Discussion List Archives

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

CEP 2000 Report

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

--Boundary_(ID_jyXId2N95MSJrQzum1xvvg)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Dear CEPites,

  Here attached my draft report on CEP activity in 2000. Please tear it
to pieces, correct it, tell me what I have forgotten, etc, etc, etc. No
holds barred. I've also attached my 2000 report on ICSTI since the CEP
report refers to this.

 Try and send your comments before I have the execsec and the ladies in
No. 2 at my heels, I've already sent in the budgets for the CEP and the
ICSTI representation.

H.

-- 
Howard Flack        http://www.unige.ch/crystal/ahdf/Howard.Flack.html
Laboratoire de Cristallographie               Phone: 41 (22) 702 62 49
24 quai Ernest-Ansermet             mailto:Howard.Flack@cryst.unige.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland                   Fax: 41 (22) 702 61 08

--Boundary_(ID_jyXId2N95MSJrQzum1xvvg)
Content-type: text/plain; name=2000.rep.txt; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
Content-disposition: inline; filename=2000.rep.txt



<H2>IUCr 2000 Report - Committee on Electronic Publishing, Dissemination =
and Storage of Information</H2>

<P>
<I>Information Services</I>: The CEP has continued its task as editorial =
body for the on-line information services of the IUCr. The highest priori=
ty is set on providing up-to-date information of use to the whole crystal=
lographic community. The rebranding and restructuring of the site as a pr=
eliminary for the restyling of the existing pages is approaching completi=
on. The information services are now called under the general name <I>Cry=
stallography Online</I> in tune with <I>Crystallography Journals Online</=
I>. The style and structure of Crystallography Online emphasizes the diff=
erent aspects of crystallography and projects of the community rather tha=
n the IUCr as an institution. This change has also entailed a considerabl=
e amount of work, almost complete, by the Executive Secretary to produce =
a modernized set of web pages for the purely institutional part of the IU=
Cr. It is hoped that the restyling can be completed during 2001 and a new=
, young and enthusiastic editor appointed to continue the work on this mu=
ch-appreciated service. An important goal is to move towards an integrate=
d approach to the dissemination of information and news within the crysta=
llographic community by print and electronic means. To this purpose the C=
EP maintains contact with other important players in the field, such as t=
he editor of the IUCr Newsletter, to ensure the diffusion of valuable sou=
rces of information by all means available.


<P> =

In 1998 the R&D group at Chester made a relational data analysis for a ne=
w version of the World Directory of Crystallographers allowing a large de=
gree of automation in the maintenance of this important facility. Due to =
the heavy work load in 1999, caused by the introduction of Crystallograph=
y Journals Online, it was not possible to implement the redesigned WDC un=
til now. It is intended that this work should be carried out early in 200=
1.


<P>
<I>NeXus CD-ROM</I>: Under the continued leadership of L. M. D. Cranswick=
 1000 copies of a new version of the <I>Xtal NeXus; Virtual Crystallograp=
hic Internet on CD-ROM</I> were produced. These CD-ROMs are distributed f=
ree of charge to laboratories and scientists with an interest in crystall=
ography lacking adequate connection to the internet. The CD-ROMs contain =
public domain software and copies of web sites of interest to crystallogr=
aphers. The CD-ROMs was publicized through many channels in such a way th=
at scientists have to apply to receive a copy. Distribution at some meeti=
ngs to participants from the developing world was also undertaken. The IU=
Cr is most grateful to ICSU for financial help to this project but regret=
s that the change in ICSU policy has meant that no funding is available f=
rom this source in 2001. It is nevertheless intended to continue this pro=
ject and to report that almost all of the 1000 CD-ROMs have now been dist=
ributed.

