[1] From: Jan-Gunnar Tingsell <jgt@hum.gu.se> (12)
Subject: The 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature
[2] From: Chris Stephens <christopher.stephens@computing- (74)
services.oxford.ac.uk>
Subject: Update to HUMBUL
[3] From: David Green <david@ninch.org> (131)
Subject: CONFU "FINAL" REPORT
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 12:07:39 +0200 (METDST)
From: Jan-Gunnar Tingsell <jgt@hum.gu.se>
Subject: The 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature
This year's Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced on
Thursday, October 9, at 13.00 MET (11.00 UT).
The Announcement and the Press Release will be announced on the
www server at The Swedish Academy (http://svenska.gu.se/academy.html)
and The Nobel Foundation (http://www.nobel.se/).
-- Jan-Gunnar Tingsell <tingsell@hum.gu.se> Humanistiska fakultetens dataservice tel: +46 (0)31 773 4553 Goteborgs universitet fax: +46 (0)31 773 4455 URL=http://www.hum.gu.se--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 17:52:49 +0100 (BST) From: Chris Stephens <christopher.stephens@computing-services.oxford.ac.uk> Subject: Update to HUMBUL
##################################################################### ################# The HUMBUL Gateway ###################### ##################################################################### ############## http://users.ox.ac.uk/~humbul/ ################### #####################################################################
The HCU at Oxford University is pleased to announce the re-launch of the HUMBUL Gateway.
HUMBUL has recently undergone an extensive re-working. This incarnation, the third since its inception in the mid 1980s, has taken the material from the HTML version and put the links into a database which can be queried via a web interface. This means, among other things, that individual links are no longer tied to a particular section page. The database records do contain a field identifying the section so that the links can still be sorted by subject heading. This was thought to be the most logical grouping of links to allow browsing of the HUMBUL material. As with the Web version, the user can click on the link from the home page for a given subject and will be presented with a page containing all the links in the database for that section. Each section will also be linked to a short essay, written by a subject specialist, giving guidance on the use of the Internet in the particular area of study. The subject sections are not the only way to discover relevant resources within HUMBUL. A new Search function allows users to enter a keyword and be returned a page containing all the links from the database which mention the keyword in any of the record fields. This should make it easier for the user to find relevant information without having to wade through all the material from several large sections. HUMBUL also has a page which allows the user to search the WWW via several of the Web's major search engines.
The new HUMBUL will give its users the chance to participate in the future shaping of the resources it carries. Users can submit new links for the database or add events to the conference diary. Users also have the opportunity to add their comments about any of the sites they reach from HUMBUL. These comments will be held in the links database. They will be associated with the link being commented on and will form part of the searchable material. For each link the user will have the option to either visit the link, view a description giving further details about the link, see what others have said about the site to which the link points, or add their own comments about the site, including a 1 to 5 rating for aspects of the site such as the amount of original material, the general design and so on. This, it is hoped, will become a useful resource in itself and will help to guide the user through the vast amount of material available on the WWW.
The original HUMBUL used to carry a conference diary. The new HUMBUL has reinstated this function and now contains a conference diary which will give details of up coming conferences in the field of Humanities Computing. The material relating to diary entries is also held in database form and can be searched in much the same way as the links.
The new HUMBUL will give its users the chance to participate in the future shaping of the resources it carries. Users can submit new links for the database or add events to the conference diary. Users also have the opportunity to add their comments about any of the sites they reach from HUMBUL. These comments will be held in the links database. They will be associated with the link being commented on and will form part of the searchable material. For each link the user will have the option to either visit the link, view a description giving further details about the link, see what others have said about the site to which the link points, or add their own comments about the site, including a 1 to 5 rating for aspects of the site such as the amount of original material, the general design and so on. This, it is hoped, will become a useful resource in itself and will help to guide the user through the vast amount of material available on the WWW.
HUMBUL will continue to develop in the near future as the further possibilities of the dynamic nature of the database become apparent. If you have any questions regarding the development of HUMBUL please contact Chris Stephens (Christopher.Stephens@oucs.ox.ac.uk) at the Centre for Humanities Computing.
The new HUMBUL can be found at: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~humbul/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Information is not knowledge..." | | Humanities Computing Unit Chris Stephens | | Oxford University Humanities IT Support Officer | Computing Services | 13 Banbury Rd, Oxford
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 283295 E-mail: Christopher.Stephens@oucs.ox.ac.uk
--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 12:45:16 -0400 From: David Green <david@ninch.org> Subject: CONFU "FINAL" REPORT
NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT October 7, 1997
PATENT & TRADEMARK OFFICE RELEASES CONFU REPORT:
"REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER ON THE CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE CONFERENCE ON FAIR USE"
Peter Fowler's "Report to the Commissioner," based on the "final" CONFU meeting of May 19,1997 was released September 30, 1997.
The Report may be read on the PTO's website at <http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/confu/conclutoc.html>.
Individual print copies may be obtained by writing to the address or fax number below:
CONFU Report c/o Richard Maulsby, Director Office of Public Affairs U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Washington, DC 20231 fax: (703) 308-5258
I reproduce the Results and Conclusion of the Report below:
* * * *
III. RESULTS
1. It was agreed by the participants at the CONFU plenary session meeting held on May 19, 1997, that a Report to the Commissioner on the Conclusion of the First Phase of the Conference on Fair Use will be written by the facilitator, that said Report will include the three sets of guidelines for digital images, distance learning, and educational multimedia and all statements and comments received concerning them, and that said Report would be made available and published in both hard copy and electronic form to all CONFU participants and the public.
