The ozlib-announce list archive ending on 29 Dec 1999
Topics covered in this issue include:
1. Kinetica-l Archive
Bryony De La Motte <BDELAMOT@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Mon, 13 Dec 1999 22:06:41 +1100
2. aliaNEWS broadcast 7 December 1999
"Ivan Trundle" <ivan.trundle@alia.org.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:04:31 +1100
3. A day with the National Library of Australia
Bryony De La Motte <BDELAMOT@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:04:51 +1100
4. PANDORA - New titles added to the Archive
Anne Daniels <adaniels@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:05:07 +1100
5. [LINK] [SAGE-AU] SAGE-AU Responds to Committee Report on
Rachel Polanskis <r.polanskis@nepean.uws.edu.au> (by way of Tony
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:05:33 +1100
6. Dublin Core: Australian mirror site
Warwick Cathro <wcathro@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:06:24 +1100
7. AGIFT (Australian Governments' Interactive Functions Thesaurus
Sue Little <sue.little@lib.monash.edu.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:26:36 +1100
8. Moral rights for Australian creators
Tony Barry <tonyb@dynamite.com.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:42:37 +1100
9. Kinetica Advisory Committee papers
Bryony De La Motte <BDELAMOT@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:44:16 +1100
10. [OZMETA-L] ISO 19115 - Metadata Standard for Geographic
"Macauley, Craig (DEHAA)" <cmacauley@dehaa.sa.gov.au> (by way of
Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:19:35 +1100
11. Web accessibility and usability workshops
Sue Scott <sscott@lawfoundation.net.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:19:49 +1100
12. Re-shaping the Library and Information Services Profession
Tony Barry <tonyb@dynamite.com.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:20:10 +1100
13. [LINK] EFA-PR: NET CENSORSHIP - SECRET AND UNACCOUNTABLE
Danny Yee <danny@staff.cs.usyd.edu.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:20:41 +1100
14. news release for ozlib - thanks Tony!
"Charles Maddison" <cmaddison@copyright.com.au> (by way of Tony
Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:21:10 +1100
15. FW: FLIN Digital Conference pages
Roxanne Missingham <rmissingham@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:25:49 +1100
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 22:06:41 +1100
From: Bryony De La Motte <BDELAMOT@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: Kinetica-l Archive
This message is being posted to kinetica-l
Since it began in May 1998, kinetica-l has delivered over 700 messages
covering all aspects of Kinetica: the implementation project, the
introduction of the service, advice on using the services and your
suggestions for changes to the interfaces, as well as announcements about
presentations, training courses and user meetings.
These messages have all been archived, and are now available from the
National Library's Web site. While the initial display has the messages in
date order, you can sort them by author, subject or thread.
Check past announcements, or check all the comments on a topic or review the
searching tips at http://www.nla.gov.au/list-archives/kinetica-l/
Bryony De La Motte
Director, Kinetica Customer Service
National Library of Australia
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Phone (02) 6262 1690
Fax (02) 6273 1180
email bdelamot@nla.gov.au
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:04:31 +1100
From: "Ivan Trundle" <ivan.trundle@alia.org.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: aliaNEWS broadcast 7 December 1999
[permission granted to re-broadcast, in part or full]
In this aliaNEWS broadcast:
- DIGITAL AGENDA BILL REPORT PROTECTS LIBRARY RIGHTS
- FIRST ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
- DECLARATION OF RESULTS OF BALLOT FOR VICE-PRESIDENT 2000
- THE LATEST NEWS ON GST
- WA SCOOPS NETWORKING THE NATION FUNDING
- MEMBERSHIP FEES REMINDER
- VITAL LINK ONLINE, PHASE 2
- FEEDBACK
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Welcome to the December 1999 edition of aliaNEWS, part of a regular
(monthly) electronic newsletter distributed to all renewing and new
members of ALIA. Those members who wish to be removed from this list are
instructed to check a box on the application form alongside the e-mail
address entry. This document is also available at
http://www.alia.org.au/e-lists/alianews/1999.12.html
Members of this monthly distribution list are free to subscribe and
unsubscribe at any time, and as often as they wish. Consult ALIAnet's
e-list pages for further information, or refer to your original
subscription notice.
http://www.alia.org.au/e-lists/alianews/
Digital Agenda Bill Report protects library rights
-----------------------
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and
Constitutional Affairs has recommended to the Commonwealth Government that
the definition of 'library' be omitted from the Copyright Amendment
(Digital Agenda) Bill. If the recommendation is accepted by government and
opposition, libraries in private organisations will not be excluded from
the library and fair dealing provisions to which they are presently
entitled under the Copyright Act.
This follows strong lobbying by ALIA, the Australian Digital Association
and the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee, as well as
representations from businesses and special library groups. The proposed
definition would have effectively excluded business libraries, including
private hospital libraries, from participating in interlibrary lending and
from timely access to essential information and research.
The recommendation is subject to further consultation with affected
parties and consideration of the Copyright Law Review's Committee's report
on the Simplification of the Copyright Act 1968. report.
Other recommendations include:
1. The same right of access to digital as to print information
2. The copyright owner to have first right of digitising print
information, with some exceptions.
3. Libraries could digitise material in their collections for the purposes
of delivering it electronically to a user in a remote location where postal
delivery of a print copy would be unreasonably slow.
