UPF RESOURCE

STRUCTURED GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS    Author or Rep: Council on Library and Information Resources 7/8/98

Advanced Authoring Format Home Page    Author or Rep: Microsoft 4/14/98

"The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is an industry initiative by the Promoters, for the purpose of specifying an extensible, platform-independent multimedia file format to meet authoring application interchange needs."

This site contains a white paper, technical specifications, and Q & A about the new Advanced Authoring Format.

OASIS: Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System    Author or Rep: John Garrett 12/22/97

"ISO has undertaken a new effort to develop standards in support of the long term
preservation of digital information obtained from observations of the terrestrial and
space environments. ISO has requested that the Consultative Committee for Space
Data Systems Panel 2 coordinate the development of those standards."


ISO Archiving Standards    Author or Rep: John Garrett 12/4/97

"ISO has undertaken a new effort to develop standards in support of the long
term preservation of digital information obtained from observations of the
terrestrial and space environments. ISO has requested that the Consultative
Committee for Space Data Systems Panel 2 coordinate the development of those
standards. 

"A series of international workshops, augmented with e-mail exhcanges and
occasional teleconferences, is traditional for Panel 2 and is expected to be the
primary international mode of working. The timing of the international
workshops is planned to coordinate with currently planned CCSDS Panel 2
meetings. National workshops and development efforts take place between the
international meetings. These activities are focused on developing national
positions and input for the international efforts."

QuickTime Media Layer at Apple    Author or Rep: Apple 9/19/97


QuickTime is the multi-platform industry-standard multimedia 
software tool vendors and content creators to create and deliver 
sound, video, text and music. QuickTime is not only the best 
playback anywhere" multimedia, but the leading choice: 

Over 20,000 sites on the web now offer QuickTime content 
Used by over 1,500 leading CD-ROM developers 
Over 200 new QuickTime-enhanced CD-ROM titles every month

QuickTime 3.0 White Paper    Author or Rep: Apple 9/19/97

QuickTime 3.0 Technology Brief
From the Introduction

"QuickTime is Apple Computer's award-winning, industry-standard, software architecture that
makes it possible to create, integrate, and publish all types of digital media. Using QuickTime,
software applications can offer the ability to work with a wide variety of media file formats and
media encodings in an easy, consistent way. QuickTime was designed from the ground up to
simplify the task of working with and integrating the widest possible range of digital media
types-not just sound and video."

IFLA's Metadata Resources    Author or Rep: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions 9/5/97

This site provides a superb source of links to information about metadata and metadata initiatives.
We urge anyone interested in the subject to bookmark this page! It is well organized, making it easy to navigate.

Scorpion Project    Author or Rep: Keith Shafer et al 9/5/97

"Scorpion is a research project at OCLC exploring the indexing and cataloging of
electronic resources. Since subject information is key to advanced retrieval, browsing, and
clustering, the primary focus of Scorpion is the building of tools for automatic subject
recognition based on well known schemes like the Dewey Decimal System."

This site includes "Evaluating Dewey Concepts as a Knowledge Base for Automatic Subject Assignment," a well-written article about using the Dewey Decimal Classification as Scorpion's "concept definition source." How this relates to the UPF may be questionable, but the Scorpion Project is worth reading about for its own sake.

Hard Drive and Tape Manufacturers   
8/13/97

Hard Drive Manufacturers 
Ê 
SeagateÊ 
FujitsuÊ 
IBMÊ 
MicropolisÊ 
QuantumÊ 
HitachiÊ 
Samsung
ConnerÊÊ 
ToshibaÊÊ 
MaxtorÊ 
NECÊ 
Hewlett PackardÊ 
RevealÊ 
Western Digital

Ê 

Tape Storage & Removable Media Manufacturers 
Ê 
SyQuestÊ 
MaxellÊ 
VerbatimÊ 
DEC
Colorado Memory SystemsÊ 
SonyÊ 
LegatoÊ 
Iomega

IronDoc documentation    Author or Rep: David McCusker 8/5/97

from http://www.pacific-pages.com/irondoc/

"IronDoc is a public domain structured storage system being developed by David McCusker in his spare time, when he is not developing mail and news client software during his day job at Netscape. David was the OpenDoc engineer in charge of OpenDoc storage and Bento during a previous life."

"IronDoc will be similar in semantic structure to both Bento and Quilt, and will provide an excellent infrastructure for developing compound document architectures. So next generation technologies with characteristics similar to OpenDoc will be able to use IronDoc for highly efficient and flexible persistent storage."
....

"This is the IronDoc home page, providing a central switching point for the current release (Fe v0.12) of the public domain IronDoc structured storage system as of July 31, 1997. The next release (Fe v0.13) is due August 11, 1997."

SAA Statement on "The Preservation of Digitized Reproductions"    Author or Rep: Society of American Archivists Council 7/30/97

This is a statement of principles approved by the Council of the Society of American Archivists. We urge you to read this short document in its entirety because so much much of it is relevant to the concerns of a UPF, but here are just a few key statements:

Preservation 
"The viability of digitized files is much more dependent on the life 
expectancy of the access system -- a chain is only as strong as its 
weakest component. Today's digital media should be handled with care, but 
most likely will far outlast the capability of systems to retrieve 
and interpret the data stored on them."

