Information Retrieval List Digest 316 (July 22, 1996) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/irld/irld-316 IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 July 22, 1996 Volume XIII, Number 29 Issue 316 ********************************************************** I. QUERIES 1. Information-tech Literacy 2. Internet Use Survey 3. Citation Abuse III. NOTICES A. Publications 1. FARNET's Washington Update 2. The Library Bill of Rights B. Meetings 1. Energy Week Conference & Exhibition C. Miscellaneous 1. Final Summer Make the Link Workshops IV. PROJECTS D. Initiatives & Proposals 1. Writers to Hatch: Stop S1961 ********************************************************** I. QUERIES I.1. Fr: Gene O'Regon Re: Information-tech Literacy Hello - I'm not sure how they've done it, but France has successfully brought its country up to speed on at least one techno innovation: the minitel. Minitel is like the yellow pages and newspapers, together on-line, accesible to all through many public offices, the post office being primary. Many people have a minitel in their homes (it it approximately the size of a small laptop), but you don't need to. Minitel is not as wide and "hyper" a database as the Internet in general, but it is a start towards widespread literacy with information technology. How can that be implemented in the states, and is research being made in that direction? Thanks, Gene ********** I.2. Fr: William Thayer Re: Internet Use Survey Hello Internet User, I am a graduate student at the University of Denver. I am conducting research into Internet users perceived value of the resource. Has the resource met the expectations of the Internet user? Has the hype of the media just been a let down for the Internet user? I am trying to investigate these questions. There are seven questions below and I would appreciate your thoughts. The main assumption of the paper is that the Internet can be a big waste of time (surfing time). Please e-mail me at william@vail.net with your comments. 1) How long have you been using the Internet? answer: less than 1 year, 1-2 years, over 2 years 2) Do you waste time searching for information? answer: not at all, sometimes, frequently, all the time 3) Do search engines return irrelevent web pages? answer: not at all, sometimes, frequently, all the time 4) Would you appreciate a facilitator of the Internet's resources? answer: no, maybe I would, most likely I would, definitely 5) Would you appreciate help in searching for information? answer: no, maybe I would, most likely I would, definitely 6) Upon initial set-up of your Internet access, how long did it take you to establish a base of frequented or favorite web sites? answer: 1-3 months, 3-5 months, 5 and over 7) Comments on this issue____? Thank You! ********** I.3. Fr: E. Garfield Re: Citation Abuse July 18, 1996 Dear Colleagues: I have been asked to prepare a review of the research literature and of any previously unpublished information that could form the basis of a discussion of actual and potential abuses of citation data or analysis. As many of my colleagues will recall, the possible misapplication of citation data was forecast. There has been a significant increase in the use of citation analysis for legitimate purposes by responsible investigators. However, there are also misuses by those who are either not qualified to interpret raw citation data or by those with questionable objectives. If you are able to cite or describe any examples of the various kinds of misuses, I shall attempt to synthesize responses for the review. If your examples are of a confidential nature, then simply omit names and places. Of course, do cite published examples. I hope to present the results of this study at the forthcoming International Conference on Peer Review in Prague in 1997. Best wishes, Eugene Garfield ------------------------------------------------------------------ Eugene Garfield, Ph.D. Chairman Emeritus,ISI,3501 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Publisher, THE SCIENTIST, 3600 Market St,Philadelphia,PA 19104 Tel: (215)243-2205 // Fax: (215)387-1266 E-mail: garfield@aurora.cis.upenn.edu Home Page:http://165.123.33.33/eugene_garfield http://www.the-scientist.library.upenn.edu/eugene_garfield ********************************************************** III. NOTICES III.A.1. Fr: Heather Boyles Re: FARNET's Washington Update FARNET's Washington Update --- July 19, 1996 IN THIS ISSUE: o Access charges become subject of intense lobbying in run-up to FCC's release of interconnection rules o VA-HUD appropriations bill (including NSF) may come to Senate floor next week o Clinton administration sticks to its guns on key escrow encryption policy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Written from FARNET's Washington office, "FARNET's Washington Update" is a service to FARNET members and other interested subscribers. We gratefully acknowledge EDUCOM's NTTF and the Coalition for Networked Information for additional support. If