LaTes, 'TESLA at Midwinter', LITA Newsletter v15n02
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/lita/lita-v15n02-lates-tesla

V15N2.STFARE LITANEWS
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Standard Fare
Pierre Badin LaTes, VII
 
TESLA at Midwinter
 
SANDY PAUL GAVE a detailed report on BISAC and SISAC developments. At
a meeting with local systems vendors during Midwinter, BISAC and SISAC
leadership were told that the two requirements for conversion to the
ANSI X12 standards are EDI on the Internet and a library subset of the
X12 transactions. The Internet Engineering Task Force is working on
the former; BISAC and SISAC will start working on the latter with the
Book and Serial Purchase Order.
   The Spring/Summer issue of SISAC News should include a list of book
and serial purchase order data elements, for consideration by a group
developing a mandatory library subset of data elements at a meeting
the Thursday or Friday before the 1994 ALA Annual Conference. Anyone
interested in participating in such a meeting should provide his or
her name, contact information and date of preference to the SISAC
office, 160 Fifth Ave, NY, NY 10010; Internet: 4164812@mcimail.com;
(212) 929-1393; fax (212) 989-7542.
   ANSI Z39.49, the old BISAC fixed field purchase order format, is
due for review, and the question of revision (to agree with X12) vs.
withdrawal will be considered at the BISAC meeting in March.
   The project for a two-dimensional bar code to encode table of
contents (TOC) information (which began in Europe) has been
discontinued. The group is now looking into standards for TOC data
elements for use in electronic transmissions. SISAC is working with
the British on this.   A NISO Standards Committee has been 
established to revise ANSI/NISO
Z39.56, the Serial Item and Contribution Identifier (SICI) standard.
   Jeff Rehbach, Chair of the Online Catalog Interest Group, attended
Saturday's meeting. The OCIG is cosponsor for the Z39.50 Program for
Miami (described in "LITA News" in this issue), and Jeff has taken the
lead in organizing the program. Discussion dealt with the program's
content and logistics (e.g., anticipated number of attendees,
audiotaping, live demonstrations of systems vs. "slide shows," making
handouts available via anonymous ftp).
   TESLA's responsibility for standards review was a topic at both
meetings. Review of standards has not been a major activity within
TESLA, partly because TESLA does not have expertise in all areas
addressed by standards. (Some TESLA members review standards for their
employing organizations.) There was consensus to continue the practice
where the TESLA Chair announces receipt of standards to be reviewed
and asks for volunteers.
   LITA's new Strategic Plan includes the development of new
mechanisms for the timely review of standards, including a permanent
subcommittee for the review of standards. TESLA's preference is for a
Committee of the Whole, to maximize available expertise. It was also
noted that, for emerging standards, expertise may lie in other
divisions.
   With respect to standards, TESLA's principal role has been
educational. TESLA's programs on important standards "that will change
your world" (e.g., Z39.50) have prepared the library community for
significant developments. LITA's new Strategic Plan does not include
an educational charge to TESLA; addition of this was requested by the
TESLA Chair and has been approved.
   MARBI asked for input from TESLA for its self-evaluation. The
consensus was that there was no problem with the status quo.
   The functions of the NISO-L and TESLA listservs were discussed.
There have already been a number of attempts to subscribe to the
(currently closed) TESLA list. It was agreed that there should be a
closed list for TESLA business; the TESLA list is to be made public
and will be unmoderated unless experience shows that there needs to be
a moderator. ("TESLA" is being used for the public list for name
recognition.) The three lists will be:
 
*NISO-L under the control of NISO (no change from current status);
 
*TESLA, a public and unmoderated list for the discussion of standards
 issues;
 
*A closed list for TESLA members and advisers, for TESLA business.
 
   Topics for future preconferences or programs were discussed at
Monday's meeting. Two were identified: the Unicode standard and
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). The earliest feasible
date would be the 1995 Annual Conference; the LITA/LAMA Joint National
Conference in 1996 would be another possibility. The TESLA Chair
reports that the LITA Program Planning Committee was quite
enthusiastic about these ideas.