W3C Publications on Best Practices for Data on the Web, Spatial Data on the Web Use Cases and Requirements, and CSV on the Web

The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Data on the Web Best Practices Working Group has published working drafts on data quality vocabulary and data on the web best practices, reports INFOdocket. The data quality vocabulary document, says W3C, "sets out a consistent means by which information can be provided such that a potential user of a dataset can make his/her own judgment about its fitness for purpose." The other draft, concerning data on the web, emphasizes that data and their usage should be discoverable and understandable by both people and machines, with a view to facilitating interaction between publishers and consumers.

In another project, which is underway in collaboration with OGC (The Open Geospatial Consortium), W3C's Spatial Data on the Web Working Group has released a "Group Note of Spatial Data on the Web Use Cases & Requirements," which "describes use cases that demand a combination of geospatial and non-geospatial data sources and techniques."

Lastly, W3C has released recommendations regarding the treatment of CSV (tabular data) and its metadata on the web. The documents are: "Model for Tabular Data and Metadata on the Web," "Metadata Vocabulary for Tabular Data," "Generating JSON from Tabular Data on the Web," and "Generating RDF from Tabular Data on the Web."

More information about these porjects are available on the W3C website.

U.S. Copyright Office Announces DMCA "Operation" Study

Following a request from the House Judiciary Committee's Ranking Member to the Register of Copyrights, the Library of Congress has announced that it is seeking public comment on "the impact and efficacy" of Section 1201 of Title 17 of DOMA. Among other things, this section "prohibits the circumvention of technological measures employed by or on behalf of copyright owners to control access to their works […] as well as the trafficking in technologies or services that facilitate such circumvention." Comments must be submitted by February 25, 2016.

ISO Publishes New Code of Practice for Information Security Controls for Cloud Services, ISO/IEC-27017

Released in December 2015, ISO/IEC 27017 is concerned with information security for both cloud services providers and consumers. It supplements ISO/IEC 27002 and other ISO27k standards that address the privacy, business continuity, and relationship-management aspects of cloud computing.

ISO Publishes Standard to Improve Inter-organizational and Inter-sector Communications

ISO/IEC 27010 "Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management for inter-sector and inter-organizational communications" was released on December 15, 2015. The sector-specific addition to the ISO/IEC 27000 toolbox offers additional guidance on the initiation, implementation, maintenance, and improvement of information security in inter-organizational and inter-sector communications. The standard has an ambitious scope; it aims to address the exchange of information and protection of information-related infrastructure of bodies as large as nation states. ISO/IEC 27010, says ISO, is designed to encourage "the international growth of information sharing communities."

ISO 11799:2015, Information and Documentation — Document Storage Requirements for Archive and Library Materials

An updated standard published in December, ISO 11799:2015 "specifies the characteristics of repositories used for the long-term storage of archive and library materials. It covers the siting and construction and renovation of the building and the installation and equipment to be used both within and around the building. It applies to all archive and library materials held in repositories, where mixed media may be stored together with paper-based materials. It does not preclude the establishment of separate areas or compartments within individual repositories, where the environment can be controlled to create conditions suitable for the needs of specific archive materials."

Information and Documentation on the Romanization of Chinese is Published as ISO 7098:2015

Updating 1982 and 1991 versions of the standard, this edition of ISO 7098:2015 describes the principles behind the Romanization of Modern Chinese Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese). ISO explains that the update "is in response to new application needs, for instance to reflect current Chinese romanization practice and new developments in China and the rest of the world."

Peter Brantley on "Why James Billington's Retirement is a Wake-Up Call for Librarians"

Publishers Weekly, December 18, 2015; by Peter Brantley

In an article in the December 1 issue of Publisher's Weekly, Peter Brantley, a contributing editor at the magazine and Director of Online Strategy for the University of California Davis Library, laments the lack of innovation at the Library of Congress. "With its unique historical collections," says Brantley, "the Library of Congress should be among the most important digital libraries in the world. But it is not." According to the author, the problem is not all due to the staid Billington's long tenure.

NISO Note: The Library of Congress discussed is a member of NISO; UC Davis, where Peter Brantley works, is an LSA Member.

ProQuest Completes Acquisition of Ex Libris

Library Journal, October 7, 2015; by Matt Enis

"In a move that will combine two of the world's largest academic library solutions providers, on October 6 ProQuest signed an agreement to acquire Ex Libris Group from private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. Officials stated that ProQuest's information resources and expertise in electronic resources management will pair well with Ex Libris's library automation tools, combining to span 'print, electronic, and digital content, as well as solutions for library management, discovery, and research workflows.'"

NISO Note: Both ProQuest and Ex Libris are Voting Members of NISO.

Creative Commons releases "State of the Commons Report"

Creative Commons, December 2015.

Creative Commons (CC) CEO Ryan Merkley calls his organization's 2015 "State of the Commons Report" "our best effort to measure the immeasurable scope of the commons by looking at the CC licensed content, along with content marked as public domain, that comprise the slice of the commons powered by CC tools." The report notes that there are now more than one billion CC licensed works in the Commons and that these works were viewed online 136 billion times last year. The report also includes a section of regional highlights for various areas across the globe.

IFLA appoints Gerald Leitner as Secretary General

IFLA, December 22, 2015.

On January 4, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) named Gerald Leitner, who is currently Secretary General of the Austrian Library Association, as IFLA Secretary General. On June 1, 2016, Leitner, who was previously head of library education in Austria, will replace the current director, Jennefer Nicholson, who is retiring.