Integrity 
"Structural indexes and data descriptions of materials prepared as discrete finding
aids or bibliographic records must be preserved -- as Metadata -- along with the
digital files themselves."

Access
"Preservation in the digital world is the act of ensuring continuing access to a
high-quality, high-value, well-protected, and fully-integrated version of an
original source document."

"Long-term preservation of information in digital form encompasses the initial 
choice of a technology, the use of digital technologies for reproducing 
historically valuable materials, and the protection of the resulting
digital information itself for as long as that information has value to an institution
and clients it serves."

FlashPix Primer    Author or Rep: Eastman Kodak Company 7/29/97

FlashPix is a new imaging architecture and image file format that is becoming an open industry standard, supported by Kodak, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard. For more information, start with Kodak's FlashPix Primer. In addition, white papers are available in Acrobat Reader format at http://www.accusoft.com/flashpix.htm

Corbis   
7/29/97

"Corbis Corporation is a privately held
company founded in 1989 by Bill Gates to provide digital access
to the images of yesterday, today and tomorrow."
---

"By pioneering the collection and marketing of digital content, Corbis is
developing innovative uses for creative material, setting
industry standards for reproduction and protecting intellectual
property rights in the digital age."
Ê

Compound Document Architectures - OpenDoc and OLE 2.0     Author or Rep: IBM Personal Software Products 7/23/97

Compound document architectures are an important new type of software platform. IBM is
providing the analysis in this white paper to help put the major compound document architectures:
OpenDoc(tm) and Object Linking and Embedding 2.0 (OLE 2.0), into perspective.

Use of recordable CDROMS as an electronic archiving medium for librarians    Author or Rep: Jon Helfet 7/22/97

The Electronic Library, Vol. 14, No. 3, June 1996

Abstract:
"Librarians should not adopt a neutral or complacent attitude to their archive information, but should see it as an essential element in their ability to establish themselves as competitive providers of information. Conventional archive storage methods are unlikely to be entirely satisfactory, for a variety of reasons mentioned in the main text. Recordable compact discs (CDROMs), on the other hand, offer numerous clear benefits as electronic archiving media. The article concludes with an example of the technical specifications of an increasingly popular form of document management software used in connection with recordable CDs."

Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC)    Author or Rep: Sarah Brooks 7/16/97

AIC is the national membership organization of professional conservators
dedicated to preserving the art and historic artifacts of our cultural
heritage for future generations.

NASA Success Story : Lossless Data Compression    Author or Rep: NASA Commercial Technology Team 7/16/97

The Lossless Data Compression will benefit industry, particularly the medical community.
Studies at the Goddard Space Flight Center indicate the new coding method offers superior
performance for medical imaging data systems such as magnetic resonance, ultrasound and
nuclear medicine. 
The Lossless Data Compression
technique can be easily applied to medical imaging and seismic data generated from oil
exploration and commercial video. This technology is unique because it will not loss
any data. Other users of this technology are DOE, DOD, and the University of Mexico.
NASA has selected a technique for encoding and compressing digital data as the winner of
the Government Invention of the Year Award for 1995. The "Method for Coding Low
Entropy Data," a creation of Dr. Pen-Shu Yeh of Goddard, has been selected by the NASA
Office of General Counsel for the honor. 



NASA Involvement

The Lossless Data Compression technique is used to compress high resolution images from
the NASA spacecraft. It has been used in the Mars Observer, SWAS, SERTS,
and Lewis and Clark. Using data compression reduces redundancy in the data
representation while guaranteeing its full and accurate reconstruction. Using data
compression technology on a spacecraft reduces the requirements for on board memory and
ground station contact time, which often translates into saving millions of dollars for a
single mission. 

Social/Economic Benefit

The Lossless Data Compression has been recommended as a compression standard for
space data systems. Dr. Pen-Shu Yeh, the inventor of this technology, and her colleagues
at Goddard found that the Rice algorithm, development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., in the early 1970s, adapted to their needs for lossless data compression.
Yeh showed that the Rice algorithm was actually a derivative of a widely accepted code,
and extended it to increase the efficiency of her method. The extended Rice algorithm has
since been designed in silicon circuits suitable for space flights. These circuits have been
integrated in several space missions, including the Small Satellite Technology Initiative
Lewis spacecraft, and for software on board the Mars Observer and Goddard's
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite. 

Industry Partner
NASA Partner
Dr. Gary Maki
Goddard Space Flight Center
University Of New Mexico



Data Compression : "How do we talk about Data Compression?"    Author or Rep: Gandalf Technologies 7/16/97

From opening paragraph:

"Data compression is often discussed in terms of ratio; however, customers should know
their data type before considering a vendor's claim. Data compression ratios are affected
by type of data. Therefore, it is important to know if your data is text, audio, or video
and if it is redundant or random."

This site includes concise information about:
Varieties of Data Compression
Methods of Data Compression
Data-Compression Algorithms : 1. Lempel-Ziv, 2. Shannon-Fano and Huffman, and 3. Van Jacobson

HyTime FAQ   
7/16/97

This site is a good place for getting a brief overview of what HyTime is:

What is HyTime?