you would like more information about the Update or would like to offer comments or suggestions, please contact Heather Boyles at heather@farnet.org ********** III.A.2. Fr: GSLIS Publications Office Re: The Library Bill of Rights **This information, as well as abstracts from the articles, can be found at http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff/catalog/trends/45_1.html** "The Library Bill of Rights" Edited by Wayne A. Wiegand Library Trends 45(1) Summer 1996 Is the library profession hiding itself behind the Library Bill of Rights? How does the Library Bill of Rights apply to collection development in libraries, particularly when research has shown that libraries appropriate materials differently depending on their race, gender, and class? This latest issue of *Library Trends* is the result of a symposium on the role of the Library Bill of Rights in the past, the present, and the future. It offers the perspectives of historians, lawyers, and practicing librarians who point out that the meaning of the Bill has changed over time to meet the growing intricacies of library services, but may not be making great enough strides to keep up with the demands of modern society. The six articles are accompanied by an extensive bibliography portraying how the Library Bill of Rights has met the demands of intellectual freedom. "Readers should not look for a single theoretical foundation or philosophical perspective here; instead they should expect essays to reflect the richly diverse opinions of contributors....It is my hope that readers (and especially students and teachers of intellectual freedom courses in library schools across the country) will engage the thoughts of each of these scholars, debate the merits and demerits of their arguments, and carefully evaluate their research. Only then should they make up their minds. At the very least they should not walk away from this volume without questioning the validity and utility of the Library Bill of Rights, nor should they take solace in unsubstantiated absolutes that will not weather critical analysis outside our professional discourse." -- From the *Introduction* by Wayne A. Wiegand CONTRIBUTORS AND ARTICLES include: * Gordon B. Baldwin, The Library Bill of Rights--A Critique * Louis S. Robbins, Campions of a Cause: American Librarians and the Library Bill of Rights in the 1950s * Toni Samek, The Library Bill of Rights in the 1960s: One Profession, One Ethic * Dianne McAfee Hopkins, The Library Bill of Rights and School Library Media Programs * Shirley A. Wiegand, Reality Bites: The Collision of Rhetoric, Rights, and Reality and the Library Bill of Rights * Kathleen Nietzke Wolkoff, The Problem of Holocaust Denial Literature in Libraries * Chris Schladweiler, The Library Bill of Rights and Intellectual Freedom: A Selective Bibliography. FOR ORDER INFORMATION, CONTACT: University of Illinois Press, Journals Department, 1325 S. Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820. ISSN 0024-2594 Visit us on the WWW! http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff ********** III.B.1. Fr: Timothy Fossum Re: Energy Week Conference & Exhibition CALL FOR PAPERS Energy Week Conference and Exhibition Session on Natural Language in Human-Computer Interfaces Houston, TX January 28 - January 30, 1997 The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Petroleum Division is sponsoring the Energy Week Conference & Exhibition, at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. One symposium is devoted to various aspects of using computers in engineering. Attendees will be from both academia and industry. This year, one session of will consider the use of natural language in human-computer interfaces. The value of being able to use natural language to interact with computers is unquestioned. A natural language interface is a flexible and efficient means of communication. For example, a natural language interface for processing speech provides an additional means of communication if a human user's eyes and hands are occupied. Providing for dialogue, whether typed or spoken, allows for humans to collaborate effectively with computer systems that are becoming increasingly complex to use because of their capabilities. For these reasons, a user interface that can process natural language has the potential for simplifying an overly complex and unfriendly working environment. The diversity of natural applications is mirrored in the research communities that contribute to natural language research: computer science, engineering, medicine, geography, and business. The use of natural language in interfaces to problem-solving systems such as medical experts, software engineering tools, navigation tools, and database systems is becoming an increasingly important consideration. The aim of this session is to bring together researchers from two communities: 1. Researchers who are working on the design and/or implementation of systems that use natural language as a primary modality. Discussions should be relevant to engineering applications. 