New & Noteworthy

Citation

(2000), "New & Noteworthy", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 17 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2000.23917iab.002

New & Noteworthy

Association of Research LibrariesBegins E-Metrics Project

To address one of the vexing problems in the area of electronic resources for libraries, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), under the auspices of its New Measures Initiative, has begun a study to determine how to develop statistics and performance measures that address the delivery of networked information resources and services. Charles R. McClure and Wonsik "Jeff" Shim, Information Use Management and Policy Institute, Florida State University, will direct the e-metrics study, which includes the participation of 23 ARL member libraries.

"ARL libraries have become increasingly interested in finding ways to gather consistent and comparable data to evaluate our electronic information services. This project will help administrators make better decisions regarding the purchase and deployment of these new resources that are taking a greater and greater share of our budgets," said Rush Miller, University Librarian and Director, University Library System, University of Pittsburgh. Miller and Sherrie Schmidt, Dean of University Libraries, Arizona State University, serve as co-chairs of the project for ARL.

The e-metrics project will be conducted in three phases. Phase one (May-October 2000) will gather in a systematic way information about current ARL libraries' best practices in statistics, measures, processes, and activities that pertain to networked resources and services. The resulting inventory and analysis will serve as a basis for the second phase of the project, to be conducted November 2000-June 2001. During that time, a methodology will be developed and tested to assess the degree to which such data collection is possible and collected data are comparable among member libraries. During the project's third and final phase (July 2001-December 2001), a set of refined measures will be proposed to ARL, complete with data descriptions and guidelines for data collection, analysis, and use. According to an ARL release, the products from the project ­ a set of tools, processes, and techniques ­ will be useful to the library community in general as it looks to provide electronic resources to their communities.

A separate task force from within the project will focus on working with vendor-based database products to arrive at agreed-upon data element definitions and terms, specific data that can be collected, and methods for reporting data to libraries. This ARL Task Force on Statistics from Vendor-Based Database Products will also be building on existing work in the field.

Participating institutions include University of Alberta, Arizona State University, Auburn University, University of Chicago, University of Connecticut, Cornell University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Manitoba, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Nebraska, New York Public Library, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh, Purdue University, University of Southern California, Texas A&M University, Virginia Tech University, University of Western Ontario, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Yale University. The institutions are providing both the financial resources for the project as well as staff time for data collection and testing of methodologies.

An article about the project can be found at http://www.arl.org/newsltr/210/emetrics.html Throughout the project's three phases, information about the study and its activities will be available through the ARL New Measures Initiative Web site at http://www.arl.org/stats/newmeas/newmeas.html For further information, contact Rush Miller, University of Pittsburgh rgmiller@pitt.edu Sherrie Schmidt, Arizona State University sherrie.schmidt@asu.edu or Martha Kyrillidou, ARL Senior Program Office for Statistics and Measurement martha@arl.org

Association of Research Libraries: c/o Julia Blixrud, Director of Information Services, 21 Dupont Circle #800, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: (202) 296-2296; Fax: (202) 872-0884; E-mail: jblix@arl.org

Digital Libraries Federation and Research Libraries GroupIssue Guides for Digitizing Visual Resources

The Digital Library Federation (DLF) and Research Libraries Group (RLG) have issued Guides to Quality in Visual Resource Imaging, available at www.rlg.org/visguides/ According to a joint DLF/RLG release, this new reference is designed for the growing community of museums, archives, and research libraries that are turning to digital conversion to provide greater access to their visual resources and to help preserve the original materials. "Visual resources" include original photographs, prints, drawings, and maps. The guides provide concrete guidelines as well as help in addressing rapidly changing aspects of technology and practice.

The five guides ­ which discuss project planning, scanner selection, considerations for imaging systems, digital master quality, and masters' storage ­ share the experience and knowledge of leaders in this field. In addition to providing advice based on the uses to which the images will be put and the technology now available, they also flag areas where further research and testing are needed.

The guides are the outcome of a project begun by DLF and RLG in 1998, when they created an editorial board of experts to review the state of the art in digital imaging of visual resources. Although sources for instruction in digitizing text or text and images existed (and more have become available since then), none specifically addressed the challenges of two- and three-dimensional, as well as color-intensive, materials. The editorial board outlined a set of guides needed in the science of imaging ­ objective measures for image qualities and how they can be controlled in various aspects of the imaging process. DLF then commissioned board-recommended authors to write the guides, which the two organizations have now jointly published.

