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                                                        The Florida SunFlash

                    SUNERGY Newsletter Part 4

SunFLASH Vol 40 #4					          April 1992 
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*4*  Coalition for Networked Information: News and Views  *
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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.