D-Lib Magazine
April 2001

Volume 7 Number 4

ISSN 1082-9873

In Brief

The eScholarship Initiative

Contributed by:
Catherine H. Candee
Director, Scholarly Communication Initiatives
California Digital Library
University of California
Oakland, California, USA
<Catherine.Candee@ucop.edu>

In January 2001 eScholarship announced the opening of discipline-based repositories for direct author/institution submission of original content, exciting developments in publication of born-digital and newly digitized scholarly books and journals, and an expanding partnership with the University of California Press.

eScholarship is hosted by the California Digital Library (CDL), which was formed by the University of California in 1997 to develop a comprehensive system for the management of digital scholarly information. From the start, the UC initiative aimed to exploit digital technologies to boost support of research and teaching -- including enabling the creation of original content -- and to promote fundamental change in the scholarly communication system. The initiative took programmatic form in 2000 as eScholarship.

The prototype repositories are a core piece of the infrastructure for the eScholarship experiment. The first three repositories are being made available to communities with widely divergent needs -- dermatology, international and area studies, and tobacco control research -- and thus will call for different functionality and tools in their support. An editorial or advisory board will oversee the use and development of each of the repositories, and distinct peer-reviewed scholarly products will be drawn from or associated with them.

A digital version of "Tobacco War: Inside the California Battles", by Stanton A. Glantz and Edith D. Balbach, is also a highlight of the eScholarship release and one result of the UC Press - eScholarship partnership. Readers can follow extensive end-of-chapter links and click through to digitized source materials, such as tobacco company and legislative documents referenced in the book. Links to these supporting materials and easy navigation within the book are facilitated by eScholarship’s use of the Extensible Markup Language (XML), a standard in the use and presentation of digital information.

The January CDL release featured the debut of the Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA), which documents the experience of Japanese Americans in World War II internment camps. A part of CDL's Online Archive of California (OAC), JARDA features newly digitized photographs, documents, manuscripts, paintings, drawings, letters, oral histories, and inventories of archival collections. Through the UC Press - eScholarship collaboration, scholars are being brought together to explore ways that these rich collections and supporting digital technologies can be joined in the creation of new materials and scholarship. Products will range from primary or secondary curricula, to virtual exhibitions, to new scholarly analyses of the times.

Other eScholarship projects underway include a joint effort with the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) to digitally publish data sets and other original scholarly content. Some of the rich findings and data sets emerging from the ECAI community, like the "History of the Chinese Buddhist Canon" or the "Digital Atlas of Chinese Boundaries," are seeing the light of day for the first time through ECAI's innovative use of tools to display the data geospatially and temporally. They will be published with eScholarship in 2001.

A California International and Area Studies (CIAS) Electronic Publications Program has been initiated in conjunction with the opening of the prototype repository at eScholarship for the CIAS community. The CIAS program aims to use the repositories -- and the publications which will be drawn from it -- to accelerate and expand the dissemination of the information, ideas, and analyses generated by the dozens of conferences, workshops, seminars, and lecture series which take place on UC campuses every year. A sample of IAS monographs is available at the web site.

Preparations are underway for the Fall 2001 launch of a new multi-disciplinary journal in Environmental Studies. The journal, which will be "born digital", aims to exploit the full potential of new media in the service of scholarship. There are projects, communities and partners that can't be adequately described here -- like the InterLib suite of NSF-funded DLI-2 projects, and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources coalition (SPARC), which awarded a Scientific Communities Initiative grant to eScholarship. To find out more about the eScholarship initiative go to <http://escholarship.cdlib.org>.

Scholnet and Cyclades: Extending the Role of Digital Libraries

Contributed by:
Donatella Castelli
Pasquale Pagano
Umberto Straccia
Istituto di Elaborazione della Informazione - CNR
Pisa Italy
<castelli|pagano|straccia@iei.pi.cnr.it>

Scholnet (IST-1000-20664) and Cyclades (IST-2000-25456) are two new digital library projects funded by the EU 5th Framework Programme and coordinated scientifically by the IEI - CNR. Both projects aim at extending the role of a digital library by providing services that support remote communication and collaboration among scholars. In particular, the goal of Scholnet is to develop a digital library providing an enhanced set of specialised services, while Cyclades is focussed on the need to develop a service environment on top of large heterogeneous and multidisciplinary interoperable archives. A short description of the two projects is given below.

Scholnet (http://www.ercim.org/scholnet) aims at enabling the immediate dissemination and accessibility of technical documentation within a globally distributed multilingual community.