``HyTime'' is the nickname of the ISO/IEC International Standard 10744:1992,
whose long name is ``Hypermedia/Time-based Structuring Language.'' It
provides a worldwide standard technical framework for integrated open
hypermedia. In terms of syntax, HyTime is an application of SGML; HyTime
documents are by definition SGML documents and they entirely conform to
SGML. In terms of functionality, however, HyTime extends the power of
SGML in many ways: 

addressing: With HyTime, everything becomes addressable in any
convenient terms, including both SGML and non-SGML information
components, at any granularity.

validating: With HyTime, attribute values and data content can be
checked for conformance to arbitrary lexical models, references can be
constrained to refer to particular kinds of things, etc.

multiple inheritance (SGML architectures): HyTime greatly
enhances the object-orientedness of SGML. Elements can inherit
semantic and syntactic features not only from the governing DTD, but
also from any number of other DTDs, called ``base architectures''. This
makes it possible, for example, for software written to support semantic
processing of information conforming to a particular DTD to be re-used
in many other contexts. (For a discussion of the implications, see
SGML Architectures: Implications and Opportunities for Industry.)

linking, scheduling, and component re-use: HyTime allows
semantics to be conferred upon any SGML or non-SGML information
components. For example, a phrase in a read-only document can be
made an anchor of a hyperlink such that traversal can be initiated from
it, even though no markup is added to the phrase itself. Other
conferrable semantics include re-use in other documents (without
copying), the scheduling of rendition of the component in time and/or
space (hence the name ``HyTime''), and the association of access
policies. HyTime is the standard way to re-use all kinds of information,
and it will form the basis of the most powerful and general information
management systems for the foreseeable future.

HyTime Standard : A Reader's Guide     Author or Rep: Charles Goldfarb, Steven R. Newcomb, W. Eliot Kimber, Peter J. Newcomb 7/16/97

This page, part of the official HyTime Web site, attempts to summarize the 450 page HyTime standard. It contains dozens of links to other pages of HyTime information.

Quick Guide to HyTime Basics    Author or Rep: Peter Bergstršm 7/16/97

"This Quick Guide to HyTime Basics is an easy introduction to HyTime Linking,
to enable people and organisations to adapt HyTime linking concepts for their
needs.
"HyTime, formally known as "Hypermedia/Time-based Structuring Language"
ISO/IEC 10744:1992, is a complex and powerful standard. In our experience, it
is however quite difficult to read and understand how to use the most basic part
of its linking functionality.
"This document assumes basic knowledge of SGML."

Museum Computer Network   
7/16/97

"The Museum Computer Network is a nonprofit organization of professionals dedicated to fostering the cultural aims of museums through the use of computer technologies. We serve individuals and institutions wishing to improve their means of developing, managing, and conveying museum information through the use of automation. We support cooperative efforts that enable museums to be more effective at creating and disseminating cultural and scientific knowledge as represented by their collections and related documentation."

Museum and cultural heritage information standards resource guide     Author or Rep: Jim Bower and Andrew Roberts 7/16/97

"Edited by Jim Bower and Andrew Roberts, this page is a resource guide to museum and
cultural heritage information standards. It is based on a brochure produced by the Getty
Information Institute (formerly the Getty Art History Information Program) and CIDOC,
titled Developments in International Museum and Cultural Heritage Information
Standards, first published in 1993 and updated July 1995."

ATP Focused Program : Digital Data Storage    Author or Rep: Thomas Leedy, Program Manager 7/11/97

ATP: An Overview

"Begun in 1990, the Advanced Technology Program at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology invests directly in the nation's economic growth by working with industry to develop
innovative technologies with strong commercial potential -- technologies which, if successful, would
enable novel or greatly improved products and services for the world market."


The ATP focused program on digital data storage has six technical objectives as it aims "to build the springboard for technological capability and marketplace performance."

Media: Push the ultimate limits of magnetic recording capacity by increasing
storage densities to 10 billion to 100 billion bits per square inch (6.45 sq. cm.) for
disks and to 1 trillion bytes per cubic inch (16.39 cu. cm.) for tapes; for
electro-optical disks, develop new materials to increase storage density and
improve performance. 
Heads: Develop technologies for high-performance magnetic recording heads that
are vastly superior to today's state of the art, and significantly improve
magneto-optical record and sense technologies. 
Tribology: Develop new lubricants and surface finishes, because, as the space
between heads and media diminishes, separation cannot be assured, creating the
potential for wear and increased error rates. 
Tracking: Develop reliable micropositioning devices for high-precision placement
of sensing devices over data tracks to achieve high signal-to-noise rates. 
Channel electronics: Improve signal-processing electronics to achieve very low
error rates. 
Software: Significantly advance the state of the art in data storage and retrieval
software over the range extending from error detection and correction within
storage units and disk controllers to management of menageries of data storage
systems.

Quilt (Bento 2.0) FAQ    Author or Rep: David McCusker 7/9/97

This site provides must-read information on Quilt, David McCusker's successor to Bento. Not only does it include an easy to follow Q & A resource, but it also contains links to information on OpenDoc, such as a "User's Guide" written by Mike Pinkerton.

