Bulletin of the Association for Information Science and Technology最新文献

EDITOR'S SUMMARY

While some aspire to minimize traditional email and prefer other communication platforms, email systems have presented strong advantages over alternative messaging channels. The systems offer simple organization and search features and let users personalize categorization based on folders. But a move to Google Apps prompted the author to appreciate the value of tags for managing email content by facets such as date, project and name, singly or in combination. The accuracy of search in email extends to related Google applications. Information architects would do well to rethink features in existing systems and redesign them to meet users' evolving and increasing needs.

EDITOR'S SUMMARY

In her final message as ASIS&T president, Nadia Caidi extends thanks to the conference co-chairs and many others who have contributed to a successful 2016 Annual Meeting in Copenhagen, the first beyond North America. Caidi notes the strong financial health of the Association and the hiring of the Association's first communications officer. Numerous efforts have been made toward priority goals for the year: outreach and engagement with members and the wider information science community and internal knowledge management. An Executive Director Task Force has been formed to find a successor to Dick Hill, considering organizational and financial status, strategic planning and oversight by either an executive director or an association management firm. Members are invited to share ideas and voice their opinions on issues of common interest as the Association moves forward.

EDITOR'S SUMMARY

Before the field of bioinformatics was imagined, zoologist Herbert Haviland Field advanced the Concilium Bibliographicum, a comprehensive bibliographic resource for zoology. Born in New York to a wealthy family, Field pursued his early interest in science and earned multiple degrees but was frustrated by the difficulty of searching publications. Field developed a vision and plan for the Concilium, garnering financial support from donors and his family's resources and implementing the young Universal Decimal Classification for the project. Despite contacts with scientists throughout Europe, reliable funding for the Concilium eluded him. At the start of World War I, Field shifted his attention to relief missions, eventually using his international social position and language skills in commerce, the intelligence field and ultimately peace efforts. Attempts to rebuild the Concilium after the war failed, and Field died of influenza in 1921 at age 53, falling short of his goal to use the best technology of the day to improve information access.

EDITOR'S SUMMARY

The 2016 Libraries in the Digital Age (LIDA) Conference in Croatia provided an opportunity for ASIS&T's European and Asian Pacific Chapters to come together for events and discussion of professional issues, with 43 members attending. ASIS&T dignitaries, including past presidents Tefko Saracevic and Diane Sonnenwald, led discussions about how professional associations can aid graduate students starting their careers through networking, academic opportunities and other resources. A Ph.D. forum drew about 60 participants, including LIDA attendees. Special announcements included the winners of top study projects and the LIDA poster contest, earning free ASIS&T membership or a cash award, and a new anonymous donor program for student memberships. The meeting was a valuable channel to promote ASIS&T membership and discuss the Association's broad and local strategic goals.

EDITOR'S SUMMARY

Raw data is not open to copyright, but databases, as compilations of data, have been treated differently. Early legal interpretations respected the compiler's work under the “sweat of the brow” doctrine, until the Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that a modicum of creativity was required to earn copyright protection. The Court also ruled the International News Service infringed on the rights of the Associated Press (AP) by telegraphing news gathered by its competitor, and that the AP's work was protected under state law through the “misappropriation doctrine.” The case was the basis of a 1997 case in which the National Basketball Association sued Motorola for transmitting real time game data by pager, making the defendant a competitor in providing the service. Databases must select, coordinate and arrange data with some creativity to earn copyright protection, and database producers use carefully worded contracts to protect their works. Librarians must be aware of copyright and contract details for databases and the scholarly use of data therein.

EDITOR'S SUMMARY

Cognizant of the benefits and challenges of deep bibliographical searching for zoological resources, Herbert Haviland Field, an American zoologist, established the Concilium Bibliographicum in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1895. The Concilium provided bibliographic data on articles from over 2,000 journals in 20 languages and developed the zoology section of the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) system, a new system in 1895 that improved search through flexible ordering of topical facets. The institute published annual indexes of zoological literature that could be tailored for specific interests; it later introduced card files for new zoological species and other services. But the Concilium faced insurmountable challenges. Poor funding, international hostilities leading to World War I and Field's death in 1921 handicapped daily operations, affecting the Concilium's language use policy, currency and comprehensiveness of references and staffing to maintain the index. An admirable effort that would have been well suited to modern digital solutions, the Concilium was suspended during the war and ceased operations in 1940.