In order to achieve this objective, Scholnet will provide:

• traditional digital library services on multimedia documents. These services enable scholars to communicate through the publication of/access to not only textual documentation such as technical reports, project deliverables, workshop proceedings, etc., but also videos of tutorials or seminars (possibly synchronized with corresponding textual slides), training sessions, project presentation, demos, etc.

• handling of document annotations. Annotations can be textual notes, ratings, links, etc., associated with either the entire document or with its parts. Annotations can be authored by different people and will have public or group restricted access privileges.

• monolingual and multilingual search and retrieval services. Monolingual search is provided in all of the project languages; by specifying the search language, the system searches only those documents that contain information in that language. In addition, a cross-language search facility allows users to query in their own language and retrieve documents matching the query in other languages.

• automatic personalised information dissemination service. A pro-active facility sends messages when a new document arrives in the digital library to those users who, on the basis of their system-maintained profiles, are potentially interested in its contents.

From the technical point of view the Scholnet infrastructure will be built by extending, and partially re-thinking, the basic services provided by the ERCIM Technical Reference Digital Library (ETRDL) (http://www.iei.pi.cnr.it/DELOS/ETRDL).

The Scholnet partners are: IEI-CNR, Italy; INRIA, France; GMD, Germany; FORTH, Greece; SICS, Sweden; University of Masarik, Czech Republic, and ERCIM (European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics).

Cyclades (http://www.iei.pi.cnr.it/cyclades) will develop an open collaborative virtual archive service environment supporting both single scholars as well as scholarly communities in carrying out their work. In particular, it will provide functionality to access large, heterogeneous, multidisciplinary archives distributed over the Web and to support remote collaboration among the members of communities of interest.

Cyclades will run on the data environment composed by the archives that adhere to the Open Archives Initiatives harvesting protocol specifications (http://www.openarchives.org). From the technical point of view, Cyclades will consist of the following federation of independent but interoperable services:

• Access: supports harvest-based information gathering, plus indexing and storage of gathered information in a local database.

• Query and Browse: supports the users in formulating queries and develops plans for their evaluation. In particular, it provides an advanced multilevel browse facility, completely integrated with the search facility, that allows one to browse at schema, attributes, and document levels.

• Collection: provides mechanisms for dynamically structuring the overall information space into meaningful (from some community’s perspective) collections.

• Personalization: supports information personalization on the basis of individual user profiles, and profiles of the working communities the user belongs to. User and community profiles are automatically inferred by monitoring the user behavior.

• Recommendation: provides recommendations about new published articles within a working community. The choice about what recommendations to send and to whom is based on both the user and the working community profiles.

• Collaborative Work: supports collaboration between members of remotely distributed working groups by providing functionality for creating shared working spaces referencing users’ own documents, collections, recommendations, related links, textual annotations, ratings, etc.

Cyclades will be developed by: IEI-CNR, Italy; GMD-FIT, Germany; University of Dortmund, Germany; FORTH, Greece; and ERCIM.

For further information please contact:

Taking a Common View of Educational Metadata

Contributed by:
Paul Miller
Interoperability Focus
UK Office for Library and Information Networking
University of Bath
Bath, United Kingdom
<p.miller@ukoln.ac.uk>

In common with other countries, the potential of e-Learning is being vigorously seized upon in the United Kingdom. We now have a whole range of public sector developments, including Universities for Industry, National Grids for Learning, e-Universities, a Distributed National Electronic Resource, and the like. These are joined by initiatives funded from the proceeds of our National Lottery, such as SCRAN and the new New Opportunities Fund Digitisation Programme, and a wealth of commercial offerings from the UK itself and beyond.

For the learner, however, the real potential offered by all of this on-tap content is diluted by the disjointed manner in which material is being placed online.

In an effort to reduce duplication, share experiences, and place the needs of the learner firmly to the fore, public and private sector organisations responsible for creating, storing, using and delivering educational resources have come together in forming the Metadata for Education Group (MEG) <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/education/>.

Operating under the auspices of UKOLN's Interoperability Focus, MEG offers a forum in which public and private sector bodies from across the UK can meet and address matters of concern in a way that no single agency currently has a remit to do.

The group's work is moved forward both through face-to-face meetings, and in discussion on and around the uk-meg electronic mailing list <http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/uk-meg.html>.

