ALCTS Network News v4n12 (November 16, 1992) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/ann/ann-v4n12 ISSN: 1056-6694 ALCTS NETWORK NEWS An electronic publication of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services Volume 4, Number 12 November 16, 1992 In this issue RESPONSES TO REPORT #2 OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE TASK FORCE NISO STANDARDS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW LC ANNOUNCES ON-LINE NEWS SERVICE UPCOMING CONFERENCES, ETC. ************************************************************************** RESPONSES TO REPORT #2 OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE TASK FORCE Volume 4, no. 9 of the ALCTS Network News, issued on November 2, carried the second report of the ALCTS Organizational Structure Task Force. We announced that the responses would be compiled and further shared with the AN2 readership. Here are the responses received to date. (1) ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: John R. James, Dartmouth College Library I think that the Task Force has done an excellent job defining and describing the existing problems and operational issues. I was particularly pleased with the progress report in the recent issue of ALCTS NETWORK NEWS. It seems to me it is well designed to encourage interest and input on the part of the membership. I agree that the sections have a role to play. I think the description in the progress report is an apt one--facilitate is the key word. (2) ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Suzanne Thomas, University of Pittsburgh and Past Chair, ALCTS Serials Section I was delighted to see the report in print so quickly! One quick comment about the ALCTS Board meetings. My impression was that the bulk of the meetings were spent on agenda items that were external to ALCTS, demands on ALCTS for decisions, recommendations, input etc. from ALA and other units in ALA. It would be useful for the task force to have an agenda and supporting documents for the Midwinter ALCTS Board to see what sort of things come to ALCTS Board. (3) ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Don Lanier, University of Illinois, Rockford It is great to have ALCTS provide the Task Force reports in such a timely manner. And, it is good to have the Task Force acknowledge the considerable opposition expressed at the hearings and subsequently. My own opinion is that the simplified structure should not only be acceptable but truly superior in our era of electronic communication. ALCTS might demonstrate the feasibility of both a simplified structure and a dynamic organization by discontinuing Midwinter Meetings. Surely working meetings can be accomplished as successfully and at less expense with electronic conferencing when compared to the complexities of all of us meeting in one location. ************************************************************************* NISO STANDARDS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW The national standard for collecting statistics for library and information centers in the United States, Z39.7-1983, has been revised and is now available for comment from the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). The standard identifies the data categories that apply to the four types of libraries (academic, public, school, and special) and provides associated definitions of terms. The standard defines the institutional reporting unit and target population, human resources, collection resources, physical facilities, finances, service and activity measures. The standard also identifies additional categories that may be collected by one or more types of libraries. The review period ends January 15, 1993. The national standard for thesaurus construction, ANSI Z39.19, has been revised and is now available for comment from the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). The standard provides guidelines for constructing monolingual thesauri: formulating the descriptors, establishing relationships among terms, and effectively presenting the information to users in print and on a screen. The standard also includes thesaurus maintenance procedures and recommended features of thesaurus management systems. The standard points out both the advantages and disadvantages of various format for thesaurus structure and display and illustrates many of these formats. The review period will end January 15, 1993. Both standards are priced at $30 and may be ordered from: NISO, P.O. Box 1056, Bethesda, MD 20827. ************************************************************************* LC ANNOUNCES ON-LINE NEWS SERVICE The Library of Congress has announced the availability of a new on-line news service. The free service will allow news organizations and individuals with modem-equipped computers to dial into an electronic bulletin board and download information about Library of Congress events, services, exhibits, hours of operation, room locations, new publications, job openings and general activities. The Library of Congress News Service also will enable users to get edited versions of stories from the biweekly Library of Congress Information Bulletin approximately two weeks before they appear in print. The News Service will not, however, provide access to the Library's bibliographic data bases, nor will reference or other Library services be available through the News Service. The telephone number for accessing the service 24 hours a day is (202) 707-3854. Detailed instructions for access are available on request from the Public Affairs Office. The News Service will offer several menus: * PRES--Items of interest to the media, such as upcoming conferences, exhibit openings, major acquisitions and other announcements, as well as features suitable for reprinting in other publications. * LIBR--Information of particular interest