<P>
<I>Crystallography Journals Online</I>: The online journal service has co=
ntinued to evolve. From 1st September 2000 online access was available on=
ly to subscribers of the print journals. The IUCr has become a member of =
CROSSREF, the organization offering a viable system which enables article=
 cross referencing between journals of different publishers to be impleme=
nted. Individual online article sale was implemented during 2000 and subs=
equently put into service. The scanning of back issues of all IUCr journa=
ls is advancing well and it is hoped that all back articles will be onlin=
e late in 2001 or early 2002. During 2000 a policy document concerning th=
e archiving of IUCr journals has been drafted and discussed amongst the C=
EP and other interested parties. It has now been submitted to the Executi=
ve Committee for discussion and approval.

<P> =

<I>Meeting attendance</I>: H. D. Flack (IUCr representative to ICSTI) and=
 Y. Epelboin attended the ICSTI/ICSU Press interactive workshop on <I>Dig=
ital Archiving: Bringing Issues and Stakeholders Together</I>, held on 30=
th - 31st January 2000 in Paris, France. As a result of attending this me=
eting, the first draft of a proposed IUCr policy on archiving was compose=
d for deliberation and discussion by the CEP. Moreover this meeting broug=
ht to our attention the initial report of an international working group =
convened by the IASTMP (International Association of STM Publishers) conc=
erned with <I>defining and certifying electronic publication in science</=
I>. It is in the interest of the IUCr that this work be completed and fin=
alized (there are severe difficulties of vocabulary in the initial report=
) as it will prove useful in achieving viable IUCr policies in two domain=
s. The first concerns archiving and the second is in the field of accepta=
nce standards for article submission to journals as concerns their prior =
distribution in print or electronic form as a preprint.

<P>
In May 2000, H. D. Flack (IUCr representative to ICSTI), P. Strickland an=
d B. McMahon attended the annual ICSTI meeting in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Th=
e collaboration of H. D. Flack and B. McMahon in the ICSTI review of the =
OAIS (Open Archival Information System) enabled an improved version of th=
e proposed IUCr archiving policy to be drafted. (Details of the ICSTI mee=
tings are given in the report of the ICSTI representative.) The same pers=
ons made a day visit to CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) following the IC=
STI meeting. The in-house processes for producing abstracts, attributing =
registry numbers, chemical names and diagrams by CAS were explained and t=
he CAS ChemPort facility was demonstrated. Discussions centred around the=
 electronic delivery by IUCr to CAS of electronic headers for abstracts a=
nd came to a satisfactory conclusion. In the course of the discussions th=
e problem of publications in electronic-only journals was raised as it ap=
peared that these were not integrated into the CAS system.

<P>
In October 2000 B. McMahon (IUCr representative to CODATA) attended the C=
ODATA 2000 conference in Baveno/Stresa, Italy. As the worlds of electroni=
c publishing and scientific data overlap considerably, it is a significan=
t advantage to the CEP that amongst its members one now finds the represe=
ntatives both to ICSTI and to CODATA. In November 2000, H. D. Flack visit=
ed the IUCr editorial office in Chester. This provided an excellent oppor=
tunity for discussions both within the CEP and with the Executive Secreta=
ry, the Editor-in-Chief, the Promotions representative and numerous other=
 members of staff in Chester. In February 2001, H. D. Flack, B. McMahon, =
P. Strickland and J. Helliwell will attend the ICSU - UNESCO meeting <I>E=
lectronic Publishing in Science</I> in Paris, France.

<P>
L. M. D. Cranswick, Y. Epelboin, H. D. Flack (Chair), B. McMahon, P. Stri=
ckland. 31st December 2000



--Boundary_(ID_jyXId2N95MSJrQzum1xvvg)
Content-type: text/plain; name=icsti2000rep.txt; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
Content-disposition: inline; filename=icsti2000rep.txt

<H1>
IUCr 2000 Report - International Council for Scientific and Technical Inf=
ormation (ICSTI)
</H1>


