FYIFrance: European MARC, Z39.50, SGML, and ECHO as a source A question asked often by friends in Europe itself as well as elsewhere is, "We hear all the time what the Americans are doing in networking -- what is new in Europe?" Networking is expanding most rapidly in Europe now, but North America still is ahead, so that it still is relatively more difficult to get European information, increasingly interesting though that information might be. A good source for a periodic European networking overview is ECHO / the European Community Host Organization information service; more specifically one or two files on the ECHO service which describe current works - in - progress being promoted by the European Union. These projects are for the most part collaborative, trans - European affairs. A periodic review of their descriptions can give an observer -- European or other -- a regular update as to what interests the Europeans in networked information. The descriptions include addresses of the researchers, very useful for obtaining detailed information and developing contacts. ECHO maintains both a well - established traditional database access system, reached via telnet to echo.lu , and a new and quickly developing W3 server, at http://www.echo.lu . Current examples may be obtained as follows and include (these from the telnet service): (the first thing which you reach at echo.lu is a multilingual access screen: still unfamiliar in the US, but a necessity in the outside networking world -- one wonders when US networks will realize this?) ECHO - European Commission Host Organisation -oOo- Enter 1 in order to work in English Tapez 2 pour travailler en francais Geben Sie 3 ein um auf Deutsch zu arbeiten Digitate 4 per lavorare in italiano Teclee 5 para trabajar en espanol Toets 6 om in het Nederlands te werken Tast 7 for at arbejde paa dansk Dactilografe 8 para trabalhar em portugues then, ECHO - Main Menu 1 : General information 2 : User guidance databases (incl. I'M GUIDE, I'M FORUM) (fulltext, etc., of Europe information periodicals / services) 3 : Scientific and R & D databases 1 : EUREKA ("advanced technology" projects descriptions) 2 : EURISTOTE (directory: 15000+ studies on Europe) 3 : UNESBIB (UNESCO bibliography: 50,000+ documents) 4 : COmmunity R & D Information Service (CORDIS) 1 RTD-NEWS : News items related to Community RTD activities 2 RTD-ACRONYMS : Acronyms relevant to Community RTD activities 3 RTD-COMDOCUMENTS : Commission documents re RTD activities 4 RTD-PROGRAMMES : Community RTD-related programmes (currently 388 of them -- funding sources for:) 5 RTD-PROJECTS : Community RTD-related projects (currently 22,794 of them! including, among 33 for "libraries":) TTL : National Libraries Project on CD-Rom OBJ : The project aims to promote better and easier access by more users to European national bibliographies and to promote economies in library cataloguing through greater and more effective sharing of cataloguing source records. CD-Rom was chosen as a cost-effective delivery medium and a means of ensuring widespread distribution of cataloguing data between European countries. An important feature is the development of standard approaches to strategies, applications and formats. GEN : The 9 sub-projects each involve different partnerships between the Consortium libraries and will run, some in parallel, some consecutively, throughout the duration of the project. The results, taking the form variously of prototypes, specifications and reports, will be made available on a wide and ongoing basis, through publications or licensing mechanisms as appropriate. Projects fall into a number of categories, all intended to have a general applicability beyond the test systems. Some of the sub-projects focus on the development of soft standards or guidelines for bibliographic applications of CD-Rom. Other projects have a technical rather than bibliographical orientation and are concerned with the interfaces to the DOS environment, to local and to remote systems. An important factor is to ensure that the projects and bibliographic products keep in step with emerging technical developments and standards. POR : NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICE, The British Library, 2 Sheraton Street, W1V 4BH, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (GB) CPJ : name: SMITH, R. tel: +44-1-3237262 fax: +44-1-3237039 PAR : ORG : KONINKLIJKE BIBLIOTHEEK, NETHERLANDS (NL) partner ORG : THE ROYAL LIBRARY, DENMARK (DK) ORG : BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL, PORTUGAL (PT) ORG : BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE, FRANCE (FR) PJA : USEMARCON TTL : User-controlled Generic MARC Converter OBJ : Service packages to enhance international use of national bibliographic records (conversion programmes; delivery mechanisms; standards; etc.) At the (national) libraries in the European Community about ten different standards of MARC formats are being used. The goal of the project is to develop a toolbox able of converting bibliographic records from any MARC format into any other format through a central conversion format: UseMARCON. For usage of the toolbox no programming experience is required. The objectives of the project are: to produce a data-driven tool to enable, via a user-friendly interface to define how the conversion is to take place between the source and the destination formats. GEN : The Project is divided in 3 main phases: first it will investigate the feasibility of the converter by analysing the conversion problems and by evaluating whether those problems can be solved by a data-driven tool. This phase will end up with a go/no go decision to implement further in the second phase. The technology to be used will be defined at this stage. The third phase will consist of a pilot experiment on real sets of bibliographic data coming from the participating libraries. Key Issues: validate the use of UNIMARC as common format; automatic filling of the reverse conversion tables; user-friendly tool with no programming skills needed Impact: facilitates the interchange of bibliographic information between libraries Results: software tool to convert MARC formats validation of UNIMARC as common bibliographic format POR : Koninklijke Bibliotheek, PO Box 90407, 2509 LK, The Hague, NETH. (NL) CPJ : name: NOORDERMEER, TRUDI tel: +31-70-3140597, fax: +31-70-3140424 PAR : ORG : Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do Livro, PORTUGAL (PT) ORG : Die Deutsche Bibliothek, GERMANY (DE) ORG : VNI Informatica & technologie, NETHERLANDS (NL) ORG : THE BRITISH LIBRARY, UNITED KINGDOM (GB) PJA : EUROPAGATE TTL : European SR-Z39.50 Gateway OBJ : This project aims to build and operate a pilot service through which users can access ANSI Z39.50 and ISO SR servers which provide on-line access to catalogues. UsersA requests will be handled over widely available data networks (e.g. public X.25, IXI and TCP/IP-based networks) using existing clients which incorporate the ANSI and ISO standards. Requests will also be processed via e- mail. The cost recovery element of providing the service will be investigated to evaluate the feasibility of offering a permanent service. The project will build as far as possible on the results of the Irish Telematique project, and on results elsewhere. Existing software packages will be integrated to deliver the desired service. GEN : The main technical issues to be explored are: evaluate the common set of features provided by the 2 standards establish a tool to allow current separate islands to communicate investigate the problems of a mixed OSI TCP/IP approach Impact: allow 2 currently isolated worlds to communicate with each other, plus an Email access to interactive services Results: a tool implementing a gateway between SR and Z39.50; network nodes inter connecting OSI and TCP-IP applications for bibliographic access to catalogues; the embryo of a commercial service POR : Library Council of Ireland, 53-54 Upper Mount street, Dublin 2, IRE(IE) CPJ : name: KELLY, ANNETTE tel: +353-1-6761167, fax: +353-1-6766721 PAR : ORG : Danmarks Tekniske Bibliotek, DENMARK (DK) ORG : Conseio Superior de Investigationes Cientificias, SPAIN (ES) ORG : An Chomhairle Leabharlanna, IRELAND (IE) PJA : ELSA TTL : Electronic Library SGML Applications OBJ : Tool boxes for interfacing such as: developing user interfaces, interfaces to electronically published materials; interfacing in a functionally integrated manner different application modules from different suppliers (Theme: 16) The project will produce a prototype end-user system supporting the delivery and manipulation of full text journal articles delivered from remote stores in SGML format. It will: develop a prototype client server system evaluate its use and potential for new library services; provide management and usage feedback to the supplier of the documents. With the moves towards electronic publication and distribution of documents, the traditional models of supply, distribution and use are being re-evaluated by publishers and users alike. This project will provide a test-bed for new services. The project will advance existing experience in libraries of working with downloaded documents by developing a prototype system which will allow access and manipulation of full-text articles while retaining their original form. GEN : The project will: research requirements of publisher and user, analyse appropriate standards and software tools to develop a standards and development profile for ELSA; install a UNIX server of SGML-formatted documents, with an appropriate retrieval engine; set up end-user devices for the retrieval and manipulation of document files; provide local facilities on the user's workstation to print, edit and create a local store of documents which can be stored and retrieved and integrated with the user's data. The main technical issues to be explored are: standards and use of appropriate DTDs integration into local systems and local document stores handling of non-textual & scientific data protocols for communications and delivery from server to printers and workstations client viewer and its specifications Impact and expected results: The project will advance the development of electronic distribution of journals by developing appropriate tools and by providing a test-bed of services and usage, generating feedback to publishers and to libraries. The prototype end-user softwares will be made freely available, subject only to any licensing requirements for third-party products. The server software will be made available under license. POR : Jouve SI, 18 rue Saint Denis, 75001, PARIS, FRANCE (FR) CPJ : name: LUPOVICI, C. tel: +33-1-42331799, fax: +33-1-44768600 PAR : ORG : Elsevier Science Publishers BV, NETHERLANDS (NL) ORG : De Montfort University, UNITED KINGDOM (GB) (n.b., also: document delivery and ocr/icr and scanned journals delivery and library service for the handicapped and imaging and hypertext and EDI etc. etc.: all current projects, some good a few bad all interesting, and all European and therefore bound to be somewhat instructively different from similar North American work.) 6 RTD-PUBLICATIONS : Publications from Community RTD activities 7 RTD-RESULTS : Results and prototypes of Community RTD activities 8 RTD-PARTNERS : Partners for Community RTD activities 16 RTD-CONTACTS : Contacts for Community RTD activities 5 : Databases or services in the language industry 6 : Databases or services in business and economy (incl. TED) ("TED / Tenders Electronic Daily" -- the business side of all of this) 7 : Innovative projects 8 : Electronic mailbox 9 : On-line registration to obtain a personal password (a free password -- required for access to CORDIS and TED, etc. -- is easily obtained here via an online application procedure) North Americans, finally, might consider ECHO's / the Europeans' efforts to organize all of this: multilingual access, collaborative projects, organizing and moderating although immense bureaucracy -- if the Internet ever is to "scale up" (or down) to international and general public access, some of these aspects of the Europeans' approach may have to be added, quickly. *** FYIFrance e - newsletter ISSN 1071 - 5916 * | FYIFrance is a monthly electronic newsletter, | published since 1992 as a small - scale, personal, | experiment, in the creation of large - scale | "information overload", by Jack Kessler. Any material / \ written by me which appears in FYIFrance may be copied ----- and used by anyone for any good purpose, so long as, // \\ a) they give me credit and show my e - mail address, --------- and, b) it isn't going to make them money: if it is // \\ going to make them money, they must get my permission in advance, and share some of the money which they get with me. Use of material written by others requires their permission. FYIFrance may be found via gopher to infolib.berkeley.edu 72 and gopher.well.sf.ca.us , and it is in various online archives: the easiest to use is the PACS-L archive, reached via telnet to a.cni.org , login brsuser . Suggestions, reactions, criticisms, praise, and poison - pen letters all will be gratefully received at kessler@well.sf.ca.us . *** end .