1 Interoperability of Content: one view from the UK 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 Some examples…

3 Further and Higher Education…

4 JISC Joint Information Systems Committee –“…to stimulate and enable the cost–effective exploitation of information systems and to provide a high quality national network infrastructure…” –‘development’ not ‘research’ –Funded by ‘top–slice’ from the Further (college) and Higher (university) Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland –Funds the Network, eLib, the JISC Data Centres, UKOLN, the Focus posts, DNER Programme, etc.. See

5 eLib Electronic Libraries Programme Over $CAN30,000,000 of funding for a large number of small/medium–size projects in three Phases –Plus supporting work such as the MODELS workshops Phases 1 & 2 (now complete) explored –Electronic Publishing –e.g. intarch.ac.uk/ –Access to Network Resources (the Subject Gateways) –e.g. –Training services (e.g. Netskills), Pre–print services, etc.. See See

6 eLib Phase 3 Building upon success Hybrid Libraries Large scale resource discovery (Clumps) Preservation Turning successful Phase 1 & 2 projects into sustainable Services. See

7 The D… N… what? Distributed National Electronic Resource Policy aspiration of the Joint Information Systems Committee Intended to provide greater access to JISC’s Current Content Collection –RDN –AHDS –MIMAS, EDINA, BIDS/Ingenta, Data Archive –EDUSERVE –COPAC –eLib projects etc. See

8 Building the DNER Construction of various Portals to facilitate user–centric access ‘JISC Portal’ ? Data Centre Portals (EDINA, MIMAS…) Subject Portals (the RDN, ADS, etc.) Data Type Portals (images, movies, sound…) Institutional Portals (a Hybrid Library?) Personal Portals (Paul’s web!) Also providing other access to discrete resources. See

9 Building the DNER See Z39.50 as the ‘glue’ Thus, JISC funding of Bath Profile development, working closely with NLC and others around the world Also looking at Open Archives model within overall architecture Technical Standards document prepared by UKOLN and JISC applies immediately to the projects started by a $CAN20,000,000 funding allocation last summer; intended to make the DNER useful for learning and teaching Technical requirements for external contributors also written

10 Lifelong Learning…

11 nof–digi New Opportunities Fund receives money from the UK’s National Lottery nof–digi programme committing $CAN100,000,000 over 2–3 years to digitisation of learning materials for use in lifelong learning UKOLN providing coordinated (and partially mandatory) technical guidelines across the programme, and a support service. See See

12 Culture OnLine Announced September 2000 “ Culture Online’s remit would be to use digital technologies to widen access to the resources of the arts and cultural sector, for the purposes of learning and enjoyment both at school and throughout life.” $CAN 10,000,000 available just to scope issues! Building directly upon NOF, and the lessons it teaches New Culture Bill expected to establish an agency for Culture Online and associated funding stream; possibly on a par with current NOF funding. See

13 Reaching the Citizen…

14 Government 100% of government services available online by 2005 e–Envoy ensures compliance Focus upon services Focus upon the citizen Focus upon the Joined Up approach Recognition of multi–channel architecture UK currently eighth globally, but strong belief that framework being established now will serve to support 1 st class services. See Industries\Government\gove_study.xml See

15 Focus on services Deliver services to the citizen Services rather than resources –‘transactional’ web sites Not just about finding documents on a web site Change of address pilot now (quietly!) live; – – – See See

16 Focus on the Citizen Move away from the ‘silo mentality’ Citizens need/want access to information/services/resources –These exist in different parts of local and national government, organised according to internal needs or procedures, and packaged according to particular house styles and conventions –None of which helps the citizen who just wants a new wheely bin (a.k.a ‘Garbage can’/ ‘trash can’/ ‘dumpster’ ?) See

17 Recognise a multi– channel future The web is not the only game in town… Mobile phones/ WAP/ 3G PDAs Digital TV Telephone call centres One stop shop drop–in centres High street information kiosks The Post Office Banks Traditional access mechanisms So… create content once for near–automated repackaging and repurposing XML Schema/ XSL, etc….

18 UK Online Umbrella brand for e–Government portal developments –formerly me.gov Government efforts to promote e–Commerce –DTI’s Information Society Initiative (ISI) Government–funded IT training for the Citizen –learndirect, NGfL, etc. See

19 The e–GIF e–Government Interoperability Framework Technical standards and policies at the heart of e–Government Conformance is mandatory across the Public Sector Adoption of Internet and Web standards across government XML/XSL, plus government–specific schemas Change of Address service, for example, utilises XML Schemas to pass details between participants See

20 Metadata Framework Core plank of e–Government strategy e–Envoy working group Whitehall and Devolved Administrations I&DeA Resource UKOLN Scope includes metadata guidelines and the Pan– Government Thesaurus project. See

21 Metadata Framework Mandates the Dublin Core Some elements are made mandatory Probably adds Audience from AGLS, plus UK elements Disposal, Location, Preservation Endorses many of the recently approved DC Qualifiers mirrored.ukoln.ac.uk/dc/documents/rec/ dcmes–qualifiers Draft released early See mirrored.ukoln.ac.uk/dc/

22 Some conclusions…

23 Common themes… …whether actual or desirable… A vision –Access, Access, Access Effective scoping –Nothing can be all things to all people User rather than institutional focus –Are historical organisational structures really relevant? A managed programme –Requires funding, staff, and the power to mandate/ co–ordinate for the common good

24 Common themes… Considered deployment of standards –Bath Profile, Dublin Core, terminological controls, procedural controls, etc. –Don’t just adopt; help to shape –Interoperability Focus is active across a range of initiatives.

25 A proposal…

26 Let’s work together… Modernising Government ukonline / gateway.gov.uk NOF/ Culture Online etc. Government Online canada.gc.ca/ Canadian Cultural Portal etc. And that’s just the UK and Canada… So: –– can we find ways to effectively share experiences, and to seek out common solutions to those common problems that we face?