<P>
The winter committee and discussion meeting was held in ICSU headquarters=
, Paris, France, 29th - 30th January 2000. This meeting enabled the busin=
ess of ICSTI to advance and provided an opportunity for reviewing the sta=
te of the various technical activities and issues concerned with informat=
ion policy. An important task concerned the policy to adopt for the repla=
cement of the ICSTI executive secretary due for retirement in September 2=
000. In the event the secretariat was put out to tender and from the offe=
rs received the ICSTI bureau selected the offer of IIA (Information Inter=
national Associates), a specialized consultancy established in the USA wi=
th whom ICSTI has had contacts for a considerable number of years. The ar=
rangement consists in the services of a part-time executive director expe=
rienced in stm publishing and a part-time secretary in Paris. =



<P> =

The above meeting was followed directly on 30th - 31st January by an ICST=
I/ICSU Press interactive workshop on <I>Digital Archiving: Bringing Issue=
s and Stakeholders Together</I>. Y. Epelboin, member of the IUCr's Commit=
tee on electronic publishing, dissemination and storage of information, a=
lso attended the workshop which had such success that it had to be held i=
n the UNESCO building as the ICSU headquarters proved to be too small. Th=
e principal speaker at the workshop was G. Hodge of IIA on <I>Beyond the =
ICSTI/CENDI Study: Setting the Stage</I>, and this was followed by sessio=
ns on <I>Models for Digital Archives</I> (T. van de Werf and C. Lupovici =
on  <I>The Open Archival Information System Framework as applied to Depos=
it Libraries in the NEDLIB project</I>, C. Lynch on <I>Open Archives: E-j=
ournal and E-print perspectives</I>, F. Pelle and S. Rozenfeld on <I>Elec=
tronic Archive Registry: The results of a URN-based experiment</I>), <I>T=
he Economics of sustainable archives</I> (J. T. Scott and T. Ingoldsby on=
 <I>The AIP Experience</I>, L. Pope on <I>The PubMedCentral Initiative</I=
> and K. Hunter on <I>The Elsevier Experience</I>) and <I>Policy and Stan=
dards Issues</I> (D. Marcum on <I>State of Legal Deposit Legislation</I>,=
 P. Gatenby on <I>Developing policy and best practice procedures at the N=
ational Library of Australia</I> and J. Rumble, <I>Emerging practices in =
the data community</I>). A presentation was also made by E. Sandewall on =
the initial deliberations of an international working group convened by t=
he IASTMP (International Association of STM Publishers) concerned with <I=
>defining and certifying electronic publication in science</I>. This appa=
rently rather dry subject is really of the utmost importance to a learned=
 society publisher such as the IUCr. The intention is to define clearly t=
he relationship between an electronic preprint and a final peer-reviewed =
publication in such a way as to achieve a balance between the rapidity of=
 the first with the authority and stability of the second. Such considera=
tions are more than useful in defining an archiving policy for the IUCr. =
The meeting as a whole provided a wonderful introduction and status repor=
t to electronic archiving in scientific publication and moreover the pres=
entation of the AIP was used by the chair of the IUCr's Committee on elec=
tronic publishing, dissemination and storage of information to produce th=
e first draft of a proposed IUCr policy on archiving.


<P>
<I>AGM 2000</I>: The annual meeting was held 19th - 22nd May in Columbus,=
 Ohio, USA, hosted by CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service). The IUCr's repres=
entative was accompanied to this meeting by the IUCr's managing editor an=
d the IUCr's Research and Development Officer. The three also paid a work=
ing visit to CAS after the ICSTI meeting. The main discussion session <I>=
Economic impacts of electronic publishing</I> on the 19th May was address=
ed by: R. J. Massie, CAS Director; M. Blume, AIP Editor-in-Chief; R. D. B=
ovenschulte, ACS Director; E. Pentz, CrossRef Executive Director; T. Ingo=
ldsby, AIP; J. Jordan, OCLC President; M. Wallin, KTHB; G. Giroud, EPO; T=
=2E Sanville, Ohiolink Executive Director. Due to the extremely poor weat=
her conditions around Detroit on the 18th May, this fascinating programme=
 was marred for the IUCr's representative by his absence at the morning s=
ession and advanced fatigue in the afternoon.

