Developments in Libraries and related sectors Paul Miller UK Interoperability Focus

Information Environments Include… Archives Cultural Heritage Sector museums, art galleries, heritage agencies Libraries both ‘traditional’ and ‘hybrid’ ‘Living Resources’ Reuters news feed, live stock data, the Mars Pathfinder site etc.

Accessing Information Environments …but getting at them isn’t always easy...

Smoothing the Path Adoption of standards helps… consistent description of resources –helps curators curate and finders find consistent, replicable, access mechanisms –encourage repeat visits, and allow ‘clumping’ adoption of extra–community initiatives –reduce duplication of effort, and enhance the D(I)NER for all….

On the Information Superhighway Information on the Internet can be available to all... Arts & Humanities Data Service National Monuments Record of Scotland COPAC unified library catalogue National Register of Archives BBC News.

A selection of building blocks Archives ISAD(G) — General International Standard Archival Description EAD — Encoded Archival Description.

A selection of building blocks Cultural Heritage Sector SPECTRUM CIMI Profile ICOM/CIDOC Core Data Standard < archst0.htm > Controlled terminologies and thesauri e.g..

A selection of building blocks Libraries MARC Z39.50 ISO ILL IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records.

A selection of building blocks Cross–sectoral IMS Dublin Core Resource Description Framework (RDF) …and, increasingly, Z39.50.

Don’t forget... Consistent application of standards for data recording, description and dissemination is only part of the picture You also need: –Intra–/Inter–discipline agreement on; –what to make available –how to disseminate it –why it is being made available at all –effective integration into (often remote) teaching/learning environment –effective delivery of support –A product that people want!