Efficient investment of resources isn't something that only corporate entities need to focus on. Every organization must be aware that the things required to get projects completed, such as time, funds, and volunteers, are all finite and possibly in short supply. While NISO has been extremely effective in using our limited resources to greatest effect, a focus on continual improvement is an important element of our success. This drive to improve has enabled NISO to triple the number of ongoing efforts we are able to manage. We have been able to effectively manage our resources while adding staff and investing in technology that contributes to our success.
As part of this process, one thing we have not yet done is reflect on the work that we have done and have published. Even the published standards and recommended practices in our portfolio require some investment of resources to confirm and maintain. There are standards and recommended practices that were important at the time they were developed, but as technology has changed, some parts of our portfolio simply aren't as important as they once were. Even when those standards or recommended practices remain in use, their application is limited, or practices related to those technologies have long since stabilized, and we need to ask ourselves whether the use of the standard justifies the time and energy necessary to maintain it. Of course, even when a specification is deprecated that does not necessarily mean that the related technology ceases to be in use, and occasionally, even when a standard is in use, we find it difficult to locate parties willing to participate in revision processes. These situations, too, are signals that NISO's efforts could be more usefully directed elsewhere.
As with everything at NISO, we strive to make our development decisions a consensus effort. The leadership committees within NISO have determined that we should gather community feedback on these decisions. We are circulating a survey that will help us to gather information about which of our standards provide value and are used in the community. We will continue to invest in maintaining the standards that are in widespread use; some of these are unlikely to change and will be placed into a stabilized maintenance status, reducing the administrative burden required for upkeep, whereas others will be regularly advanced and updated as required. Some long-standing standards may be withdrawn, because if the community isn't invested in retaining a standard, NISO should turn its attention to efforts that have a broader potential impact.
Since the implications of this survey could be significant, we would like to gather opinions from the most diverse constituency possible. While the survey might be a bit time-consuming, we encourage you all to invest some of your time and professional expertise in commenting on which of NISO's activities are most valuable to your organization and our community. In addition to exploring those efforts that are perceived to be most valuable, we are simultaneously reviewing how we've grouped these activities, and may realign our Topic Committee structure to address changing technology trends in our industry. We hope that through this analysis we can provide a next generation of standards on new technology areas and better match the future of information distribution.
We appreciate your feedback and input on these future directions for our Organization and for the information distribution ecosystem.
With kindest regards,
Todd Carpenter
Executive Director
NISO Reports
New and Proposed Specs and Standards
EPUB 3.1 Has Advanced to Proposed Specification Status
The IDPF Board recently approved the move to advance the EPUB 3.1 specifications to Proposed Specification status. Among other changes, the revision aims to help make EPUB publications accessible.
SOFA Talk: Strength of Function for Authenticators Framework Now Open for Comment
NIST has released for comment a proposed framework that can be used to quantify the security of authentication solutions. Strength of Function for Authenticators - Biometrics (SOFA-B) Discussion Draft, developed because of the increased availability of biometric sensors in the consumer space, focuses on issues such as spoof detection and efforts to break a biometric system.
Media Stories
Librarian of Congress Creates Controversy with First Appointments
Library of Congress Press Release, October 21, 2016
The new Librarian of Congress (LoC), Dr. Carla Hayden, announced senior appointments in October. Maria Pallante, who was appointed register of copyrights by the previous Librarian of Congress, James Billington, was made senior advisor for digital strategy, with Karyn Temple Claggett named acting register of copyrights.
While the LoC's site still reflects these appointments, Pallante, who last year informed Congress that the copyright office should be independent from the LoC, turned down the new position and left the institution entirely. The tech world was quick to comment on the controversy, with British website The Register calling Hayden's move "a brutal Silicon Valley-style sacking" and Billboard quoting one copyright stakeholder as saying that, "people in the creative community are furious about the fact that this was done [...] but especially about the way it was done." Artist Rights Watch was perhaps most incendiary, headlining its coverage "Google Fires Head of U.S. Copyright Office."
NISO Note: The Library of Congress is a NISO Voting Member.
Maybe IDPF and W3C Should *Compete* in E-Book Standards
Go To Hellman Blog, October 14, 2016; by Eric Hellman
In May of this year, the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced that they were exploring plans to combine. Not everyone thought it was a good idea, and in this blog post, Hellman expresses continued misgivings. "The world needs ways to deliver portable content that don't run through the Amazon tollgates," says Hellman. "For that we need innovation that's as unconstrained and disruptive as the rest of the Internet."
MIT Task Force Releases Preliminary "Future of Libraries" Report
MIT News Office, October 24, 2016; by Peter Dizikes
After a year of work, an MIT task force has released a preliminary version of a reportimagining the future of the institution's libraries. Organized according to the four pillars ("Community and Relationships, "Discovery and Use," "Stewardship and Sustainability," and "Research and Development") that the task force used to organize its work, the report is available for public comment, with interested parties also invited to an upcoming, related Open Forum.
NISO Note: MIT is a NISO LSA Member.
Introducing Syndetics Unbound
LibraryThing Blog, October 27, 2016; by Tim Spalding
Cataloging and reviewing website LibraryThing and database vendor ProQuest have unveiled Syndetics Unbound, a new catalog-enhancement tool. The product, the companies explain, combines ProQuest's Syndetics Plus and LibraryThing's LibraryThing for Libraries and Book Display Widgets. Enhancements to traditional catalog offerings include an Amazon-like "look inside" and professional and LibraryThing reviews.
NISO Note: ProQuest is a NISO Voting Member.
Inside the Cyberattack that Shocked the U.S. Government
Wired, October 23, 2016; by Brendan I. Koerner
With hackers in the news after October's DDoS attack on the U.S. east coast, Wired has released an analysis of an April 2015 attack on the Federal government's human resources department, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The attackers had access to material including "18 million copies of Standard Form 86, a 127-page questionnaire for federal security clearance that includes probing questions about an applicant's personal finances, past substance abuse, and psychiatric care." Koerner offers a step-by-step look at what the hackers did in that case, as well as broader commentary on hacker activities generally.
Can You Be Anonymous on the Internet? No, You Cannot
Homeland Security Newswire, October 27, 2016
In a recent study, the Footprints Project, created by a group of Princeton researchers, gained access to research subjects' anonymous web browsing history, including their Twitter usage. "[B]ased on that information alone, Footprints successfully identified eleven out of thirteen people who visited the site on its first day of operation," and by the end of the project had identified 80% of users.
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