The work of MEG is explicitly not about the creation of whole new standards for educational metadata. Rather, members focus upon developing consensus on the best approaches to a range of problems within the framework of existing standards and specifications. Where requirements emerge for new or revised standards, these can be fed from MEG to the relevant national and international committees for action.

The MEG Concord

The first significant deliverable from the group is the MEG Concord , which was released towards the end of 2000.

The Concord is intended as a public statement of the open and consensual manner in which MEG works, and organisations are invited to lend their support to this process by signing up. At the time of writing, some 45 organisations have done so, including the JISC, the National Learning Network, the New Opportunities Fund, University for Industry, and many more, including teaching institutions such as the University of Hull and Aberdeen College. A number of further major bodies are in the process of signing up, too.

Although the work of MEG is focused upon UK issues, the Concord is attracting a degree of interest from overseas. Both EdNA and GEM were early signatories to the Concord, and there is interest in what it is attempting to achieve elsewhere, with the likelihood of signatures from a number of other overseas partners, and collaboration between their efforts and those of MEG in the UK.

Membership of MEG is open to all who have an interest in improving the description of educational resources. Presently, anyone who joins the uk-meg mailing list is a member of MEG, and able both to attend meetings and participate fully in the process. If you have skills and experience to offer in this area, or if you just want to be made aware of where other people are moving in this field, then join the list and get involved to the extent that you are able.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center

Contributed by:
Chris Hoofnagle
Staff Counsel
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Washington, DC, USA
<info@epic.org>

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is a public interest research center located in Washington, DC. EPIC protects privacy, the First Amendment, and other civil liberties, especially as emerging technology implicates these rights.

EPIC works in association with a number of groups to promote privacy rights domestically and internationally. With the Privacy Coalition (http://www.privacypledge.org), EPIC along with library groups, has proposed a framework for effective domestic privacy legislation. In addition, EPIC monitors international developments relating to intellectual freedom and privacy in cooperation with Privacy International (http://www.privacyinternational.org) and the Global Internet Liberty Campaign (http://www.gilc.org/).

On our web site (http://www.epic.org), we maintain news stories on privacy developments, and a wealth of research on free speech, freedom of information, privacy, and cryptography issues.

EPIC frequently litigates to protect the First Amendment and privacy rights. EPIC was co-counsel in ACLU v. Reno, where the Communications Decency Act was stricken as an impermissible burden on the First Amendment. EPIC's litigation under the Freedom of Information Act for files associated with the FBI Carnivore e-mail surveillance program sparked a Congressional investigation and raised public awareness of governmental eavesdropping.

EPIC recently filed suit with the ACLU to challenge the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), a statute that mandates that all public schools and libraries that receive federal E-rate funds install Internet filtering technology on their computers. In addition, EPIC has published a book on filters titled "Filters and Freedom," (http://www.epic.org/bookstore/filters&/) and a 1997 report showing that filters are ineffective and impermissibly restrict protected speech (http://www2.epic.org/reports/filter-report.html).

EPIC recognizes that librarians are pioneers in the field of privacy, as they have zealously defended the liberty of patrons and the materials that they read. We look forward to more partnerships with librarians to ensure robust public access to materials, and to protect the liberty and privacy of all.

Bobby: CAST's Free Public Service for Web Accessibility

Contributed by:
Lucinda M. O'Neill
Communications Associate
CAST
Peabody, Massachusetts, USA
<coneill@cast.org>

As more people use the World Wide Web at home, at school and at work, it has become increasingly important to extend access to this vast resource to individuals with disabilities. Making the Web accessible expands business, educational and communications opportunities and is critical in meeting the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The ADA mandates that employers, government agencies, and other publicly funded organizations provide effective communication to individuals with disabilities "regardless of whether they generally communicate through print media, audio media, or computerized media such as the Internet." In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice has taken action against educational sites and companies for non-compliance¹.

In September 1996, CAST, a Peabody, Massachusetts-based non-profit organization, responded to the need for accessible Web site design by creating Bobby, an efficient, easy-to-use, Web-based tool that helps Web developers make their Web pages accessible to individuals with disabilities. CAST offers the Bobby service free of charge through its Web site, at <http://www.cast.org/bobby>.

The creation of Bobby evolved from CAST's educational mission, which is dedicated to expanding opportunities for people with disabilities through innovative uses of computer technology. Throughout the process of planning CAST's own Web site, CAST researchers wrestled with the idea of how to make the entire Web more accessible and useful to all people, including those with disabilities. CAST examined existing Web accessibility guidelines and developed an online tool that enables Web designers to easily implement those guidelines.