to librarians, such as availability of Cataloging Distribution Service products, news from Collections Services, new LC publications, changes in LC procedures in cataloging and other areas, major personnel appointments, professional meetings. * PUBL--News for the public such as exhibit openings and features on the Library. * CALD--A calendar of events. * ACES--Access to the Library. Where to locate entrances, hours of operation of the Jefferson, Adams and Madison buildings, hours of the reading rooms and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, visitor services, food service. * FACT--General information about the Library, "Services to the Nation." * JOBS--Current openings at the Library of Congress. * NEWS--New features available on the LC News Service. * HOWT--This menu will tell users how to download information from the News Service to their own PC. The News Service will allow 30 minutes of access per call. (Regular telephone rates apply.) Thus it is advisable that users download stories to their personal computers for later use or for making printed copies. This feature, which will "zip," or compress, stories, will make downloading quick and inexpensive for long-distance users. ************************************************************************* UPCOMING CONFERENCES, ETC. Corporate EFT/Financial EDI Conference The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Electronic Data Interchange Association will present the 6th annual Corporate EFT/Financial EDI Conference, "Re-Engineering The Payment System" on May 2-5, 1993, at the Palmer House in Chicago. The intensive, four day conference, led by nationally recognized leaders in the industry, will focus on re-engineering the payment system with EFT/Financial EDI as a part of a total corporate re-engineering program. The fee is $795 if postmarked before March 22, 1993. For more information, contact: Corporate EFT/Financial EDI Conference, P. O. Box 60622, Charlotte, NC 28260; phone 919-541-9339; fax 919-541-9026. NEMA/OSV Museum Archives Institute The 6th annual New England Museum Association & Old Sturbridge Village Museum Museum Archives Institute will be held at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Mass, April 16-17, 1993, and will include both introductory and special topics programs. The introductory program is designed for the beginner who works in a museum or historical society, and will offer a variety of comprehensive and in-depth sessions focused on basic archival theories and practices. Participants may select the alternate special topic program which will provide the experienced archivist with the opportunity to keep abreast of current archival issues and theories. For information contact Penny Holewa, Archivist, Research Library, Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, MA 01566; (508) 347-3362 FAX: (508) 347-5375. Symposium in Electronic Publishing The Association of Research Libraries and the Association of American University Presses, in collaboration with the American Mathematical Society and the National Science Foundation, will present a symposium on "Scholarly Publishing on the Electronic Networks, the New Generation: Visions and Opportunities in Not-for-Profit Publishing," at the Washington Vista Hotel, Washington, DC, on December 5-8, 1992. (The Sunday session will be held at University College, the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.) This three-day symposium is specifically aimed at university presses, learned and professional society publishers, librarians, and academic faculty and researchers interested in beginning electronic publications. The symposium assumes basic ability to use electronic mail for messaging. The symposium's objective is to promote information-sharing and discussion among people interested in developing the potential of the networks, particularly for formal scholarly electronic publishing, with particular emphasis on not-for-profit models. It will also focus on discussions about developing collaborative plans for sharing networked publishing expertise among the academic publishing chain. Participants will discuss some of the latest research and development from the not-for-profit sector, including work funded by the National Science Foundation and prominent societies and consortia. The fee is $375.00 and registration is limited to 100 participants. E-mail address for inquiries: symposium@e-math.ams.org ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* ALCTS NETWORK NEWS (ISSN 1056-6694) is published irregularly by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association. Editorial offices: ALCTS, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; Liz Bishoff, President; Karen Muller, Executive Director. Editor: Karen Muller (u34261@uicvm); Editorial Advisory Board: Liz Bishoff, Jennifer Younger, Arnold Hirshon; Editorial Assistance: Marie Rochelle, Nancy John. ALCTS NETWORK NEWS is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the division. News items should be sent to the editor at Bitnet address u34261@uicvm. To subscribe, issue the network command "tell listserv@uicvm sub alcts [your name]." Back issues of AN2 are available through the listserver. To find out what's available, send the following command to LISTSERV@UICVM: send alcts filelist The ALCTS FILELIST contains the list of files with the EXACT filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue this command to the LISTSERV@UICVM: send filename filetype. Send questions about membership in ALCTS to the ALCTS Office, u34261@uicvm. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or education advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting or redistribution or translations, address requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. *************************************************************************