Quantal Digital Fact Book: Archive    Author or Rep: Quantel 7/8/97

Archive

"Long term storage of information. Pictures and sound stored in digital form can be archived and recovered without loss or distortion. The storage medium must be both reliable and stable and, as large quantities of information need to be stored, cost is of major importance. Currently the lowest cost is magnetic tape but there is increasing interest in optical disks - still more expensive but with far better access.

"Non-compressed component digital VTR formats, D1 and D5 offer excellent quality video and audio storage. For stills and graphics, magneto optical disks are convenient, giving instant access to all pictures. For digital film image archive Quantel has devised the D16 format so that full film resolution images can be stored and viewed on standard ITU-R 601 recorders. 

"Archiving an edit or compositing session requires data on all aspects of the session to be stored. Beyond an EDL this may include parameters for colour correction, DVE, keying, etc. especially if using a true random access suite and taking advantage of its facility to change any edit. This data can be transferred to a removable disk such as an MO. 

"For editing the requirement is mainly to store the editing decisions and set-ups so that every aspect of the edit can be re-made."

CD Information Center    Author or Rep: Katherine Cochrane 7/8/97

This site is a central reference point to learn the basics about Compact Disc development and production technology and the industry.

Metadata Specifications Derived from the Functional Requirements    Author or Rep: Richard J. Cox 6/27/97

"In conformity with the functional requirements for evidence, we assert that evidence can only be made by compliant organizations using responsible, implemented and consistent recordkeeping systems. Records captured by such systems must be comprehensive, identifiable, accurate, understandable, meaningful and authorized. They must be maintained inviolate, coherent, auditable and removable.
And to be used they must be available, renderable, evidential, exportable and redactable. 

In addition to satisfying the requirements for evidence, business acceptable communications must carry metadata to satisfy the requirements of large scale, distributed implementations over long periods of time during which human memories of the contexts of creation will not suffice and software and hardware will have significantly changed.

The following reference model proposes a six layer structure of metadata:

Handle Layer

Terms & Conditions Layer

Structural Layer

Contextual Layer

Content Layer

Use History Layer

Headers and Descriptors - In the Quest for Interoperability    Author or Rep: Branko J. Gerovac and David C. Carver 6/27/97

from Background

"In digital communications, it is not readily apparent from simple examination what a stream of bits
represents - "bits are bits". Headers and descriptors are a labeling mechanism to provide interoperability.

"Our work on headers and descriptors is part of a continuing effort to understand and foster the convergence and interplay of computing, communications, and interactive media. The header/descriptor concept, as represented here, began with United States' efforts to define an advanced television system (aka HDTV). Some recognized that HDTV was "not just about television"[1] and needed to be considered in and would ultimately be driven by the broader context of high resolution systems and digital broadband communications. Cross-industry harmonization objectives, especially interoperability with digital
computer and telecommunication systems, became formal selection criteria for the FCC's advanced television selection process. 

"Earlier related work[2] proposed a common header across communications environments (a "universal header"), and an evolving collection of "descriptors" to augment and describe the associated communications stream. In this paper, we explore the objectives and rationale underlying our work
on headers and descriptors, and propose specific design concepts for achieving a truly universal header.

The vision and objectives behind this work go well beyond television systems. Digital television, due to its high bandwidth and demanding requirements, provides a fertile ground for investigation. However, easy sharing and preservation of data across heterogeneous systems is of fundamental importance to the formation of an attractive, accessible, and sustainable information infrastructure. Indeed, it is this goal, and not simply the market needs of advanced television that drive our efforts."

PADI : Preserving Access to Digital Information   
6/17/97

The Preserving Access to Digital Information (PADI) Web site 
(http://www.nla.gov.au/dnc/tf2001/padi/padi.html) gathers a range of 
information to assist creators, publishers, collection managers, 
researchers, and all with an interest in ensuring the long-term access to 
important digital information.

A 'What's Happening?' page 
(http://www.nla.gov.au/dnc/tf2001/padi/happen.html) on the PADI Web site 
provides current information on what is happening in the world of digital 
preservation and access. Entries include Web links and brief descriptions of 
each linked resource.

Contributions from readers are valued - please submit information about your 
own projects or links to the latest developments, conferences and news items 
related to the preservation and access of digital information by contacting 
PADI at: niac@nla.gov.au.

An integrated search facility will soon be available to assist readers to 
locate relevant information on the PADI site and some other important 
preservation resources.

PADI is a collaboration between Australian Archives, Australian Council of 
Libraries and Information Services, Australian Information Industry 
Association Ltd, Department of Communications and the Arts, National Film 
and Sound Archive, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of 
Australia, National Museum of Australia and Starlit Cooperative Multimedia 
Centre.

MediaSphere   
6/17/97

Introduction

"MediaSphere is a dynamic multi-media library and archive system with tightly integrated Adobe Acrobat technology. It was designed to meet the demand for a multi-user system that handles all types of digital objects: images, text, page files, PDF (Portable Document Format) files, video and sound files. Natural, English language phrases can be used in queries to the MediaSphere database. Keyword and Boolean searching is also possible. Acrobat Distiller and Exchange provide fast, high-quality views of PDF page and image files. Unlike other systems, MediaSphere maintains the relationships between all objects in its database."

