1 Convergence and Technology Dr. Paul Miller Interoperability Focus UK Office for Library & Information Networking (U KOLN ) U KOLN is funded by Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, the Joint Information Systems Committee (J ISC ) of the Further and Higher Education Funding Councils, as well as by project funding from J ISC and the EU. U KOLN also receives support from the Universities of Bath and Hull where staff are based.

2 Convergence All around the world, memory institutions are merging or converging Agendas are shifting from preservation to access Joined up Government –e–GIF/ Metadata Framework nof–DIGI –Technical guidelines the DNER –Technical guidelines in preparation People’s Network NGfL/ LearnDirect/ UfI/ e–University –MEG

3 Convergence and the user At last…! Most general users require information, rather than specific library books, museum objects, or archival folios. …but does claimed convergence raise hopes of a converged service… …and should we stop here?

4 Convergence and the organization Creates opportunities …that institutions need to seize… Potentially problematic in the short term Change of language Change of focus Necessity to compromise long–held procedures/beliefs to enable communication Standards are different Greater competition for the same funding?

5 Pros The sectors are meeting user needs User focussed rather than institutionally determined Potential for acquisition of new knowledge, between sectors and on the boundaries Cross–domain Cross–fertilisation of ideas, practices, and experience Innovation and evolution.

6 Cons It won’t happen overnight, yet expectations are being raised already Need to change (some) staff perceptions “It’s just too hard” “What do libraries/museums/archives have in common with archives/museums/libraries, anyway?!” “Over my dead body” There’s a lot to do… …but a lot to be gained by doing it.

7 Issues Access v. Preservation Item v. copy v. collection MARC v. EAD/ISAD(G) v. … The notion of collection description Rights/IPR very different Remember, though… differences can be greater between two libraries than between a library and a museum…

8 Solving problems Standards often developed within a domain… …but now we need new standards that break across boundaries… Dublin Core XML/RDF The Bath Profile …

9 Some Joined up working: The Bath Profile Vendors and systems implement areas of the Z39.50 standard differently Regional, National, and disciplinary Profiles have appeared over previous years, many of which have basic functions in common Users wish to search across national/regional boundaries, and between vendors. See

10 Learning from the past The Bath Profile is heavily influenced by ATS–1 CENL DanZIG MODELS ONE Z Texas vCUC See

11 Learning from the past See

12 Doing the work ZIP–PIZ–L mailing list, hosted by National Library of Canada Meeting face–to–face JISC supported a face–to–face meeting in Bath (UK) over the summer of 1999 A draft was widely circulated for comment ISO accreditation process Resulting in Internationally Registered Profile status Ongoing Maintenance Agency activity. See

13 Makx Dekkers PricewaterhouseCoopers/ EC Janifer Gatenby GEAC Juha Hakala National Library of Finland Poul Henrik Jørgensen Danish Library Centre Carrol Lunau National Library of Canada Paul Miller UKOLN Slavko Manojlovich SIRSI/ Memorial University of Newfoundland Bill Moen University of North Texas Judith Pearce National Library of Australia Joe Zeeman CGI. Doing the work See

14 What we proposed Minimisation of ‘defaults’ Where possible, every attribute is defined in the Profile (Use, Relation, Position, Structure, Truncation, Completeness) Three Functional Areas Basic Bibliographic Search & Retrieval Bibliographic Holdings Search & Retrieval Cross–Domain Search & Retrieval Three Levels of Conformance in each Area. See

15 What we proposed SUTRS or XML and UNIMARC or MARC21 for Bibliographic Search results SUTRS and Dublin Core (in XML) for Cross–Domain results Other record syntaxes also permitted, but conformant tools must support at least these. See

16 Making it work… Interoperability suite MARC21 in Texas UNIMARC and cross–domain in Europe? Direct approaches to international vendors User testing in Europe and North America Addition of Functional Areas and Levels of Conformance as required Community Information? See

17 Conclusion Convergence is happening Convergence is a good thing… …but requires some of us to change.