The bill will now proceed to debate in the House of Representatives and
the Senate. The legislation will be reviewed in three years.
Full text of the Advisory Report [only in PDF format, 35Kb] from:
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/digitalagenda/reportfront.pdf
First election of directors
-----------------------
As ALIA moves to incorporation under Corporations Law, nominations are now
called for election to the Board of Directors. In this first election, five
directors are to be elected: two are to be elected by members, one is to be
elected by institutional members, and two are to be elected by the
nominated divisional representatives to the National Policy Congress.
Nominations close with the executive director in ALIA National Office at
5.00 pm on 11 February 2000. The call for nominations is also published in
the December issue of inCite. Further details about the election process
as well as important information for potential candidates is available at
http://www.alia.org.au/gc/elections/2000/.
Declaration of results of ballot for vice-president 2000
-----------------------
Following declaration of the ballot for vice-president (president-elect)
each year, General Council formally notes the result. This message
constitutes formal notice (on behalf of the executive director) of two
motions to be put to a postal ballot of General Council in relation to the
ballot for vice-president (president-elect).
The ballot for the position of vice-president 2000 (president-elect)
closed on Monday 15 November and was counted on Tuesday 16 November at
ALIA House. Following a count of votes received on and before the due
date, Alan Bundy was declared the winner, and was duly notified of his
appointment to the position of vice-president 2000.
The latest news on GST
-----------------------
ALIA is helping the Government's GST Start-Up Assistance Office to contact
all libraries with the first element of the Government's $500 million
package of information to help organisations comply with the new tax
regime.
http://www.alia.org.au/membership/briefs/991201.html
WA scoops Networking the Nation funding
-----------------------
Regional, rural and remote Western Australians will benefit immensely from
$2.365 million awarded through the latest round of Networking the Nation
funding. The program also provides up to $10 000 for development
assistance funding to help communities identify their communications needs
if they do not have the resources within the community.
Applications for the next round of Networking the Nation funding close 8
March 2000. Applicants should visit the website at
http://www.dcita.gov.au/rtif.html or contact the Networking the Nation
Secretariat on freecall 1800 674 058. Media release at
http://www.dcita.gov.au/cgi-bin/graphics.pl?path=4661
Membership fees reminder
-----------------------
Please note that we are changing the membership year - primarily to suit
the overwhelming desire of Association members, but also to ease the
introduction of GST. As you should now be aware from your membership
renewal forms, membership fees due at 1 January 2000 will apply through
until 30 June 2000 only. In addition, subscriptions to Association
journals and magazines (other than to subscription-only members) will
apply for this 6-month period only.
http://www.alia.org.au/membership/
Vital Link Online, phase 2
-----------------------
Improving all of the time, and with more and more data being added and
updated, our office-bearer's online database is about to be moved into its
next phase - with the gradual roll-out of links from committee pages.
National Office staff listings are now available, and many additions and
corrections are being made to better reflect the various committees of the
Association.
We are still keen to get feedback about the success (or otherwise) of our
efforts. Use the links found on the Vital Link pages to let us know what
you think, or send them to Ivan Trundle at ivan.trundle@alia.org.au.
http://www.alia.org.au/vital.link.html
Feedback
-----------------------
We have been thrilled by the response to aliaNEWS from subscribers. It is
gratifying to know that we are providing a useful and timely information,
and in a format that is easy to read. We now have countless supportive and
constructive compliments (but are always eager for more!). As always,
though, we would like to know your thoughts on what you would like to see
in this broadcast, and how you would like to see it.
Send your comments to Ivan Trundle, manager, systems and publishing, at
ivan.trundle@alia.org.au
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:04:51 +1100
From: Bryony De La Motte <BDELAMOT@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: A day with the National Library of Australia
This message is being posted to Kinetica-l
Senior staff of the National Library of Australia will be in Melbourne on 15
February 2000, to discuss and demonstrate some of the National Library's
current and future activities. Please join us to hear about and comment on
the National Library's strategic directions and initiatives.
In the morning, members of the National Library senior executive group will
discuss the National Library of Australia's strategic directions and role in
the national information infrastructure, covering current activities and
services and future projects and initiatives. The afternoon will be devoted
to Kinetica, focussing on developments and initiatives.
The Library has arranged the day for Tuesday 15 February to allow people
travelling to Melbourne for VALA 2000 (16-18 February) to attend. The
program is structured to allow people to attend for the whole day or to
select the sessions they wish to attend. Morning and afternoon tea will be
provided. The full program is on the National Library's Web site at
http://www.nla.gov.au/events/nla/daynla.html
There will be no charge for attendance, but we would like you to tell us if
you plan to attend, so that we can arrange catering. Please RSVP to
market@nla.gov.au by 9 February 2000
Bryony De La Motte
Director, Kinetica Customer Service
National Library of Australia
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Phone (02) 6262 1690
Fax (02) 6273 1180
email bdelamot@nla.gov.au
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:05:07 +1100
From: Anne Daniels <adaniels@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: PANDORA - New titles added to the Archive
The National Library of Australia is committed to preserving nationally
significant Australian online publications and began work on this task in
January 1996 by formulating selection guidelines. (see:
http://www.nla.gov.au/scoap/guidelines.html). Since then, the Library has
been routinely selecting Australian publications on the Internet for long
term preservation.