DOI : The Digital Object Identifier System    Author or Rep: Carol Risher, AAP 6/17/97

"The Association of American Publishers has designed a system
for marking digital objects in order to facilitate electronic
commerce and enable copyright management systems. That
system, called the Digital Object Identifier System, is now
under development, in partnership with the Corporation for
National Research Initiatives, and is expected to be live on a
limited scale in August, 1997. This site provides information
about that initiative and directions for further development of
the DOI in the future."


Metadata information     Author or Rep: PADI 6/13/97

"Metadata is information, perhaps contained in an attached header, that describes other information. Catalogue records for library materials are a common example of metadata. While the data is interesting to the end user, the metadata is interesting to the people or programs that have to manage the data. Metadata assists in the process of retrieving information by enabling users to initially discover the existence of the information, to locate it and then to determined if it is the information that the user wants. Usually the metadata describes the contents, physical description, location, type and form of the information, and information necessary for management including migration history, expiry dates, security, authentication, and file formats."

National Film Preservation Board (NFPB)   
6/4/97

"The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB), authorized and established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-285; 2 U.S.C. 179), serves as a public advisory group to the Librarian of Congress. The Board consists of 40 members and alternates representing the film industry, archives, scholars, filmmakers and others who make up the diverse American motion picture community. As its primary mission, the Board works to ensure the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's film heritage, including: advising the Librarian on the annual selection of films to the National Film Registry, and counseling the Librarian on development and implementation of the national film preservation plan."

Preserving Digital Information: Final Report and Recommendations    Author or Rep: Donald Waters, John Garrett 6/4/97

"At the end of 1994 the Commission on Preservation and Access (CPA) and RLG created a Task Force on
Archiving of Digital Information charged with investigating and recommending means to ensure "continued access indefinitely into the future of records stored in digital electronic form." The 21-member task force, co-chaired with distinction by Donald Waters, Associate University Librarian, Yale University, and John Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of CyberVillages Corporation, recently completed their final report. RLG and CPA are making this widely available online and in print."

Archiving Digital Information    Author or Rep: Donald J. Waters 6/4/97

Abstract 

"The Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group (RLG) created the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information at the end of 1994 and asked the group to issue a draft report and invite comment before composing a final report. The current draft paper reports on comments received and new information obtained since the draft was issued in August 1995. To advance the work of the task force, the paper also discusses three propositions: (1) archiving is central to a knowledge-based economy; (2) developing economies in the production and distribution of knowledge depends on developing real economies in the archiving of digital information; and (3) achieving a knowledge-based economy requires setting in motion the mechanics of digital archiving."

Berkeley Distributed Video-on-Demand System   
5/30/97

Overview 

The Berkeley Video-on-Demand system is a current research project that began in the Plateau Multimedia Research group and now operates under the umbrella of the BMRC. 

The Berkeley Distributed Video-on-Demand (VOD) System is designed to store thousands of hours of video material that can be played back on any client computer across the Internet. Users access video material from servers that use tertiary storage devices (such as robot-tape jukeboxes) to store video. Video is played from a video file server (VFS) that provides real-time file service to networked clients.
To locate a video, the user's application queries the video file servers to see if the desired video is on-line. If not, the application enters a request to an archive server to load it from tertiary storage onto one of the VFSs. The VOD system is designed to store movies and videos for a variety of applications including: pay-per-view movies, hypermedia courseware, shopping catalogs, and multimedia documents and email. 

Issues 

The Berkeley Distributed Video-on-Demand system is designed to provide access to a large quantity of video information over computer networks. Clients across the Internet can submit requests to the VOD system to view multimedia streams, which may include audio, video and graphical streams. Playback is accomplished by streaming data from a video file server through the network to the client's computer. 

The research challenges in building this distributed VOD system are to: 

1.Develop techniques for locating and accessing video material stored on a slow archive device, such as a tape jukebox. 
2.Digitize mass quantities of video material 
3.Produce algorithms and user interfaces for the analysis of video material 
4.Build and test database query user interfaces 
5.Develop algorithms to manage the distributed, and possibly replicated, caches on the VFSs 
6.Develop algorithms and protocols for transmission of audio and video streams over the Internet. 
7.Develop algorithms and protocols to negotiate media formats for playback. 
8.Investigate copyright, access control, and licensing issues. 

Our goal is to build a video database containing course lectures, seminars, project demonstrations, and other miscellaneous video material. In addition, we will digitize one or more feature films so that we have a large, complex video with which to experiment with structural and content indexes. We are currently digitizing the shooting script for a full-length feature film, and adding it to the database. Links will be defined between the script, the digitized film, and other material, so users can easily move between different views of the information.

Center for Electronic Recordkeeping & Archival Research: Mission    Author or Rep: Richard J. Cox and Ken Sochats 5/30/97

The Center for Electronic Recordkeeping & Archival Research promotes research in all aspects of electronic records systems and fosters the implementation of the results of that research.

"The primary aim of the CERAR is to solve technical, organizational, legal, and other related problems associated with the long-term maintenance of records in electronic form. The solution to this problem is necessary in order to ensure the successful functioning of the modern organization in the Twenty-First Century Information Age."

