ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 9 8 / C&R L News Coalition for Networked Information: The second year, part 2 By Thomas G. Kirk College Librarian Berea College and N oreen S. Alldredge D ean o f Libraries M ontana State University I n an effort to b e a catalyst for th e d evelop­ m e n t o f netw o rk ed inform ation services, th e C oalition for N etw o rk ed In form ation (C N I) be an am bitious set o f activities in 1991-92. T h e N o­ v e m b e r 2 1 -2 2 m eeting o f th e Task F o rce o f th e C oalition for N etw orked In form ation focused on th e d eveloping p rogram o f th e C oalition d u rin g its second year. T h e m eetin g in clu d ed sessions o f th e eight w orking groups, som e o f w hich w ere review ed in th e January issue o f C &R L N ew s. In addition, th e m eeting in clu d ed several m ajor p ap ers a n d re ­ viewed a variety o f individual pro jects (Project Briefings) a n d specific points o f in te re st (Synergy Sessions) w hich relate to netw o rk ed inform ation. Som e o f th e P ro ject Briefings an d Synergy Sessions Katz proposed a costing m ethod­ ology … [that] called f o r careful definition o f the units o f analysis and the need f o r generally accepted accounting practices. are highlighted in this issue along w ith sum m aries o f som e o f th e m ajor papers. T he C N I fall m e e tin g b egan w ith presen tatio n s on th e econom ics inform ation flow by R ichard N. Katz (special assistant, In fo rm atio n Systems and A dm inistration Services) a n d C zeslaw Jan Grycz (Scholarship a n d T echnology Study Project) b o th from th e U niversity o f C alifornia. In “Academ ic Inform ation M an agem ent at th e Crossroads: Tim e Again to R eview th e E conom ics” K atz p re s e n te d a m odel for cost cen ters in th e flow o f p rin te d infor­ m ation w hich m ight b e u sed to establish a baseline for analyzing th e econom ics o f alternative m odels o f netw o rk ed inform ation flow. A fter settin g th e context by reviewing th e c u rre n t state o f h ig h er ed ucation, dev elo p m en t o f n e t­ g w o rk ed inform ation services, an d life cycles o f technological change, K atz p ro p o se d a costing imnse thodology. H e called for careful definition o f th e u n its o f analysis an d th e n e e d for generally accep ted accounting p ractices for handling th e se units o f analysis. K atz’s costing m odel for p rin te d m aterial in ­ c lu d ed th e cost to (1) g e n erate th e m aterial which h e e q u a te d w ith th e p rice p aid by in stitu tio n to obtain th e m aterial. A dditional c o m p o n en ts o f th e costing m odel in clu d ed (2) processing (selection, c o n te n t control, a n d inventory control), (3) storage (conservation an d preservation, facility co n stru c­ tio n an d m aintenance, e q u ip m en t), a n d (4) circula­ tion (circulation logistics, re fe re n c e services, docu­ m e n t delivery, c u sto m er tim e). Synergy sessions • N ewsgroups, censorship, a n d policy in advance le d by P e te r G raham (R utgers U niver­ sity). • N etw o rk ed inform ation systems: can w e really m easure th e ir costs an d effectiveness led by R onald N aylor (U niversity o f Miami) and Sarah P ritc h ard (ARL). • T h e U niversity Licensing Pro g ram (T U ­ L IP ) le d b y K aren H u n te r o f E lsevier Science Publishers. • In tero p erab ility o f netw o rk ed inform a­ tion system s an d services led by Clifford Lynch (d irecto r o f library autom ation, office o f th e p re sid en t, U niversity o f California). • C oalition netw ork services le d by C raig Sum m erhill (C N I) rev iew edplans fo r th e devel­ o p m e n t o f th e C N I serv er an d o th e r n etw orked inform ation services. February 1992 / 99 Grycz review ed seven m odels o f th e econom ics o f netw orked inform ation. T h e seven m odels are: A cquisitions on d em a n d m odel N ational site licensing m odel D iscipline specific distribution services m odel A ugm ented p rin t m odel D istrib u te d inform ation m odel National Public Radio-like m odel Baseline m odel (Katz’s previously p re sen te d m odel) F o r each h e d re w a tten tio n to financial an d policy issues which n e e d to b e addressed if the econom ics o f th e m odels a re to b e u n d ersto o d an d co m p ared w ith on e another. Project briefings • D is trib u te d A udio D a ta b a s e System (D A D S) is a p ro je c t o f th e B elfer A udion Lab & Archive at Syracuse U niversity re p o rte d by W illiam Storm. • CLASS (C ornell University) an d Digital Preservation P ro ject (Yale University) which are preservation p rojects using scanning te c h ­ nology to cap tu re book page images e lectro n i­ cally. • T h e Synthesis C oalition for E ng in eerin g E du catio n (rep o rted by D avid M artin, engi­ n e erin g netw ork coordinator, Iow a State U ni­ versity, an d John Syalor, E n g in eerin g Library, C o rn ell U niversity) is a p ro ject to develop e d u ­ cational m aterials in electronic form at. • T h e Chronicle o f H igher Education O n­ line p ro ject re p o rte d by Ju d ith T u rn er, directo r o f C h ronicle Inform ation Services, explained th e effort to develop databases o f Chronicle inform ation for re m o te access o r loading on a local inform ation network. • Know ledge M anagem ent p ro ject-m odel d eveloped at Johns H opkins w hich is a collabo­ ration b e tw ee n libraries an d th e inform ation com m unity. This moves libraries from th e stor- age/retrieval m ode to on e o f inform ation tra n s­ fe r a n d th e n to know ledge m anagem ent. R ich­ ard L ucier, now a t th e U niversity o f California a t San Francisco, in ten d s to fu rth e r develop this m odel th u s involving th e library at th e beginning o f th e scholarly c om m unication process. • N ew pathw ays to a college d e g ree re ­ p o rte d by Steve E h rm a n n is an effort by th e A nnenberg/C P B Pro ject to provide educational m aterials in electronic a n d m u ltim ed ia formats. An ab breviated version o f Katz’s p a p er a n d m uch o f th e c o n te n t o f Grycz’s presen tatio n , b u t not w ritten by him , are in clu d ed in an issue o f Serials Review (volume 18, no. 1/2) which will b e published spring 1992. This will b e a useful sum m ary o f c u rre n t thinking ab out th e econom ics o f electronic inform ation. In a re la te d m atter, Paul Peterson, executive d ire c to r o f C N I, a n n o u n ced th e establishm ent o f C N I’s Rights for E lectro n ic Access to an d D elivery o f Inform ation (R E A D I) Program . “T h e C oalition’s W orking G ro u p on M odernization o f Scholarly Publication seeks to evaluate w h e th e r th e concept o f using co n tract law, in th e form o f licenses and re la te d a g reem en ts b etw een creators an d users o f pu b lish ed works, c an b e em ployed w ithin th e co n ­ text o f copyright law to facilitate th e flow o f n e t­ w orked inform ation. This effort starts from th e assum ption th a t p re s e n t copyright law m ay n o t n e e d to b e ch an g ed b u t th a t th ro u g h contracts copyright ow nership can b e p reserv ed w hile p ro ­ viding for use o f inform ation in electronic form. It is th e C oalition’s in te n t to develop a ‘straw ’ proposal w hich will pro m o te dialogue an d c o m m en t am ong th e various parties o f rights holders an d Coalition m em b ers.” (C N I C o n feren ce d ocum ents.) It is ex pected th a t th e program docu m en ts can b e re ­ view ed by th e C oalition’s Task F o rce a t its spring 1992 m eeting. D ouglas G re e n b erg (vice p resid en t, Am erican C ouncil o f L e a rn e d Societies) cap p ed o ff th e T h u rs­ day p rogram w ith an a fter-d in n er address on th e state o f a n d pro sp ects for n etw orked inform ation resources a n d services in th e hum anities, arts, and social sciences. G re e n b erg ch aracterized th e h u ­ m anities an d arts as ready for netw orked infor­ m ation b u t b ecause o f th e in ad eq u ate fu n d in g o f h u m anities research a n d th e lack o f useful m aterial in electronic form h e saw significant p roblem s in m aking n etw orked inform ation available to h u ­ m anities scholars. H e called for a g re a te r effort to convert o ld e r m aterials to m achine-readable form in o rd e r to m ake m ore m ach ine-readable m aterials available fo r h u m anities and arts scholars. H ow ­ ever, h e was n o t sanguine ab out th e funding for such efforts. Lewis M . B ranscom b (A lbert P ratt public service p rofessor a n d d ire c to r o f th e Science, Technology an d Public Policy Program at th e John F . K ennedy School o f G overnm ent at H arvard University) spoke on public policy processes by w hich N R E N m ight b e developed. T h e processes w ere d efin ed as th e d if f u s io n - , m is s i o n - o r p r o d u c e r - o r i e n t e d . B ranscom b c alled for a diffusion-oriented process b ecause it p rovides a “capability enabling policy.” T h e capability enabling policy provides a flexible approach w hich A m erican society needs. T h e next m eeting o f th e C oalition T ask F orce will b e M arch 2 5 -2 7 , 1992. ■ ■