In June 1996, the PANDORA Project (Preserving and Accessing Networked
Documentary Resources of Australia) was established to build the archive.
The National Library maintains a list on its homepage of all titles that
have been successfully archived in PANDORA. It is located at:
http://www.nla.gov.au/pandora/archive.html Information in this list is
updated weekly.
Every two months an announcement will be made via this discussion list on
new government published titles successfully archived during the previous
two months, so that those interested can see the most recent additions to
the list.
GOVERNMENT TITLES ADDED DURING THE LAST TWO MONTHS
Adelaide - Australia : prepared to win
Canberra Project 2000
Consular travel advice, East Timor
East Timor, Australia's position
East Timor crisis
Eating into the future
International Year of Older Persons (Office of Seniors Interests, W.A.)
International Year of Older Persons 1999 (Commonwealth)
International Year of Older Persons 1999 (Queensland)
International Year of Older Persons 1999 (Tasmania)
International Year of Older Persons: A Western Australia for All Ages
Melbourne, your sports training destination
Michael Knight, Minister for the Olympics
NSW Sport & Recreation
Olympic Business
Parliamentary Education Office
Referendum 1999
Sport and recreation, Queensland, Olympic business
Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Program
Tourism and the Olympic Games
**************************************
Anne Daniels
Senior Librarian
Australian Electronic Unit
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600
Ph + 61 2 6262 1411
Fax + 61 2 6273 4492
Email adaniels@nla.gov.au
***************************************
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:05:33 +1100
From: Rachel Polanskis <r.polanskis@nepean.uws.edu.au> (by way of Tony
Subject: [LINK] [SAGE-AU] SAGE-AU Responds to Committee Report on
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 17:31:08 +1100 (EST)
From: Geoff Halprin <geoff@SysAdmin.Com.AU>
To: sage-au@sage-au.org.au
Subject: [SAGE-AU] SAGE-AU Responds to Committee Report on Copyright Digital
Agenda Bill
THE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS GUILD OF AUSTRALIA (SAGE-AU)
PRESS RELEASE
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 13th DECEMBER 1999
SAGE-AU Responds to Committee Report on Copyright Digital Agenda Bill
SAGE-AU suggests protection for System Administrators
must be codified.
The System Administrators Guild of Australia (SAGE-AU) is delighted to see
that the House of Representatives Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Committee has recognised the significance of the needs of the systems
administration community, and identified beyond any doubt the legislative
requirement to ensure that the Digital Agenda Bill provides security to
system administrators acting in proper pursuit of their functions.
"This bill, as originally drafted had the potential to shut down the IT
industry, by making it illegal to participate in computer security forums
or automate security functions," said Geoff Halprin, who presented to
the Committee on the needs of the systems administration community.
"This report is an important step in recognising the practical
implications of the draft Bill, and its unintended effect on the
gatekeepers of the information economy," he said.
The Committee recognised, beyond any doubt, the importance of security
testing, and the need for exemptions for bona fide system administration
duties from any potential criminal or civil litigation. "The committee
heard our message that the very activities that the Bill seeks to
make illegal are at the core of good systems management practices. The
Committee agreed that we are, by necessity, involved in the development
and "manufacture" of circumvention devices, but that (in the proper
pursuit of our functions) these are not used to infringe copyright."
The report stated that, "there is a need to allow copyright users to
use circumvention devices in pursuit of legitimate purposes, such as
system administration." It further stated, "SAGE-AU was of the view,
with which the Committee agrees, that system administrators are involved
in the manufacture of circumvention devices to the extent that they need
to create them."
SAGE-AU, however, disagrees with the Committee's suggestion that
"principles of public policy" should prove sufficient protection for
system administrators, and believe this position to be inconsistent
with the discussion in the report leading to that conclusion. Such a
position would require at least one test case going to the courts to
set a precedent. "None of our members would like to be that test case,"
said Halprin. "We do not believe that recommendation 16 of the report
is sufficient. We believe it is imperative that the Act codify these
rights as an exception or permitted purpose, similar to those already
codified in the proposed Bill."
The exemptions for security testing (s. 47F) provide little comfort. In
many cases, what system administrators do is neither a reproduction
nor an adaptation of a work. The basic nature of security testing is to
concentrate efforts on the correctness and robustness of the technical
protection mechanism - not the work itself.
In fact, this is at the core of SAGE-AU's concerns with the Bill as
drafted. System administrators regularly review, inspect and attempt to
breach security and protection mechanisms (in order to identify weaknesses
and strengthen security), but do not infringe copyright in doing so. The
Bill, by breaking the link to actual infringement, and even to intent
to infringe, makes otherwise lawful and essential activities illegal.
SAGE-AU also believes it is likely that a vendor might decide that it is
in their interest to shut down discussion about security flaws in their
product (and the associated bad press), rather than address those flaws
or design more robust products. Under the Bill as presently drafted,
this might well be within their legislative rights.
SAGE-AU urges the government to codify the protection for system
administrators, as recommended by SAGE-AU and supported by the report,
to provide confidence to the IT community.
Committee's Recommendation on Caches Wrong
SAGE-AU also has major concern with the Committee's recommendation that
there should be no exemption to infringement for temporary reproduction
("caches").
