase of operation, in which every ALA group will have the ability to utilize the following tools: • Posts (like blog posts) • Online docs (collaborative, wiki-like pages or Google Docs) • Group calendar • Surveys • Polls • Chat room • Discussion forums Members who log in to Connect using their regular ALA Web site username and password will find that their records are automatically synchronized with ALA’s membership database, so their affiliations with committees, divisions, events, round tables and sections are displayed. In addition to the formal working groups, members can also create their own communities. If you encounter any problems or have any questions, please contact the LITA office lita@ala.org
SSO, Information retrieval, Terminology policies
Ever-vigilant Cindy Hepfer, ALA Voting Representative to NISO, has forwarded an additional three items to us from NISO. The first is a proposed new work Item on Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication. From the explanation provided by NISO: “This year NISO has launched a new Chair’s Initiative–a project of the chair of NISO’s Board of Directors, focusing on a specific issue that would benefit from study and the development of a recommended practice or standard. Oliver Pesch, NISO’s current Board of Directors Chair, has chosen the issue of perfecting a seamless, item-level linking through single sign-on authentication technologies in a networked information environment. This Work Item Proposal follows NISO’s February 11, 2009 webinar “SSO Authentication: Understanding the Pieces of the Puzzle.†The proposal was approved by the Discovery to Delivery Topic Committee on March 16, 2009, and is now being sent to the NISO voting membership for agreement to begin a…
More voting pools to dive into …
Cindy Hepfer, ALA’s busy voting representative to NISO, has forwarded to us some additional information on upcoming voting pools. The first one, designated Group 5, invites ALA to join a number of NISO voting pools for three standards due for review. The first two standards listed are the responsibility of the Content & Collection Management (CCM) Topic Committee. The third standard is the responsibility of the Business Information (BI) Topic Committee. Joining the voting pools allows ALA to vote on the standard and provide comments once the review process has begun. Once the voting pools have been formed, separate ballots for each standard will be issued only to those who have joined the pool. If ALA does not join the pool for a particular standard, we are considered to be “abstaining” from any decision made regarding this standard’s reaffirmation ballot. NISO needs at least 15% of the voting membership to…
Assessment & Research Committee Midwinter 2009 Meeting Report
DATE: 1/24/2009 GROUP: Assessment and Research Committee CHAIRS: Diane Bisom, Bonnie Postlethwaite REPORTER: Bonnie Postlethwaite CONFERENCE: Midwinter MEETING: Committee meeting ATTENDEES: 12 CURRENT ACTIVITIES: Discussion Items & Actions: Approved minutes from prior meeting. Mary Taylor presented data files on LITA membership (available on Committee’s Google docs site). Available data points cover various parameters, such as membership in other divisions; number of programs; etc. Data seems to reflect a recurring trend of membership increases and decreases over time. Personal membership trends over the past few years are: 2003: 3907 2004: 3776 2005: 3423 2006: 3500 2007: 3752 2008: 3447 Mary also indicated that ALA will have a data dashboard later in the spring which may provide data and trends over time. She also mentioned that ALA is doing a mailing to all people who have dropped membership in the last three years. Reasons for membership attrition were discussed, with speculation that…
Cast your vote for LITA leadership
Polls are open for ALA and LITA elections. Visit http://www.alavote.org/2009 to cast your ballot. Visit the LITA web site for more info on candidates running for LITA office. Polls close April 29.
LITA Electronic Participation Implementation Task Force
LITA has volunteered to assist in the implementation of the Electronic Participation Task Force report in any way that is deemed appropriate. Mary Ghikas, ALA Senior Associate Executive Director, has posed the question, if ALA provides Internet connectivity in hotels as well as the convention center for Annual Conferences and Midwinters, what can we do to help regular committees (as opposed to governance groups) use it (e.g., develop a toolkit, tip sheet, actual on site help) to connect with absent members at no additional cost (e.g., no conference calls requiring telephone lines, etc.)? Charge: To explore the possibilities for providing technical support to committees which need to include absent members using Internet connectivity. To develop an implementation plan for the 2009 Annual Conference. Identify levels of support needed and appropriate tool for each level; Identify existing tools and develop new tools as needed; Identify services that might be needed; Determine…
Technology & Access Committee Midwinter 2009 Meeting Report
DATE: 1/25/2009 GROUP: Technology and Access Committee CHAIR: David Nutty REPORTER: David Nutty CONFERENCE: Midwinter MEETING: Committee meeting ATTENDEES: 9 CURRENT ACTIVITIES: Planning for a program at ALA Annual Chicago has been the main focus of the committee prior to and at the Midwinter Meeting in Denver. The committee has focused the topic to Net Neutrality. The committee has tentative commitments (later confirmed) from three outstanding speakers. Due to the quality of the speakers and the timeliness of the topic, we have requested a larger room for ALA Chicago. Other business at the Midwinter meeting included discussion of the LITA Strategic Planning Meeting; a request from the Board to draft a resolution for Judith Krug on the 40th anniversary of the Freedom to Read Foundation; and the committee’s role in promoting access to LITA conference programming via low-cost or mobile technologies. FUTURE ACTIVITIES: The committee’s program at ALA Chicago: “Net…