The guides are:

Planning a Digital Imaging Project, by Linda Serenson Colet, Museum of Modern Art;

Selecting a Scanner, by Don Williams, Eastman Kodak Company;

Imaging Systems: The Range of Factors Affecting Image Quality, by Donald D'Amato, Mitretek Systems;

Measuring Quality of Digital Masters; and

File Formats for Digital Masters, both by Franziska Frey, Image Permanence Institute.

According to the release, each guide is a module that can stand on its own; as a set, the guides provide comprehensive advice on how to find what an imaging team needs to accomplish stated goals with the available technology. The guides also help to clarify the consequences of trade-offs that all managers must make to stay within their organizations' means. The guides will be updated periodically.

Digital Libraries Federation: c/o Daniel Greenstein, Director. Tel: (202) 939-4762; E-mail: dgreenstein@clir.org

Research Libraries Group: c/o Jennifer Hartzell, Manager, Corporate Communications, 1200 Villa Street, Mountain View, California 94041-1100. Tel: (650) 691-2207; Fax: (650) 964-1461; E-mail: jlh@notes.rlg.org; http://www.rlg.org/toc.html

FundingFactoryAnnounces Virtual Book Fair Program, edBookFair

FundingFactory.com's newest fundraising program, edBookFair, is an online book fair that eliminates the need for educators and school volunteers to manage book fairs manually. From www.edbookfair.com a school can personalize and merchandize a virtual book fair within 30 minutes. FundingFactory demonstrated the program at the American Library Association annual convention in Chicago. It went live in the fall.

From edBookFair, schools can create messages for shoppers and display book reviews and recommendations. Shoppers can search for a school by typing in a zip code, view the school's individual book fair page, and select from thousands of titles. A percentage of each purchase is credited back to the school in the form of points that can be exchanged for technology through the FundingFactory online catalog.

EdBookFair represents Funding Factory's third fundraising program offered to schools. The first program, ETCEP (Educational Technology and Conservation Exchange Program), enables schools to collect empty laser and inkjet printer cartridges from their communities in exchange for free classroom technology products. Launched in 1998, ETCEP now has more than 10,000 K-12 schools enrolled in the program. Collectively they have earned more than a half-million dollars in computer technology. FundingFactory's other fundraising program, MaxBack.com, an online shopping fundraiser that returns 100 percent of earned commissions back to designated schools, now has been integrated to the main Web site.

Funding Factory.com: c/o David Steffens dave@fundingfactory.com or Anne Wainscott wainscotta@aol.com Tel: (609) 730-0539/(404) 351-8973, http://www.fundingfactory.com

BioOneLicenses Content for First Set of Bioscience Journals

BioOne http://www.BioOne.org a new Web-based aggregation of research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences, has announced the first set of highly cited, peer-reviewed journals that has licensed content to BioOne. Additional societies and journals are in the process of signing on and will be announced shortly, according to a recent press release. BioOne's launch is set for 2001.

Ambio (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences); BioScience (American Institute of Biological Sciences); Cell Stress and Chaperones (Cell Stress Society International); The Bryologist (American Bryological and Lichenological Society); and Wetlands and SWS Bulletin Abstracts (Society of Wetland Scientists) have recently joined BioOne.

The American Biology Teacher (National Association of Biology Teachers); American Zoologist (Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology); Condor (Cooper Ornithological Society); and Novitates, AMNH Bulletin, and Lecture Series (American Museum of Natural History) are among the additional journals in the final stages of completing the BioOne licensing agreement.

The journals represent a range of disciplines.

To reach the library market, BioOne and Amigos have signed a letter of intent naming Amigos BioOne's exclusive US marketer and distributor. Amigos will also provide full customer and user support for the US market.

A broad selection of the journals published by many of the AIBS' more than 70 member societies will form BioOne's core offerings. BioOne's development has been spearheaded by its collaborating organizations, including AIBS, SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), the University of Kansas, the Big 12 Plus Libraries Consortium, and Allen Press. BioOne development has been funded by SPARC and Big 12 Plus member libraries, along with other institutions.

BioOne: c/o Alison Buckholtz, Assistant Director, Communications, SPARC, 21 Dupont Circle, Ste. 800, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: (202) 296-2296 #115; Fax: (202) 872-0884; E-mail: alison@arl.org; http://www.arl.org/sparc