<P>
Some of ICSTI's projects are of particular relevance to the IUCr. One sho=
uld mention the IUPAC-CODATA-ICSTI project on the Standardization of Phys=
ico-Chemical Property Electronic Datafiles (IUCODIX) which seeks to bring=
 to the world of physical chemistry the advantages that CIF has brought t=
o crystallography. An INGENTA/ICSTI study will make an update to the 1996=
 ICSTI comparative study of access to journals through subscriptions and =
document delivery. It will investigate both the effect on journal subscri=
ptions of individual article sales and look to other aspects of user beha=
viour in an electronic environment. The IUCr representative and R&D manag=
er, amongst others, participated in the review of the OAIS (Open Archive =
Information System) reference model. This involved reading the voluminous=
 OAIS report and providing comments concerning its relevance and usefulne=
ss to the IUCr. These were collated and presented by G. Hodge at the meet=
ing and transmitted to the OAIS committee. OAIS is now well on its way to=
 becoming an ISO standard. It is our opinion that this model is highly re=
levant to the IUCr's electronic publication and archiving activity. Indee=
d the chairman of the CEP benefited directly from this experience by prod=
ucing a second draft of the proposed IUCr archive policy using the vocabu=
lary and terms of OAIS. This increases the clarity of the document immens=
ely.

<P>
At their annual meetings ICSTI invites short presentations from member or=
ganizations. The IUPAC representative presented their recent developments=
 including a commitment to CML (chemical markup language) and IChIP, the =
IUPAC chemical identifier project. Apparently IUPAC has taken the bold st=
ep of abolishing all commissions and now organizes its activities entirel=
y around projects. The undersigned presented the IUCr, and especially its=
 publishing activities, using the excellent slide presentation prepared i=
n Chester. JST presented JSTAGE, their Electronic Journal Publication and=
 Dissemination Center, which proved to be a system with several novel and=
 interesting features.

<P>
<I>Publications</I>: ICSTI maintains both a public web site at http://www=
=2Eicsti.org/ where the newsletter <I>ICSTI Forum</I>, published four tim=
es in 2000, and other general information are made available. A private s=
ection is available only to members, the IUCr representative sharing this=
 opportunity with the IUCr's committee on electronic publishing, dissemin=
ation and archival of information (CEP). Of particular interest to the IU=
Cr, Forum No. 33 of March 2000, presented some very interesting articles =
resulting from the ICSTI/ICSU digital archiving workshop held in Paris in=
 January 2000. Forum No. 34 presents information on digital libraries in =
Canada, No. 35 focuses on CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) and No. 36 is =
concerned with distance learning projects at DTIC and a presentation of t=
he National Library of Medicine in the USA.


<P> In 2001 the ICSTI winter committee meetings will be held in January i=
n Paris, France and the annual meeting will take place in the premises of=
 the European Patent Office in M=FCnich, Germany from 3rd to 7th May. For=
 the record, the 2002 annual meeting will take place at KTHB, Stockholm, =
Sweden and CISTI will host the 2003 meeting in Ottawa, Canada.

<P>
IUCr membership of ICSTI continues to fulfil its expectations by providin=
g a current source of documentation and personal contacts in the field of=
 scientific and technical information (electronic publishing).

<P>
H. D. Flack, 31st December 2000=

--Boundary_(ID_jyXId2N95MSJrQzum1xvvg)--

Reply to: [list | sender only]
International Union of Crystallography

Scientific Union Member of the International Science Council (admitted 1947). Member of CODATA, the ISC Committee on Data. Partner with UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in the International Year of Crystallography 2014.

International Science Council Scientific Freedom Policy

The IUCr observes the basic policy of non-discrimination and affirms the right and freedom of scientists to associate in international scientific activity without regard to such factors as ethnic origin, religion, citizenship, language, political stance, gender, sex or age, in accordance with the Statutes of the International Council for Science.

Useful links