Australia's link to the Internet is over submarine cables and satellite
links. These are extremely expensive to deploy and maintain. That the
US-based copyright owner's associations argue that caches are unnecessary
merely shows that they do not appreciate how far away Australia
is. Without an effective system of caches to reduce international
traffic flow, this country's international bandwidth requirements would
increase at least ten-fold. "We could not lay cables fast enough to meet
demand. That would devastate our information economy, and our ability
to compete in a burgeoning market."
"We believe the Bill as drafted got this exactly right," said
Halprin. "The committee seems to have set aside the very reasons that
these sections were introduced in the first place, and instead suggests
extending an incredibly complex regime of control to the copyright owners
to which every ISP and cache operator would have to adhere."
Under the proposed scheme, only carriers and carriage service providers
(telephone companies and ISPs) would be offered any level of protection.
Organisation-level cache's would likely be turned off, and our Internet
throughput would go through the floor.
ABOUT SAGE-AU
SAGE-AU is the professional body for practising System Administrators
throughout Australia, and is affiliated with other similar organisations
throughout the world. Its membership deals with all operating system
platforms, technologies, industries and environments.
SAGE-AU was formed to advance the profession of Systems Administration,
by raising awareness of the need for Systems Administrators, and
educating Systems Administrators in technical as well as professional
issues. SAGE-AU holds annual technical conferences, regular regional
meetings, and publishes regular member newsletters.
SOURCE: SAGE-AU
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information about this submission, please
contact Geoff Halprin (SAGE-AU Executive Committee) on 04-1930-0827 or
Geoff.Halprin@member.sage-au.org.au.
General SAGE-AU enquiries should be addressed to office@sage-au.org.au
or via our web site at http://www.sage-au.org.au
END
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:06:24 +1100
From: Warwick Cathro <wcathro@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: Dublin Core: Australian mirror site
This message has been sent to the Australian Metadata List.
The web site for the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative now has an Australian
mirror, hosted by the National Library.
The Australian mirror site can be found at:
> http://mirror.nla.gov.au/dc
>
A mirror site has also been established in the UK:
> http://mirrored.ukoln.ac.uk/dc/
>
>
Warwick Cathro
National Library of Australia
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:26:36 +1100
From: Sue Little <sue.little@lib.monash.edu.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: AGIFT (Australian Governments' Interactive Functions Thesaurus
Dear All,
Forwarded message from Andrew Wilson <andreww@naa.gov.au>
cheers Sue
From the National Archives of Australia: AGIFT Breaks the
Language Barrier!
A brilliant new online thesaurus that links plain English words with
termsused by governments has been developed by a consortium of
government and educational institutions.
Called AGIFT (Australian Governments' Interactive Functions Thesaurus),
it matches everyday words such as 'school' or 'kindergarten' with the
various terms that government might use, like 'early childhood
education'. The thesaurus covers the functions of all three levels of
government, so that government services can be described consistently
across Australia.
Adrian Cunningham, Director, Recordkeeping and Descriptive Standards at
the National Archives, said that the Archives had liaised closely on
the project with other Commonwealth agencies, State, Territory and
Local Governments, as well as some educational institutions.
'The thesaurus draws on 300 000 natural language terms from sources
such as Roget's Thesaurus, as well as terms used in the Archives'
Commonwealth-based functions thesaurus. The interactive process between
the user and the thesaurus means a query can be refined before the
search begins', Mr Cunningham said.
The thesaurus was developed in response to direction from the Online
Council of Ministers to support the exploitation of Australian
Government Locator Service (AGLS) metadata, for which the standard is
managed by the Archives.
Metadata is essentially information about information. In a web
document it is usually hidden text which is scanned by a search engine
when searching for a document. In effect, metadata is a form of
indexing.
'This search interface is designed for use by any government Web access
point, such as the proposed ''Governet'' at www.gov.au
<http://www.gov.au/>, the Commonwealth Government Web entry point at
www.fed.gov.au <http://www.fed.gov.au/> or from the Archives website at
www.naa.gov.au <http://www.naa.gov.au/>', Mr Cunningham said.
For further information please contact:
Adrian Cunningham on (02) 6212 3988
or adrianc@naa.gov.au <mailto:adrianc@naa.gov.au>
26 November 1999
___________________________________________________________________
The core set of 450 AGIFT terms can be found at the following URL
together with some FAQs:
http://www.fed.gov.au/webmanager/initiatives.htm
The media release is on the Web at:
http://www.naa.gov.au/media_releases/agift.htm
Adrian Cunningham
National Archives of Australia
=========================================================
--
Susan Little
Subject Librarian Anthropology/Sociology/philosophy
And Linguistics
Reference Librarian Government Publications
H&SS Library,Monash University,
Wellington Road, Clayton, Vic. 3168 Australia
Phone: +61.3.9905.2654
Fax:+61.3.9905.2610
Email: Suelit@lib.monash.edu.au
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:42:37 +1100
From: Tony Barry <tonyb@dynamite.com.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: Moral rights for Australian creators
The Hon Daryl Williams AM
QC MP
Attorney-General
The Hon Peter McGauran MP
Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation
Moral rights for Australian creators
8 December 1999
Australian authors, artists and film-makers will have better control over
the integrity of their creative endeavours under legislation
introduced to
Parliament today.
The Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Bill 1999 gives creators of
copyright material a right to be identified as the author of their
work. It
also gives them a right to object to derogatory treatment of their
work if it
is prejudicial to their honour or reputation.