Bobby analyzes HTML pages for conformity to the Web Access Initiative (WAI)'s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and translates them into instructions for improving their accessibility. Within seconds of typing in a URL, Bobby delivers a full accessibility report on the Web page being analyzed, specifying each barrier and explaining how to eliminate it. A site that is deemed accessible can display the "Bobby Approved!" icon.

For example, if Bobby finds images that do not have essential supplemental text descriptions (alt tags), it highlights the errors and specifies the remedy. Like its British law enforcement namesake, Bobby is meant to help, not reprimand; it provides prioritized suggestions for making sites more accessible.

Educational institutions, corporations, and government agencies throughout the world are using Bobby to guide accessible site design. The General Services Administration, for example, requires all Web pages to be Bobby Approved before posting.

CAST continues to refine Bobby both as an evaluation tool and as an educational tool for non-expert Web developers. And Bobby will soon have an added feature-it will not only evaluate Web sites for accessibility problems but will also guide Web developers through a step-by-step process to create accessible Web sites.

(Cynthia Waddell & Kevin Lee Thomason, Esq. "Is Your Site ADA Compliant?" The Internet Lawyer 4.11 (November, 1998): 1-4.

ERCIM offers Postdoctoral Fellowships

Contributed by:
Aurélie Richard
ERCIM Office
Sophia-Antipolis, France
<aurelie.richard@ercim.org>

The second round of the 2001/2002 ERCIM postdoctoral Fellowship Programme is now open with a deadline of 30 April. The Fellowships are of 18 months duration, to be spent in two research centres.

Topics

This round the ERCIM Fellowship programme focuses on the following topics:

• Database Research
• Constraints Technology and Application
• Control and Systems Theory
• Formal Methods
• Electronic Commerce
• User Interfaces for All
• Environmental Modelling
• Health and Information Technology
• E-Learning

Applications for other topics, e.g., Networking, Programming Language Technologies, Robotics, or Bioinformatics are also welcome.

Objectives

The objective of the Programme is to enable bright young scientists to work collectively on a challenging problem as fellows of an ERCIM institute. In addition, an ERCIM fellowship helps widen and intensify the network of personal relations and understanding among scientists. The Programme offers the opportunity:

• to improve the knowledge about European research structures and networks

• to become familiar with working conditions in leading European research centres

• to promote co-operation between research groups working in similar areas in different laboratories, through the fellowships.

Selection Procedure

Each application is reviewed by one or more senior scientists in each ERCIM institute. ERCIM representatives will select the candidates taking into account the quality of the applicant, the overlap of interest between applicant and the hosting institution and the available funding.

Conditions

Candidates must:

• have a PhD degree (or equivalent), or be in the last year of the thesis work with an outstanding academic record

• be fluent in English

• be discharged or get deferment from military service

• start the grant before October 2001.

Fellowships are usually of 18 months duration, spent in two of the ERCIM institutes. ERCIM offers a competitive salary, which may vary depending on the country. Costs for traveling to and from the institutes will be paid. In order to encourage the mobility, a member institution will not be eligible to host a candidate of the same nationality.

Detailed description and online application form: <http://www.ercim.org/activity/fellows/>

Please contact
Aurélie Richard - ERCIM Office
Tel: +33 4 92 38 50 10
E-mail: aurelie.richard@ercim.org>

NISO Issues Report on Statistics Forum

Contributed by:
Marilyn Geller
National Information Standards Organization (NISO)

Bethesda, Md., USA - (April 10, 2001) NISO, the National Information Standards Organization, has released the final report on its invitational Forum on Performance Measures and Statistics for Libraries. The Forum was held in February 2001 to gather information from the library and vendor communities in preparation for a review of the current Library Statistics standard (ANSI/NISO standard Z39.7).

The sixty participants representing a broad spectrum of libraries, associations, publishers, vendors, integrated library systems companies, and researchers focused on issues related to measurement of library services and electronic resources and the definition of performance measures that compliment traditional metrics. Four general themes emerged from the programs and discussions:

• There is a critical need for systemic data collection.

• There is a pressing need for guidelines for collecting qualitative and performance data.

• Different methodologies are evolving to measure network performance, service quality, impact, and economic value.

• As a starting point, NISO is well positioned to develop a "data dictionary" of terms in frequent use by the different constituencies.

This report, freely available on the NISO web site (http://www.niso.org/stats-rpt.html), includes summaries of presentations with links to the slides, a summary of the discussions and recommendations, and an extensive webography on statistics and metrics. NISO encourages all members of the information services community to read and comment on this important work in support of the revision of this critical standard.