Conservation OnLine : Resources for Conservation Professionals   
5/30/97

Welcome to CoOL

"CoOL, a project of the Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries,
is a full text library of conservation information, covering a wide spectrum of
topics of interest to those involved with the conservation of library, archives and
museum materials."

Among the topics discussed relevant to UPF:

Digital Imaging 
Electronic media 
Electronic records 
Preservation-related organizations

Redefining Film Preservation : A National Plan    Author or Rep: Annette Melville and Scott Simmon 5/30/97

Executive Summary

Redefining Film Preservation is an action plan to save America's motion picture heritage. Concluding a two-part process mandated by the National Film Preservation Act of 1992, it builds from the study Film Preservation 1993, submitted to Congress last year, and presents recommendations by the Librarian of Congress and his advisory National Film Preservation Board. The plan integrates agreements by five working groups of archivists, educators, filmmakers, industry executives, and other participants in the earlier fact-finding study. 

Storage. The plan singles out low-temperature, low-humidity storage as key to a balanced preservation strategy. New electronic technol-ogies hold promise, particularly for access, but retaining film on film remains necessary for long-term preservation. To assure archival copying quality, the plan recommends creating a group to review laboratory preservation work and establishing technical guidelines. 

Access. Film preservation also involves questions of private ownership and public access. To expand educational access, the plan recommends simplifying rights clearances, clarifying archival photo-duplication policies, creating resource guides, and experimenting with remote delivery systems for public domain films in archives. The plan also presents options to foster the theatrical film-viewing experience. The National Film Registry Tour, which will exhibit selected Registry titles across the country beginning in 1995, will be a step toward this goal and the centerpiece of an outreach campaign.

Partnerships. Public-private cooperation is critical to the plan. Major studios have primary responsibility for preserving their products but collaboration makes sense for many areas, including restoring key titles, pooling preservation information, discussing technical issues,
sharing storage costs, and repatriating "lost" American films held in foreign archives. The principal public responsibility is for "orphan" films, works without clearly defined owners or immediate commercial potential. These include newsreels, documentaries, independent films, and significant amateur footage.

Funding. Federal preservation copying grant programs, although important, lack the scope and funding to address the current problem. The plan advocates a federally chartered foundation to raise funds for the preservation of orphan films and to encourage their storage, copying, cataloging, access, and exhibition. Affiliated with the Board, the foundation would secure private partners for broad-based initiatives and be eligible to match donations with federal funds.

The Librarian of Congress and the National Film Preservation Board are committed to furthering the national preservation program and invite written comment on implementation strategies.

Boston Art Conservation    Author or Rep: Paul A. Messier 5/28/97

This excellent Web site includes a collection of links to sources relevant to the UPF.

"We are committed to working with both public and private clients, helping them work within budget and time constraints while maintaining the highest standards of professional conservation practice."

OpenDoc and Its Architecture    Author or Rep: Chris Nelson 5/27/97

"OpenDoc and its related technologies represent an important standard for compound documents and component integration. IBM is both a member and a contributor of technology to the CI Labs consortium, holder of the OpenDoc technology. IBM is also producing the UNIX¨ reference implementation of OpenDoc. This article provides an overview of OpenDoc architecture and its related technologies: Open Scripting Architecture (OSA), Bento, ComponentGlue Technology, and System Object Model (SOM). It also discusses the programming model for developing software based on OpenDoc."

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"OpenDoc is an industry solution-not an IBM or an AppleR solution. The technology that makes up the integrated components of OpenDoc has been placed in an independent consortium: Component Integration Laboratories (CI Labs). CI Labs makes this technology, including the source code, available to all its members. 

"The initial technology base that will be contained in CI Labs consists of the five integrated OpenDoc components: 

OpenDoc: Compound documents

Bento: Object container system

Open Scripting Architecture: Policies, protocols, and software for scripting

ComponentGlue Technology: The OpenDoc-OLE interoperability technology

System Object Model: The single machine version of Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), which includes multiprocess object invocation"

CORBA Chapter 22. OpenDoc: Bento and Storage Units    Author or Rep: Hyun-ju Kim 5/27/97

TASK FORCE ON ARCHIVING OF DIGITAL INFORMATION PROPOSED CHARGE    Author or Rep: Commission On Preservation And Access, Research Libraries Group 5/23/97

"The Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group join together in charging a Task Force to: 

"Frame the key problems (organizational. technological, legal, economic etc) that need to be resolved for technology refreshing to be considered an acceptable approach to ensuring continuing access to electronic digital records indefinitely into the future. 
"Define the critical issues that inhibit resolution of each identified problem. 
"For each issue, recommend actions to remove the issue from the list. 
"Consider alternatives to technology refreshing. 
"Make other generic recommendations as appropriate."

EBU and SMPTE Establish Task Force for Harmonized Standards for the Exchange of Television Programme Material as Bit Streams    Author or Rep: EBU, SMPTE 5/23/97

Amsterdam -- 13 September 1996.... Senior executives of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the European Broadcasting Union met today in Amsterdam to discuss technical matters of mutual interest.