Attorney-General Daryl Williams and Federal Minister for the Arts Peter
McGauran said the Bill demonstrated the Government's strong
commitment to Australia's literary, artistic and cultural communities.
Users of copyright work will not be impeded by the new rights, which are
subject to standards of reasonableness and normal industry practice. For
added certainty, users of copyright work will have a practical means of
avoiding infringement by negotiating the written consent of creators
where necessary.
The Bill fulfils the Government's election promise to introduce a
workable scheme for the protection of moral rights. The Bill will also
allow the Government to better fulfil its international obligations under
the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
Media contact:
Catherine Fitzpatrick (Mr Williams) (02) 6277 7300
Jane Henschke (Mr McGauran) (02) 6277 7350
Website: www.dcita.gov.au/mcgauran/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
phone +61 2 6241 7659
mailto:me@Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
http://purl.oclc.org/NET/Tony.Barry
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:44:16 +1100
From: Bryony De La Motte <BDELAMOT@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: Kinetica Advisory Committee papers
This message is being posted to kinetica-l
The agenda papers for the Kinetica Advisory Committee meeting held on 11 &12
November are now available from the National Library's Web site. Some of
the papers considered at the meeting have been embargoed for commercial
reasons; those available include reports on the forthcoming Kinetica
elections, Kinetica activity, the 1999 Annual Users Meeting and planning for
the day of National Library presentations in Melbourne.
You can access these papers at
http://www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/kac/papers9911.html
Bryony De La Motte
Director, Kinetica Customer Service
National Library of Australia
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Phone (02) 6262 1690
Fax (02) 6273 1180
email bdelamot@nla.gov.au
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:19:35 +1100
From: "Macauley, Craig (DEHAA)" <cmacauley@dehaa.sa.gov.au> (by way of
Subject: [OZMETA-L] ISO 19115 - Metadata Standard for Geographic
Details of the new draft ISO Metadata standard for geographic information
and information about how to lodge comments on it are provided on the ANZLIC
Web Site at http://www.anzlic.org.au/metaiso.htm
Note that if you wish to provide comments on the standard, you must register
by 14 January 2000 and submit comments by 1 February 2000.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Craig Macauley
Corporate Data Administrator
Resource Information Division
Department for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs
Email: cmacauley@dehaa.sa.gov.au
Phone: +61 8 8226 4849
Fax: +61 8 8293 4898
The information in this e-mail may be confidential and/or legally
privileged. Use or disclosure of the information by anyone other than the
intended recipient is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received
this e-mail in error, please advise by return e-mail or by telephoning +61 8
8226 4850.
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:19:49 +1100
From: Sue Scott <sscott@lawfoundation.net.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: Web accessibility and usability workshops
Accessiblity and usability workshops
Friday Feb 18 or Wednesday Feb 23, 2000
At Vicnet, State Library of Victoria
Cost: $80 Community, $160 Commercial and Government Organisations
How do we know if a web site is accessible? What is the relationship
between usability and accessibility?
Vicnet offers a full-day workshop that covers the theory and practice of
accessible web design as well as how people with disabilities use the web
The workshop will be of interest not just to web designers, but those
responsible for commissioning or managing the development of online content.
For further information, please contact Larry Stillman,
larrys@vicnet.net.au, Vicnet's Diversity Officer, at 03 9669 9710,
http://www.vicnet.net.au/disability/training/
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:20:10 +1100
From: Tony Barry <tonyb@dynamite.com.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: Re-shaping the Library and Information Services Profession
Posted at the request of John Brudenall.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Re-shaping the Library and Information Services Profession with ALIA as its
Peak Body - A Radical Option for Change
1. Background
The idea of re-creating ALIA as the Peak Body for the library and
information services profession and industry breathes new life into a
distinguished organisation which has become, in recent years,
organisationally unwieldy and cumbersome and, from the point of view of
many members and would-be members, somewhat moribund.
The organisational structure outlined in this paper sets ALIA in place as
the Peak Body, draws upon the reality of the dramatic environmental changes
which are influencing the profession and its institutions, recognises its
diversity and provides a flexible base from which to accommodate further
change.
1.1 Pressure for change
The pressures for change which have influenced professional practice in
recent years also impact upon the established organisational structure for
the profession. Among these pressures are the following:
the significantly changed environment in which libraries and information
services operate;
the rapidly converging technologies and the digital revolution which are
creating new information and communications industries and new roles for
information professionals;
the changing skills mix needed to provide effective library and information
services and a desire to open up the membership of the professional
association;
the growing importance of specialist conferences and meetings and the
relative decline of the 'generalist' ALIA biennial conference and meetings;
and
the strength of networking and collaboration within functional areas of the
profession and the declining importance of the ALIA Branch structure.
There are some factors which make change difficult to achieve. These
include the sheer size and organisational spread of ALIA with something
like 120 divisions and 8,000 members nation-wide. Exacerbating this is the
very low participation rate in many aspects of ALIA-sponsored professional
life. The low participation rate is possibly due in part to a perceived
lack of relevance of many ALIA activities to the day-by-day
responsibilities of practitioners.
Notwithstanding the difficulties and work involved, the current change
process is critical to the future of ALIA and the library and information
profession if it is to be in a position to help shape the opportunities
which will flow from the emerging information economy.