About NISO:
NISO is the only U.S. group accredited by the American National Standards Institute to develop and promote technical standards for use in information delivery services providing voluntary standards for libraries, publishers and related information technology organizations. All NISO standards are developed by consensus under the guidance of experts and practitioners in the field to meet the needs of both the information user and the producer. For information about NISO’s current standardization interests and membership possibilities, please visit the NISO website at <http://www.niso.org>.

For additional information contact NISO Headquarters at (301) 654-2512. Email: <nisohq@niso.org>

NISO Publishes Environmental Conditions Standard

Contributed by:
Marilyn Geller
National Information Standards Organization (NISO)

Bethesda, Md., USA – (April 9, 2001) NISO, the National Information Standards Organization, announced today the publication of a standard on Environmental Conditions for Exhibiting Library and Archival Materials (ANSI/NISO Z39.79-2001). This new NISO standard explains how to exhibit and display library and archival items -- books, manuscripts, photos, and pamphlets -- to minimize the wear and tear on the item.

This standard relates to individual bound volumes in various binding styles and composed of various materials, printed ephemera, flat paper, and vellum items (manuscripts, art on paper, etc.), and photographs. Specific parameters are recommended for exposure to light, relative humidity, temperature, gaseous and particulate contaminants, display techniques, and case and support material components. In addition, the standard lists materials generally recognized to be safe and not safe in the construction of exhibit cases, and physical supports or restraints for exhibiting library and archival materials.

The Environmental Conditions standard will be useful to librarians and archivists balancing the desire to display important documents and materials with the need to protect these documents and materials.

This standard, like all NISO standards, is available for downloading free from the NISO web site <http://www.niso.org>. It is available in hardcopy for $49 from NISO Press (Telephone: 301-362-6904).

New NISO Standard on Title Pages for Conference Publications

Contributed by:
Marilyn Geller
National Information Standards Organization (NISO)

Bethesda, Md., USA – (April 9, 2001) NISO, the National Standards Information Organization, announced today the publication of a standard on Title Pages for Conference Publications (ANSI/NISO Z39.82-2001). This standard describes data elements that publishers, authors, and editors should use to create title pages or chief sources of information for conference publications in all subjects, languages, and formats and will be extremely helpful in assuring the communication of conference information to interested readers.

In addressing the need for this standard, the committee writes, "Because conference proceedings are important in research and scholarly communication, it is important to be able to locate the published proceedings of a particular conference. However, it is often difficult to retrieve these works because title pages...contain insufficient information to identify a particular conference, or the information is not clearly delineated in its layout."

This standard gives guidelines for structuring title page information for conference publications that facilitate the creation of bibliographic citations that help users readily access the publications. The standard provides for a uniform presentation of information on a title page, cover, title screen, title frame, or any other location serving as the chief source of information for preparation of the bibliographic description or citation for an item. The standard applies to all disciplines, to all conferences (e.g., meetings, symposia, institutes, colloquia, workshops), and to all formats (e.g., printed documents, videos, websites). The standard applies to published conference proceedings in various manifestations (e.g., papers, abstracts, summaries) and in all languages, subjects, and formats.

This standard, like all NISO standards, is available for downloading free from the NISO web site (http://www.niso.org). It is also available in hardcopy for $39 from NISO Press (Telephone: 301-362-6904).

In the News

Excerpts from Recent Press Releases

President Bush's Budget Requests $192,977,000 for Institute of Museum and Library Services

"Washington, D.C. - The President's Budget for FY 2002 released to Congress today contains $192,977,000 for the Institute of Museum and Library Services reflecting an increase of $125,000 for Federal staff costs and level funding for core grant programs. The request for the Office of Museum Services is $24,899,000. The request for the Office of Library Services is $168,078,000."

"Beverly Sheppard, on behalf of the Agency, said, 'IMLS strives to build the capacity of museums and libraries to face the new challenges of a learning society. As 21st century learners we are faced with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Our society demands that we continue to learn throughout our lifetimes. We are called upon to navigate a myriad of complex decisions that affect the quality of our lives as individuals, the strength of our families, the health of our communities, and the wisdom of our nation. We are faced with dramatic advances in technology, increasing diversity in our populations and great concerns about education in an information age. All of these trends result in increased pressure on museums and libraries to address central social, economic, and educational issues.'"