2. Researchers who are working on software tools for engineering applications where a natural language interface is being, or could be used. Papers should indicate how natural language is useful or could be useful in these applications. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to): * Empirical studies in designing human-computer interfaces with natural language * Multimodal interface designs that include natural language * Use of natural language in computer-supported cooperative work * Discussions of implemented systems that employ natural language * Knowledge representation and reasoning to support natural language in human-computer interfaces and cooperative work systems * Speech recognition and synthesis in interface design * Limitations and pitfalls of relying on natural language as an interface. Papers submitted to this session should show how their work addresses the issue of using natural language in the design of a human-computer interface providing as much detail of the problem area as is necessary to evaluate the work. Relevant examples of a system interacting with a user (either on paper or video) are encouraged. All presented papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Please contact the session organizers if you have any questions. We look forward to your contributions. This call for papers is available as a web page: http://cs.uwp.edu:80/staff/haller/Activities/etce97.html SESSION ORGANIZERS: Susan Haller Computer Science and Engineering Department University of Wisconsin -- Parkside 241 Molinaro Hall Phone: 414-595-2343 E-mail: haller@cs.uwp.edu Syed Ali Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee 3200 N. Cramer Street University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee Phone: 414-962-8560 E-mail: syali@tigger.cs.uwm.edu SEND SUBMISSIONS TO: Susan Haller Computer Science and Engineering Dept. University of Wisconsin - Parkside Kenosha, WI 53141-2000 E-mail: haller@cs.uwp.edu Tel.: (414) 595-2343 FAX.: (414) 595-2114 *Note: We encourage electronic submissions, either plain text or postscript. IMPORTANT DEADLINES: * Paper Submission (maximum of 8 pages): September 15, 1996 * Notification of acceptance: October 16, 1996 * Camera-ready copies due: November 15, 1996 * Energy Week Conference and Exhibition (Houston): Jan. 28 - Jan. 30, 1997 ********** III.C.1. Fr: Thomas P. Copley Re: Final Summer Make the Link Workshops MAKE THE LINK WORKSHOP (WORLD WIDE WEB FOR EVERYONE) Make the Link Workshop (World Wide Web for Everyone) is an eight week distance-learning workshop conducted entirely by e-mail. It introduces the beginner to the World Wide Web (WWW), the Internet's distributed hypermedia information system, as well as enhances the skills of the somewhat more experienced user. WWW's amazing growth has resulted largely from its ease of use and power to almost instantaneously transport a rich array of text, graphics, sound, programs, etc. to the computer desktop with the click of a mouse button. Having a WWW home page providing one's personal information has become the 1990's version of the business card, resume, telephone answering machine, and on occasion, electronic recreation area, all rolled into one. In fact, WWW provides the opportunity to participate and collaborate with others at many levels. The Make the Link Workshop will focus on how to gain maximum advantage from this simple to use, yet very sophisticated, Internet tool. The final Summer sessions of the Links Workshop are scheduled for August 5 - September 29 (links11) and August 19 - October 13 (links12). The cost of the workshop is $20 US. To get more information about the workshop, please send e-mail to info@arlington.com or to sign up for the Make the Link Workshop, please send an e-mail message to the address: majordomo@arlington.com and in the body of the message, include: subscribe links11 to subscribe to the session beginning August 5, and subscribe links12 to subscribe to the session that starts on August 19. This will automatically put you on the mailing list for more information about the workshop, and you will receive an acknowledgment with the particulars about signing up. You may sign off the list at any time and will not be charged any fee. If you have any difficulty signing up, please send e-mail to the address below in the signature line. ________________________________________________________________ THOMAS P. COPLEY tcopley@arlington.com Make the Link Workshop http://www.crl.com/~gorgon/ ********************************************************** IV. PROJECTS IV.D.1. Fr: Alexandra Owens <75227.1650@CompuServe.COM> Re: Writers to Hatch: Stop S1961 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF JOURNALISTS AND AUTHORS 1501 Broadway New York, New York 10036 tel 212-997-0947 fax 212-768-7414 e-mail 75227.1650@compuserve.