1.2 A vision for 2001
During the next 12 months we must shape a new and highly effective
organisational framework for our profession, headed by the Peak Body, ALIA,
to provide a national focus and the representational authority to speak
with one voice to governments and other authorities on behalf of the
profession.
In addition to the Peak Body there will be a number of Associations
representing all practitioners and principal institutions in all the
functional areas of the information industry. These Associations will be
the members of ALIA. ALIA will become an association of associations and
will no longer have individual practitioners as members. Some Associations
may emerge from the current ALIA Sections whilst others may be pre-existing
Associations (eg. ASLA) or sector bodies (eg. CASL). These may be joined by
professional groups not previously associated with ALIA. The numerical
strength of the entire structure should be significantly greater than the
current ALIA membership and this will give great authority to the Peak Body
as it acts on behalf of the profession.
DIAGRAM
Key
ALIA Australian Library & Information Association (in centre circle)
NPC National Policy Congress (in centre circle, surrounding ALIA)
A Member Associations of ALIA (each with varying numbers of members
in smaller circles, and each sending 2 members to the National Policy
Congress)
. The New Structure in Outline
2.1 The Role of ALIA
The role for ALIA as the Peak Body for the profession in this structure
would be:
to maintain through discussion and consultation with member associations,
appropriate educational and training standards for entry to the library and
information services profession and for the continuing certification of
competence to practice;
to establish and maintain ethical guidelines and standards of professional
practice to which all member associations must adhere;
to undertake course recognition processes on behalf of member associations
(teaching institutions to meet the costs);
to convene an annual National Policy Congress comprising two
representatives from each member association to consider national policy
issues affecting the library and information services 'industry;
to publish the annual National Register of Library and Information Service
Professionals; (see 2.1.3 below)
to maintain a liaison role with governments and other authorities where a
'single voice' reflecting the views of the sector is likely to be the most
effective;
to maintain international links with compatible national associations.
to operate the ILL voucher scheme;
2.1.1 Financing ALIA
The financing of ALIA would be based on a per capita levy on all
professional members of affiliated associations, of , say, $30 per year.
The levy would be based upon accepted budget targets and agreed with member
associations each year. Each member association would pay the levy either
from its own funds or by adding the ALIA levy on to its own membership
subscription.
ALIA could generate additional income by contracting with some member
associations to provide membership records and financial management
services. ALIA may also contract to produce association newsletters and to
provide other services where it can do so cost-effectively. It will also
continue to derive income from its operation of the ILL voucher scheme and
from office rent.
Additional income could be derived >from Incite and The Australian Library
Journal if they can be continued on a better than full cost recovery basis.
The annual affiliation fee for bodies such as CAUL or CASL will require
special consideration as they are not professional associations with a
significant membership base.
2.1.2 ALIA's Governance
ALIA would be managed by a Board of Directors elected by the member
associations each year. Standing Committees on Education and Training
Standards, Liaison and External Relations, and Working Parties on specific
areas of policy development and cross-sectoral collaboration would be
formed through nominations from member associations at each AGM. Much of
the work of the Board and committees could be undertaken cost effectively
by teleconferences and email.
To achieve this ALIA would require a staff of possibly 3-4 headed by a
skilled communicator as executive director, plus other staff employed to
provide services on a contract basis to member associations.
2.1.3 The National Register of Library and Information Service Professionals
Each year ALIA would produce a National Register listing all the
professional members of associations affiliated with ALIA. All those listed
in the National Register would hold professional qualifications which meet
or exceed the educational and training requirements developed by ALIA and
accepted by its member associations, as appropriate for entry to the
profession.
Those practitioners included in the National Register would be entitled to
use the post-nominal letters, MALIA, (Professional Member recognised by
ALIA), or, if special requirements are met, FALIA, (Professional Fellow
recognised by ALIA).
To be included in the National Register a practitioner would need to be a
current financial member of an affiliated professional association. If the
National Register were to be used by employers as part of its staff
selection process a significant increase in professional association
membership by those who work professionally in the field could be expected.
2.2 The Role of ALIA Member Associations
For those associations to be formed >from an existing ALIA Section or SIG a
straight-forward checklist of tasks to meet the requirements for
Incorporation would need to be prepared and circulated. This process of
change should not prove to be a major stumbling block, however, careful
initial planning and regular communication to all members would be
important.
Once established the role of professional associations which form part of
the library and information sector would include:
the provision of opportunities for members to exchange information,
knowledge, best practice and research in areas of mutual interest;
through conferences, workshops, seminars and meetings to provide members
with opportunities to extend their competencies, to build networks, and to
work collaboratively ;
to communicate regularly with members and to establish working
relationships with similar organisations and associations in other
countries;
to encourage the development and enhancement of appropriate educational
standards and standards of practice for its members, meeting at least the
standards established by ALIA;
to promote the role and value of library and information services and the
profession amongst potential user groups;
to pro-actively meet the challenge of continuing change faced by the
members of the association.
2.2.1 Membership
Each association would determine its own membership categories and
eligibility criteria. However, a category of professional membership in
each association would be essential for affiliation with ALIA. The
eligibility criteria for this category of association membership would need
to match the national standards established by ALIA as a minimum.
