Maria S. Bonn
Director of the Scholarly Publishing Program
University of Michigan

The CIC Electronic Publishing Venture (EPV) is an attempt to bring together University Presses and University Libraries to consider alternative distribution systems for Press content. In the past year, the EPV has tested models for content delivery, but more importantly has explored a number of cultural and economic factors that need to be considered if the partners are to work together successfully. This session will report on the work done to date and the future plans for the project. It will also discuss more broadly some of the dififculties of Library-Press collaboration and some strategies for overcoming those difficulties.

Chad Kainz
Senior Director, NSIT Academic Technologies
University of Chicago

What started in 1998 as an unfunded ìgood willî study by the Biological Sciences, John Crerar Library, and Networking Services & Information Technologies to define a next-generation public computing cluster has, in five years, transformed the relationship of central IT and the Library, redefined the role of public computing on the University of Chicago campus, and enabled new ideas on how technology, content, expertise, and space relate to one another.

This briefing will highlight the issues and themes behind the USITE/Crerar Computing Cluster & CyberCafe, review the outcomes, and look at how it has influenced current thinking on the role of technology and space both within the Regenstein and Harper libraries and across campus.

Donna Dinberg
System Librarian/Analyst, Government Online Task Force
National Library of Canada

Jeffrey Penka
Manager, Cooperative Reference Services
OCLC, Inc.

Digital reference services constitute a new but rapidly growing extension of the traditional reference service offered to users of information services, and enable cooperation in delivery across the library, archival, museum, and corporate communities. While the service may be delivered via real-time chat or asynchronous e-mail/Web mechanisms, the essential characteristic of the service is the ability of the user to submit questions and to receive answers via electronic means. These reference services are being implemented at a rapid pace as small local cooperatives, statewide networks, nationwide (but for particular sectors), and even globally. NISO has undertaken a project to develop protocols that will enable interaction between separate network reference services or domains in order to broaden their effectiveness.

This session will describe the motivation for this work, the potential applicability and value of a protocol standard, how the standard is evolving, and expectations for trial use.

Web Links:
http://www.niso.org/committees/committee_az.htm

Sayeed Choudhury
Hodson Director
Johns Hopkins University

Tim DiLauro
Deputy Director
Johns Hopkins University

This session will present research on a fully automated robotic system for on-demand and batch scanning of print materials (CAPM) and an open-source software framework for document analysis that can be trained and calibrated by humanists (Gamera). The resulting system will include an inter-linked mechanism between CAPM and Gamera. To evaluate different techniques for document analysis, including Gamera, we will build a testbed of digital images. Gamera will be usable designed according to the principles of usability which include effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.

Web Links:
http://dkc.jhu.edu/CAPM
http://dkc.jhu.edu/gamera