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 18, 1996 WRITERS' GROUP ASKS SENATOR HATCH TO SLOW DOWN PLAN TO BRING COPYRIGHT OFFICE UNDER NEW SUPERAGENCY AND URGES FAXES CALLING FOR POSTPONEMENT The American Society of Journalists and Authors, the leading national organization of freelance nonfiction writers, has called on Senator Orrin Hatch to stop the rush to overhaul the United States Copyright Office. ASJA suggested that writers send faxes to Hatch, disapproving what appears to be a move to ram the proposal through, with virtually no public discussion, before Congress recesses in early August. Under a Senate bill (S1961) just introduced, the Copyright Office would be switched from the Library of Congress to the executive branch of government, where a new agency, to be called the United States Intellectual Property Organization, would be established to oversee patents, trademarks and copyrights. ASJA President Claire Safran, in a letter to the senator, called the proposal "far-reaching legislation that deserves careful study and sufficient time for public debate." The bill, The Omnibus Patent Act of 1996, was filed July 16; the Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing for July 23. A committee staff member conceded today that such speed is "not typical." The letter from the ASJA leader urged Hatch "to avoid trying to cure a low-grade fever with an untested medication that may have grave side effects for the entire creative community." According to an outline prepared by the Judiciary Committee, the plan would require copyright operations to be self-supporting. Advocates of writers and other copyright holders who heard of the Hatch bill before it was filed have expressed alarm that the arrangement would require drastic increases in copyright registration fees. The Copyright Office has estimated that the cost of registering an item--even a single article, poem or photograph--could rise from the current $20 to $100. Some have also expressed concern over putting copyright matters into the purview of political appointees. At the same time, skeptics are questioning why Congress should be in a hurry to give up its own control of the Copyright Office. ASJA, in a memo to members today, suggested they and other concerned writers send faxes to Hatch at 202-224-6331, telling him to delete the proposal for the new agency from the omnibus bill. The text of Safran's letter to Hatch follows: July 17, 1996 Senator Orrin G. Hatch Committee on the Judiciary Washington, DC 20510-6275 Dear Senator Hatch: The members of the American Society of Journalists and Authors are startled by the haste with which Senate Bill 1961 is being put forward. For us as writers, this bill, which would create a new "United States Intellectual Property Organization," would be far-reaching legislation that deserves careful study and sufficient time for public debate. We urge you to avoid hurry-up hearings and the possibility of a precipitous vote on so vital and complex a matter. These days, more than ever, writers need the protection of registered copyrights to guard against a startling epidemic of illegal use of our work, particularly in new media. Thus, among other serious concerns about the proposed structure change in the copyright office, we are especially alarmed by any new barriers that might be placed between us and that copyright protection. A recent budget study of the Office of the Register of Copyrights indicates that the removal of the Copyright Office from its current home could lead to a rise in the cost of copyright registration from its current $20 to $100 or more. Particularly for authors of magazine and newspaper articles, who may produce scores of articles each year, anything approaching this change would leave many naked and unprotected in the face of illegal use of their work. We understand that all may not be perfect in the current arrangement. Still, you are a serious and responsible legislator, and we call on you to avoid trying to cure a low-grade fever with an untested medication that may have grave side effects for the entire creative community. Sincerely, Claire Safran President cc: Senator Leahy Senator Daschle Senator Kennedy ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. Send subscription requests and submissions to: NCGUR@UCCMVSA.UCOP.EDU Editorial Staff: Clifford Lynch calur@uccmvsa.ucop.edu Nancy Gusack ncgur@uccmvsa.ucop.edu The IRLIST Archives is set up for anonymous FTP. Using anonymous FTP via the host ftp.dla.ucop.edu, the files will be found in the directory /data/ftp/pub/irl, stored in subdirectories by year (e.g., data/ftp/pub/irl/1993). Search or browse archived IR-L Digest issues on the Web at: http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/idom/irlist/ These files are not to be sold or used for commercial purposes. Contact Nancy Gusack for more information on IRLIST. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN IRLIST DO NOT REPRESENT THOSE OF THE EDITORS OR THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 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