Each associations may have other categories of membership including:
Associate Member (For practitioners who do not hold the necessary
qualifications for professional membership)
Institutional Member (For employing institutions in the sector)
Student Member (For current students preparing for a career in library and
information work)
2.2.2 Financial Arrangements
Each independent association would determine its own annual membership
subscription rates and would establish appropriate administrative controls
over funds and other assets. The numbers for whom the ALIA levy is payable
could be based on the number of members at the end of the first quarter in
each year.
Initially, there may need to be some distribution of funds held centrally
by ALIA to new associations which emerge from the current structure.
2.2.3 Association Governance
A Management Committee for each association would be elected by individual
and institutional members at each AGM. Each association would determine
whether it requires branches, or working parties, standing committees, or
other administrative structures.
It could be expected that some individual associations may chose to employ
an Executive Officer to maintain the effective and efficient operation of
the association. In addition, some administrative and printing and
publishing tasks may be undertaken by ALIA on a contract basis for some
individual associations.
3. The Proposal in Summary
Applying the headings used in the ALIA discussion paper on the divisional
structure this model which places ALIA as the Peak Body at the head of a
federation of specialist associations can be described as follows.
Structure
Sections and some SIG's decide to become associations in their own right
Members join whichever associations they wish to, eg. Special Libraries
Association, Health Libraries Association, etc.
ALIA becomes the Peak Body for the library and information profession.
Associations are affiliated with ALIA and pay an annual levy based on their
membership (eg. $30 per member) to ALIA
ALIA continues to promulgate national educational standards for entry to
the profession and convenes the annual National Policy Congress to which
all affiliated associations send two delegates.
ALIA continues to provide ILL vouchers, maintains a Liaison role on behalf
of the profession with governments and others and may enter into contracts
with member associations to provide membership records and financial
services for them.
The new associations will decide on their own structure, eg. whether they
will have branches, and they will set their own membership subscriptions,
etc.
Accountability
Associations are accountable to their members and must meet the legal
requirements of Incorporation.
Affiliation with ALIA, and achievement of professional recognition status
against a national standard, will require individual associations to
establish appropriate membership categories and qualifications for
professional membership.
ALIA will report annually to its affiliated associations on the use of the
funds it has received and will seek guidance from an annual National Policy
Congress on priorities, etc.
Advantages
Individuals commit their time and energy (their commitment to the
advancement of their profession) to their functional area of involvement
and interest.
Some existing divisions and groups may choose to merge. For example, ASLA
could join ALIA as an affiliated association to which all interested
school/teacher librarians will belong. There need not be two bodies, one
springing from the School Libraries Section. There may be a number of
similar opportunities.
Member funds are shifted from supporting a high-cost, moribund national,
geographically-based structure to direct support for a specialised,
functionally-based association. (A sharp increase in the level of
professional involvement by many members may result).
the use of nationally recognised post-nominal letters will remain,
strengthened by the publication of a National Register of Library and
Information Service Professionals
Disadvantages
the process required for setting up individual associations.
John Brudenall
December 1999
Contact address: John.Brudenall@alianet.alia.org.au
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
phone +61 2 6241 7659
mailto:me@Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
http://purl.oclc.org/NET/Tony.Barry
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:20:41 +1100
From: Danny Yee <danny@staff.cs.usyd.edu.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: [LINK] EFA-PR: NET CENSORSHIP - SECRET AND UNACCOUNTABLE
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
Media Release December 19th 1999
NET CENSORSHIP - SECRET AND UNACCOUNTABLE
The Federal Government has demonstrated its contempt for the intelligence
and values of Australians, Electronic Frontiers Australia said today,
following the approval of a Code of Practice for Internet Service
Providers.
The new rules require Internet users to purchase an 'Approved Filter' at
a charge determined by their ISP, unless they have already installed one.
There was no public consultation in the choice of 'approved' filtering
products.
"In no other media does censorship operate with so little accountability",
said EFA Board member Danny Yee. "The Government had promised that
the scheme would be complaints-based and that only material found by
the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) to be 'prohibited' would be
blocked, but commercial filtering products block millions of pages not
reviewed by the ABA. Why has the government handed over its censorship
powers to private companies who are not accountable to the Australian
public?"
"It is particularly worrying that the block lists are secret and that the
sites blocked are not informed that they are being blocked," said Yee.
"This is not consistent with censorship of other media in Australia.
Information about what is banned or restricted by the Office of Film and
Literature Classification is available to the public -- and parents and
citizens would rightly be outraged if books were secretly removed from
school libraries or syllabuses in response to complaints."
"The approved suppliers are mostly United States companies or Australian
companies reselling United States products under different names.
Such software typically reflects the values of the United States 'Bible
Belt', with some products openly blocking feminist, gay and lesbian,
and left wing political information."
Studies carried out in Australia and overseas have demonstrated that
filtering software causes extensive 'collateral damage', blocking
many innocuous sites. Some ironic examples are the blocking of the
National Party of Australia site and of Queensland parliamentary records.
And many filtering products censor massive amounts of valuable information
by blocking entire domains such as geocities.com, ozemail.com.au, or
deja.com.
"Trying to force filtering software on unwilling adults will be as
ineffective as it is repugnant", said Yee. "And only filtering products
that use open blocklists and algorithms -- available for public scrutiny
-- should even be considered for use in schools. The process by which
products are selected needs to be open and transparent, not carried out
behind closed doors. And content providers must be informed when their
content is blocked, so they have a chance to appeal the decision."