2. It was agreed by the participants at the CONFU plenary session meeting held on May 19, 1997, that in connection with the Proposed Educational Fair Use Guidelines for Digital Images, a use period of at least one year will be instituted for their voluntary adoption, implementation, and review by interested institutions. During this use period the Digital Images Working Group will meet periodically to address the various concerns, observations, and criticisms received in connection with the proposed guidelines, and to discuss and negotiate possible refinements of the guidelines with the goal of achieving broad-based support and endorsement of the guidelines. A report by the Working Group on its activities and the results of the use period will be made at a meeting on May 18, 1998.
3. It was agreed by the participants at the CONFU plenary session meeting held on May 19, 1997, that in connection with the Proposed Educational Fair Use Guidelines for Distance Learning, the membership of the current Distance Learning Working Group would be expanded to include academic and educational institutions directly involved in distance learning activities. During the next year, the Distance Learning Working Group will continue to meet periodically to address the various concerns, observations, and criticisms received in connection with the proposed guidelines, to discuss and negotiate the development of guidelines for asynchronous network delivery of distance learning courses, and to discuss and negotiate possible refinements of the proposed guidelines with the goal of achieving broad-based support and endorsement of the guidelines. A report on the working group's activities will be made at a meeting on May 18, 1998.
4. It was agreed by the participants at the CONFU plenary session meeting held on May 19, 1997, that the Steering Committee be expanded to eleven members. Following a discussion on the need to expand the Steering Committee in such a way as to make it more representative of both the copyright owner and user communities, the following individuals were elected by consensus to serve on the expanded Steering Committee: Christine Dalziel, American Association of Community Colleges and the Instructional Communications Council; Adam M. Eisgrau, American Library Association; Mary B. Levering, U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress; Lisa Livingston, Consortium of College and University Media Centers; Victor S. Perlman, American Society of Media Photographers; Carol Risher, Association of American Publishers; Judith M. Saffer, Broadcast Music, Inc.; Mark Traphagen, Software Publishers Association; Laila van Eyck, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; John C. Vaughn, Association of American Universities; and Patricia Williams, American Association of Museums.
5. It was agreed by the participants at the CONFU plenary session meeting held on May 19, 1997, that CONFU remains committed to fostering a dialogue on all fair use issues, including browsing, electronic reserves, interlibrary loan and document delivery, even though proposals concerning these issues have not been developed fully to date nor been widely accepted by participants.
6. It was agreed by the participants at the CONFU plenary session meeting held on May 19, 1997, that a meeting would be convened on May 18, 1998, to receive reports from the continuing working groups on their activities, to receive a report from the Digital Images Working Group on the voluntary use period initiated in connection with the proposed fair use guidelines for digital images, to review the experiences of institutions that have implemented the fair use guidelines for educational multimedia, and to assess the progress, if any, in drafting more comprehensive fair use guidelines for distance learning, as well as toward achieving greater acceptance in the copyright owner and user communities for the three sets of fair use guidelines.
IV. CONCLUSION
CONFU is an extraordinary public-private effort, requiring many days of meetings and travel since its inception in September 1994. Many organizations, from both the public and private sector, and especially a large number of nonprofit organizations, have devoted substantial human and financial resources and have made significant sacrifices to participate in the CONFU effort to develop fair use guidelines for educational and library uses of copyrighted works in a digital environment. The total investment of time, resources, and sustained participation by those involved cannot be measured fully.
Some organizations approached CONFU initially in the belief that there was little chance of reaching agreement on guidelines. Others expressed their misgivings and skepticism as to whether such a negotiating process could yield substantial and meaningful results. Yet, most participants feel that it is both a beneficial forum for discussion and an instructive and productive endeavor for those interested in fair use issues, even when the good faith efforts and best intentions of the participants have not always resulted in a meeting of minds.
Now that CONFU has concluded its first phase of activity, and has placed three sets of guidelines in the world for public debate, discussion, endorsement, and implementation, as institutions and organizations see fit, it now necessarily moves into a new phase of existence. Much the way an engineer, after spending time and energy to build a model of his or her invention, must now use it to see if it works, making refinements or changes where necessary to improve its functioning, so, too, does CONFU now need to encourage the implementation and use -- the experimentation, if you will -- of the guidelines to see how they work in the classrooms, libraries, and media centers where they are needed, and, ultimately, where their value as workable guidelines will be assessed.
It is true that not all CONFU participants support the three sets of guidelines. Indeed, some CONFU participants strongly oppose them, while others strongly support them. It can fairly be said that the CONFU process of developing fair use guidelines has amply proven the truth of the old adage that reasonable minds can disagree. That is why this Report, therefore, contains all statements and comments received in connection with the three sets of guidelines, so that such information and opinions may be included in one's own assessment of the value of the guidelines.
As CONFU moves into its next phase, there may not be agreement among all participants as to the value and viability of the guidelines so far produced, but there does appear to be wide-spread support among participants for continuing a dialogue on fair use issues with an ultimate goal of developing broad-based agreement, at the very least, on principles and practices, if not guidelines, in the copyright owner and user communities. Should this happen, this accomplishment alone will have proven the worth of CONFU as a valuable and important contribution to the appreciation of fair use in the rapidly expanding digital environment in which we live.
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