"Museums and libraries are indispensable members of our learning communities and have critical responsibilities to students of all ages. Building the educational capacity of libraries and museums and sustaining equitable access to their resources is at the heart of the Federal vision for these vital institutions. IMLS' approach is strategic. IMLS uses Federal dollars to:"

• " Invest in Education: promoting the roles of museums and libraries as centers for lifelong learning,"

• "Invest in Access: using technology and training to give all citizens equitable access to information,"

• "Invest in Families and Children: supporting museum and library use for all ages,"

• "Invest in Communities: strengthening the role of museums and libraries as centers of civic engagement, and to"

• "Invest in Cultural Heritage: studying, preserving, and showcasing the unique heritage at the heart of America."

"Through its leadership activities and comprehensive grant programs, the Institute of Museum and Library Services promotes the broadest public access to museums and libraries, stimulates vital research, training and the use of new technologies, supports community partnerships and establishes standards of excellence in all levels of institutional operations...."

For the full press release, see <http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/040901.htm>.

Mellon Foundation Funds New CLIR Dissertation Fellowships

"WASHINGTON D.C.—In 2002, dissertation fellowships for archival research in the humanities will become available from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation."

"A grant just awarded by the Mellon Foundation will enable CLIR to award up to ten dissertation fellowships per year for three years. The fellowships will provide encouragement and opportunities for graduate students in any field in the humanities to do dissertation research in original source materials."

"Archives, libraries, and other repositories of research material will be asked to work with CLIR to provide special assistance to dissertation fellows who choose to use their collections...."

For the full press release, see <http://www.clir.org/pubs/press/mellgrant.html>.

Classification Web Pilot Extended through May 2001

The following announcement from Cheryl Calista Cook, Pilot Test Coordinator, Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress:

"To help CDS in this decision process, additional feedback from pilot users is essential. Responses to the recent survey have been extremely positive, but out of over 4000 pilot users, thus far we have received fewer than 400 completed surveys. If you are interested in making Classification Web a success, now is the time to make your voice heard!"

"Access the Classification Web survey from the Class Web homepage at <http://www.lccweb.net> or directly at <http://www.loc.gov/cds/cwcasu.html>...."

Research Library Leaders from Around the World Meet at OCLC to Discuss 'Weaving Libraries into the Web

"DUBLIN, Ohio, March 26, 2001--Library leaders from 28 countries met March 5-6 at OCLC in Dublin, Ohio, to discuss strategies to make libraries more prominent information sources on the World Wide Web."

Featured speakers at the 19th Annual OCLC International Conference of Research Library Directors included Sam Hill, president and chief executive officer, Helios Consulting; Howard Strauss, manager, Academic Applications, Princeton University; and Jay Jordan, president and chief executive officer, OCLC.

"'Weaving Libraries into the Web and the Web into Libraries' was the theme for this year's event. David F. Kohl, chair, OCLC Research Libraries Advisory Committee, and dean of libraries, University of Cincinnati, led the program. In the opening session, Dr. Kohl noted that 50 percent of the attendees were from outside the United States...."

For the full press release, see <http://www.oclc.org/oclc/press/20010326a.shtm>.

Culture at your Fingertips - Chris Smith Launches Vision for Culture Online

"75/01 15 March 2001
CULTURE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS - CHRIS SMITH LAUNCHES VISION FOR CULTURE ONLINE Opening up the nation's cultural resources to new audiences in new ways."

"Watching a performance of Macbeth, visiting a museum or touring a Victorian street will be some of the options available to people when Culture Online becomes a reality early next year."

"This vision of Britain's cultural future - where children and families have instant access to the nation's storehouse of cultural treasures 24 hours a day - was unveiled by Culture Secretary Chris Smith today."

"The Culture Online vision report sets out how computers and the Internet can be used in innovative ways to open up arts and culture to new audiences. Speaking at Tate Modern, Chris Smith said:"

"'The Internet will allow Britain's cultural riches to reach vast new audiences, in new ways at the click of a computer mouse. It means that for the first time for many people our great standing collections, new exhibitions, or live performances of world class theatre or music will be accessible at home, at school or in public libraries.'"

"'I believe we are using new technology in a creative way to set up a virtuous circle. A circle where, building on the riches and wealth of talent in our arts and cultural institutions, we can increase access and participation, which in turn will help encourage individual creativity and the love of learning....'"

For the full press release, see <http://www.culture.gov.uk/role/search.asp?Name=/pressreleases/role/2001/dcms075>.

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DOI: 10.1045/april2001-inbrief