[ENDS]
--------------------------------------------------------------
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc -- http://www.efa.org.au/
representing Internet users concerned about on-line freedoms
Email: mail@efa.org.au Phone: 02 9255 7969 Fax: 02 9255 7736
--------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND
ABA registers code of practice
http://www.aba.gov.au/about/public_relations/newrel_99/134nr99.htm
IIA Code
http://www.iia.net.au/code6.html
DCITA press release
"Decisions on content will be made by the NCB based on an
established classification system. Decisions will not be based
on personal whim."
http://www.dcita.gov.au/nsapi-text/?MIval=dca_dispdoc&ID=4226
Office of Film and Literature Classification
http://www.oflc.gov.au/
Conservative, Bible-Belt communities, are helping to set the standards
for what students in more cosmopolitan places are allowed to see:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/regional/121599ny-schoolfilter-edu.html
(registration required)
Censorware Project (detailed studies of filtering products)
http://www.censorware.org/
An EFA study of Internet Sheriff
http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/report_isheriff.html
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:21:10 +1100
From: "Charles Maddison" <cmaddison@copyright.com.au> (by way of Tony
Subject: news release for ozlib - thanks Tony!
NEWS RELEASE
21 December 1999
E-commerce metadata conference for Sydney 2000
A conference reporting on the latest developments in developing a metadata
schema for trading intellectual property online will be held in Sydney in
March 2000.
"Putting works to rights" will showcase the work of the two-year <indecs>
metadata project, an international effort to generate a formal structure for
describing and uniquely identifying intellectual property, the people and
businesses involved in trading IP, and the agreements they make about their
trades.
The key to the <indecs> schema is agreement on common standards to govern
the interoperability of data in e-commerce systems, providing the foundation
for online commercial transactions for copyright works in all media
including text, audio visual, music and multimedia works.
<indecs> is supported by 11 international partners, including Australia’s
Copyright Agency Limited. The conference will be hosted by the Australian
Copyright Industry Alliance (ACIA).
Together, the project’s partners and affiliates represent the creators,
producers and distributors of a significant proportion of the global
intellectual property domain.
These organisations recognise that, in the network environment, differences
between different types of intellectual property – text, graphics, sound,
still and moving pictures – become largely irrelevant. In supporting the
<indecs> project, they share a vision of the requirement for
interoperability between systems designed to support different types of
content which have in the past been managed in distinct and different ways.
Who should attend?
The conference will present the <indecs> metadata model for discussion and
feedback, and is targeted to people with either technical or operational
interests in the use of metadata processes to enable the exploitation of
content in the digital environment.
Copyright specialists
Internet business managers
Digital library managers
National standards organisations
E-commerce specialists
Rights holders
Electronic publishers
Rights managers
Electronics manufacturers
Standards consortia members
Government policy makers
Technology developers
Internet broadcasters
Conference details
Date: Thursday 9 March and Friday 10 March 2000.
Venue: The Wentworth Hotel, Phillip Street, Sydney.
More information
=46or more information or to register, please telephone Copyright Agency
Limited on:
61 - 2 - 9394 7600 or email info@copyright.com.au
Info on <indecs>
What will <indecs> produce?
<indecs> will deliver a series of proposals for standardisation, the most
significant of which will be derived from the data model itself, along with
guides to its implementation. These will be supported by high-level
specifications of related services.
The intention is also to build an international consensus in support of the
application of the <indecs> schema to managing commerce in intellectual
property in the network environment.
<indecs> will not be delivering or piloting any specific technology
application of the model. It is a principle of the project that the model
should be entirely independent of any application.
What makes <indecs> different from similar initiatives?
Most other projects have concentrated on a specific part of the overall
requirement for metadata – focussing either on a specific use for the
metadata (discovery, for example) or a single type of intellectual property
(like music).
Although different sets of data may be required for different purposes, many
of the data elements required, for example, for the "discovery" of
intellectual property are identical to those required to manage other
aspects of the process of delivery from creator to user. This is intuitively
obvious, even though in the "real world" it has become commonplace to use
completely different sources for this data.
How does <indecs> relate to other standards initiatives?
<indecs> is not seeking to supplant existing standards for the description
of intellectual property in different "domains". Its aim is to establish a
method for interoperation between them.
Media contact:
Charles Maddison
Media Affairs Officer
Copyright Agency Limited
Phone: 02 - 9394 7684
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:25:49 +1100
From: Roxanne Missingham <rmissingham@nla.gov.au> (by way of Tony Barry)
Subject: FW: FLIN Digital Conference pages
> ----------
> From: Roxanne Missingham[SMTP:rmissingham@nla.gov.au]
> Sent: Monday, December 20, 1999 4:10 PM
> To: rmissingham@nla.gov.au
> Subject: FLIN Digital Conference pages
>
>
> Dear FLINNERS
>
> I am delighted to be able to advise you that the conference papers from
> the
> recent ALIA ACT/FLIN Digital library conference are now available on the
> web
> at:
>
> http://www.nla.gov.au/flin/conferences/digital_library99/program.html
>
> You can also find these papers from a link on the FLIN home page:
>
> > http://www.nla.gov.au/flin/
> >
> Thanks to Ralph Sanderson who converted the PowerPoint presentations and
> word documents to html files.
>
> Seasons greetings
>
> Roxanne Missingham
>