Noteworthy

DRA Release 1 of the Counter Code of Practice for Usage Factors

The Draft Release 1 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for Usage Factors, is one of the most significant outcomes to-date of the Usage Factor project, and is an important part of the final stage of the project, which will take Usage Factor forward to full implementation.

The overall aim of the Usage Factor project is to explore how online journal usage statistics might form the basis of a new measure of journal impact and quality, the Usage Factor (UF). The Draft Release 1 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for Usage Factors, is one of the most significant outcomes to- date of the Usage Factor project, and is an important part of the final stage of the project, which will take Usage Factor forward to full implementation.

Counter’s purpose in publishing this draft release 1 now, is threefold:

• First, it sets out a formal, detailed standard for the recording, reporting, and maintenance of Usage Factors, solidly based on the outcomes of Stages 1 and 2 of the Usage Factor project
• Second, it provides a document for interested parties to review and comment upon, which we encourage, as this will greatly help us develop a definitive, implementable Code of Practice.
• Third, it provides a framework for selected publishers and other organizations to do more extensive testing of the proposed processes for recording and reporting Usage Factors

The draft will be available for comment on the COUNTER website until September 30, 2012. Comments should be sent to Peter Shepherd, COUNTER Director.

Counter CoP for usage Factors: www.projectcounter.org/usage_factor.html

Unified Digital Format Registry Launched

The University of California Curation Center (UC3) at the California Digital Library (CDL) announced the availability of the Unified Digital Format Registry (UDFR), a new semantically-enabled, community-supported open source platform for the collection, long-term management, and dissemination of the significant properties of formats of interest to the preservation community. A deep understanding of digital formats is necessary to support the long-term preservation of digital assets, as it facilitates the preservation of the information content of those assets, rather than just their bit stream representations. A format is the set of syntactic and semantic rules that govern the mapping between information and the bits that represent that information. The UDFR is expected to become a key piece of preservation infrastructure of use to the international preservation, curation, and repository communities.

The UDFR builds upon and “unifies” the function and holdings of two existing registry solutions: PRONOM, from the UK National Archives; and GDFR (Global Digital Format Registry), from Harvard University. While these services rely on older relational and XML database technology, the UDFR uses a semantic database in which all information is represented in RDF form and exposed as Linked Data for interoperability with the evolving semantic web. Use of the UDFR is open to the public, although contribution or editing of information requires prior self-service account registration.

The UDFR was developed by UC3 with funding from the Library of Congress as part of its National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP).

The UDFR is available at: udfr.org/

Use of the UDFR is open to the public, although contribution or editing of information requires prior self-service account registration.

Ringgold and Bowker Appointed as ISNI Registration Agencies for Institutions

The ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) that is responsible for the administration of ISO 27729, International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI), has appointed Ringgold, Inc. as the first registration agency for assignment of ISNIs to institutions. Ringgold will incorporate ISNIs into its Identify database of institutional identifiers and will provide a free look-up service at www.openidentify.com which, after registration, enables users to search for and obtain an institutional identification number. The ISNI-IA has also appointed Bowker as the first U.S. registration agency for ISNIs. Bowker, an affiliated business of ProQuest, will be assigning ISNIs across the standard’s scope in addition to institutions.

The ISNI standard was developed as an identifier for parties involved throughout the media content industries http://www.ringgold.com/, including authors, musicians, publishers, rights holders, and even fictional characters. NISO’s Institutional Identifier (I²) Working Group reached agreement with the ISNI International Agency to apply the ISNI to institutions in addition to the originally attended scope, rather than developing an additional identifier standard just for institutions.

The ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) was founded by CISAC, the Conference of European National Librarians (represented by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the British Library), IFRRO, IPDA, OCLC, and ProQuest and appointed by ISO to administer implementation of the ISNI standard.

ISNI International Agency www.isni.org

NISO I² Working Group: www.niso.org/workrooms/i2

Ringgold: www.ringgold.com/

Bowker: www.bowker.com/

W3C Launches Linked Data Platform Working Group

The World Wide Web Consortium announced the formation in may 2012 of a new Linked Data Platform (LDP) Working group to promote the use of linked data on the Web. Per its charter, the group will explain how to use a core set of services and technologies to build powerful applications capable of integrating public data, secured enterprise data, and personal data. the platform will be based on proven Web technologies including HTTP for transport, and RDF and other Semantic Web standards for data integration and reuse. the group will produce supporting materials, such as a description of uses cases, a list of requirements, and a test suite and/or validation tools to help ensure interoperability and correct implementation.

The group’s work is intended to complement SPARQL and bring the data integration features of RDF to reStful, data-oriented software development. one or more W3C recommendations will be produced that define a RESTful way to read and write Linked Data, suitable for use in application integration and the construction of interoperable and modular software systems. First public Working Drafts are expected to be published in October 2012.

LDP Working Group Charter: www.w3.org/2012/ldp/charter

StAy Up to Date on NISO News & Events: www.niso.org/news

MARBI disbanded; New ALCTS/LITA Metadata Standards Committee Formed

The Library and Information Technology Association and the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), with the support of Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)—all divisions of the American Library Association—have formed the ALCTS/LITA Metadata Standards Committee, according to Zoe Stewart-Marshall, LITA 2012/13 President.

Marshall states that, “the ALCTS/LITA Metadata Standards Committee will play a leadership role in the creation and development of metadata standards for bibliographic information. The Committee will review and evaluate proposed standards; recommend approval of standards in conformity with ALA policy; establish a mechanism for the continuing review of standards (including the monitoring of further development); provide commentary on the content of various implementations of standards to concerned agencies; and maintain liaison with concerned units within ALA and relevant outside agencies.”

In announcing the formation of the new standards committee, Marshall also said that “the three ALA divisions have also voted to disband the ALCTS/LITA/RUSA Machine- Readable Bibliographic Information (MARBI) Committee, as of June 30, 2013. After June 2013, the MARC Advisory Committee (MAC) is expected to continue to advise the Library of Congress on MARC development. While there will no longer be MARBI involvement with MAC, other ALA representatives and liaisons as noted on the MAC roster will continue to advise LC about MARC. If a major issue related to MARC requires the attention of a voting ALA body, the issue may be brought to the new ALCTS/LITA Metadata Standards Committee. MARC, however, is not expected to be the prevailing focus of the new ALCTS/LITA committee. For the past several decades, MARBI has played a critical role in improving library metadata, particularly the MARC formats. ALCTS, LITA, and RUSA thank all those who have contributed to MARBI’s many accomplishments. We look forward to working with the metadata community broadly in developing and monitoring current and emerging metadata standards.”

The Metadata Standards Committee will begin its work at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, January 2013.

LitA: www.ala.org/lita/

ALCTS: www.ala.org/alcts/

MARC Advisory Committee: www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/advisory2.html