At the moment, the most common problem being experienced by broadcasters in the exchange of data is due to the multiplicity of solutions, often proprietary, that are implemented or proposed. This problem is being experienced throughout the entire motion imaging community, and concern and frustration have been expressed at all levels, from informal user meetings up to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 

With the increasing amount of computer based equipment being used for television production, users require the ability to exchange audio, video and associated data easily and reliably between different systems. 

The EBU and SMPTE have no wish to limit the variety of products which are available and from which users can make the choice which best suits their needs. However, an agreed method to move television signals within the production chain would provide a surer basis for choice and encourage a variety of solutions without putting limits on innovation in product design. Such was the case when the serial
digital interface was agreed, which led to the successful development of a wide array of products using the 4:2:2 format. 

The following areas where a single option, or at least transparent gateways between different options, are of vital importance to users have been identified: 

compression algorithms 
multiplexing of components 
file formats 
interfaces 

SMPTE and EBU therefore have established a joint task force to formulate a definitive list of user requirements against which proposed solutions may be measured. The task force will meet on an aggressive schedule to have a report completed by April 1997. 

The first meeting of the task force will be November 3, 1996 in Geneva, Switzerland, immediately preceding the EBU Workshop "Making the BRR Connections". Meetings will alternate between Geneva and New York. The EBU and SMPTE invite all interested parties active in these areas to participate.

Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)    Author or Rep: Getty Information Institute Publications 5/23/97

Purpose

The Art & Architecture Thesaurus is a controlled vocabulary that can
be used to improve access to cultural heritage information in the 
global networked environment. 

1.The AAT can be used as a data value standard in the documentation 
(cataloging, indexing, and description) of cultural heritage information.
Building on consensus within the community, the AAT establishes a 
preferred form of term to be used as consistent access points and 
identifies the language of a subject area. 

2.The AAT can be used as a search assistant in database retrieval 
systems, by creating a semantic network (or road map) that shows links 
and paths between concepts. When the AAT is applied to a database(s), 
users can follow these paths composed of synonyms, broader term/narrower terms, 
and related concepts to refine, expand, and enhance their searches and 
achieve more meaningful results. 

Even if the AAT is not applied in the documentation stage, when used as a search assistant, the AAT is powerful knowledge base--linking searchers to information from both structured and unstructured databases.


The Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)

One of Getty Information Institute's ongoing projects in the area of standardized vocabulary is the AAT, a thesaurus of art-historical terminology--arranged both alphabetically and hierarchically by concept--that reflects the "common usage" of scholars and catalogers. The AAT is available in several forms: printed volumes, which received an Association of American Publishers award; online from the
Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN); through museum collections management systems offered by several vendors; and as a personal computer program to be used with other database or word processing software. The AAT staff also collaborates with several international organizations to develop multilingual thesauri.

Information about standards    Author or Rep: Tomi Engdahl 5/23/97

Standardization organizations

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 
Electronic Industries Association (EIA) 
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) 
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) 
European Radiocommunications Office (ERO) 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 
Infrared Data Association (IrDA) 
Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) 
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) 
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 
Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) 
Telecommunication Industries Association 
The Open Group 
Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) 

Standard FAQs

International Power Components Standards 
Military Specifications 
The IEEE Standards FAQs 

Information about standards and de-facto standards

ANSI X3.64 Control Sequences for Video Terminals and Peripherals 
ATA hard disk interface 
ATAPI (IDE) CDROM drives specification - postscript file 
CAN: Controller Area Network 
CCIR Rec. 601-2 Document - video signal standard 
CCITT/ISO multimedia standards 
CEBus standard - home automation network, see introduction 
CompactPCI - A New Industrial Computer Standard, check also FAQ 
Compliance Engineering 1995 Annual Reference Guide - EMC, ESD, safety, telecommunications, ISO 9000 
DMX 512/1990 - Digital Light Dimmer Control Interface 
Echelon LonWorks - home automation network, see introduction 
EIA RS-232 Specification Summary 
EIA RS-423 Specification Summary 
EIA RS-422 Specification Summary 
EIA RS-485 Specification Summary 
EIA/TIA-568A Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard - guidebook 
Enhanced IDE hard disk interface: FAQ and backgrounder 
European Installation Bus (EIB) 
FieldBuses 
HART - process automation field communications protocol 
I2C - serial bus 
IrDA Serial Infrared Data Link Standards 
ISO7816 synchronous smartcard 
IEEE 1149.1 - JTAG Boundary Scan for digital electronics testing 
Introduction to the IEEE 1284-1994 parallel port standard 
IEEE-1394 High Performance Serial Bus 
Multi-Vendor Integration Protocol (MVIP) - widely used standard for computer telephony 
PCI BUS - technical brief from Intel 
Radio Data System (RDS) 
RS-422 and RS-485 Application Note 
SCSI-2 Specification 
SMPTE time code information 
Universal Serial Bus (USB) 
UPS serial port monitoring cable 
VESA standards 
VHDL - general info about V(Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language 
VME Bus - check also comp.arch.bus.vmebus FAQ 
World Mains (Line) Standards 
World TV Standards 
X10 - home automation and control

Standards & Specifications Written By Scholarly Societies    Author or Rep: University of Waterloo 5/23/97

On this page we link to information about standards and specifications written by scholarly societies. 

Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Webpage 
ASA Standards 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Webpage 
AIAA Standards 

American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Webpage 
AISC Specifications and Codes 

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Webpage 
AISI Publications [Some of the AISI publications listed appear to be standards or specifications.] 

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Webpage 
ANSI Standards 

American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) Webpage 
ASNT Publications [Some Standards and Recommended Practices are listed.] 

American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) Webpage 
Quality Standards 

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Webpage 
ASTM Standards 

American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) Webpage 
ASAE Standards 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Webpage 
ASHRAE Standards 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers International (ASME) Webpage 
ASME Codes and Standards [Information on ASME's standardization program; for information on specific ASME Codes and
Standards, use the Catalog Option.] 

American Water Works Association (AWWA) Webpage 
AWWA Standards 

AOAC International (AOAC) Webpage ["formerly the Association of Official Analytical Chemists"] 
Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International [See also their Publication Catalog for other publications on analytical
methods.] 

Association for Information and Image Management International (AIIM) Webpage 
Standards on Document Imaging 

Audio Engineering Society (AES) 
AES Standards in Print 

Electronic Industries Association (EIA) Webpage 
EIA/JEDEC/TIA Catalog 

European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) Webpage 
ECMA Standards (Blue cover) 

European Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information (EUROGI) Webpage 
EUROGI: GI Standards 

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Webpage 
IESNA Recommended Practices and ANSI Standards 

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Webpage 
IEEE Standards 

International Commission on Illumination (CIE) = Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) =
Internationale Beleuchtungskommission (CIE) Webpage 
CIE Publications [includes a few standards] 

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) = Commission Électrotechnique Internationale (CEI) Webpage 
IEC/CEI Publications [From the Search Page you can search for publication information on IEC standards. Search keys include:
publication number, reponsible committee, and keywords ("text search").] 

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Webpage 
ISO Standards Handbooks 
ISO International Standards 

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Webpage 
ITU Telecommunication Standards 
ITU-T Recommendations Catalog 
ITU-T Recommendations Online [information about this fee-based service] 
ITU Radiocommunications Standards 
ITU-R Recommendations Catalog 
ITU-R Recommendations Online [information about this fee-based service] 

International Union of Testing and Research Laboratories for Materials and Structures (RILEM) = Réunion
Internationale des Laboratoires d'Essais et de Recherches sur les Matériaux et les Constructions (RILEM)
Webpage 
RILEM Recommendations 

Internet Society (ISOC) Webpage 
Internet Society Standards [A general information page.] 
Request for Comments (RFCs) [The Internic database and repository of RFCs.] 

ISA - The International Society for Measurement and Control (ISA) Webpage 
ISA Measurement and Control Standards 

Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) Webpage 
EIA/JEDEC/TIA Catalog 

National Electrical Manufacturers Assocation (NEMA) Webpage 
NEMA Standards [Information on some standards may be found by following links from the top-level page.] 

National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Webpage 
NISO Standards Catalog 

Optical Society of America (OSA) Webpage 
Optical Standards [Links to information on optical standards are given near the top of this page (which is devoted to Online
Reference).] 

SAE International (SAE) Webpage 
SAE Standards 

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Webpage 
SMPTE Standards, RPs and EGs 

Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Webpage 
EIA/JEDEC/TIA Catalog 

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Webpage 
UL Standards Catalog

Standards Organizations on the Web    Author or Rep: Jae Hun Roh 5/23/97

INTERNATIONAL FORA 

ISO: International Organization for Standardization 
JTC1: Joint Technical Committee 1 
ITU: International Telecommunications Union 
ITU-T (CCITT): International Consultative Committee on Telegraphy and Telephony 

U.S. NATIONAL FORA 

IISP: Information Infrastructure Standards Panel 
ANSI: American National Standards Institute 
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 
EIA: Electronic Industries Association 
ASC X3: Accredited Standards Committee for Information Processing 
Committee T1 
NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology 
FCC: Federal Communications Commission 

INDUSTRY FORA / TRADE ASSOCIATIONS 

IMA: Interactive Multimedia Association 
DAVIC: Digital Audio Video Interactive Council 
ATSC: Advanced Television Services Committee 
IMTC: International Multimedia Teleconferencing Consortium 
ACM: Association for Computing Machinery 
SMPTE: Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers 
MMCF: Multimedia Communications Forum 
ITA ??? 
IISP: Information Infrastructure Standards Project 
OSF: Open Software Foundation 
X/Open 
ECMA: European Computer Manufacturers Association 
CBEMA: Computer Business Equipment Manufacturers Association 
ATM Forum 
Frame Relay Forum 
Telocator ( Personal Communications ) 

USER GROUPS 

North American ISDN Users 
DISA 
OSI Workshops 

INTERNET 

ISOC: Internet Society 
IAB: Internet Architecture Board 
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force 
W3C: World Wide Web Consortium 

FOREIGN NATIONAL 

BSI British Standards Institute 
CCTA Government Centre for Information Systems ( UK) 
CSA Canadian Standards Association 
DIN German Standards Institute 
DS Danish Standards Association 
JISC Japanese Industrial Standards Commision ( under MITI AIST) 
MPT Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications ( Japan ) 
AFNOR French Association for Normalization 

EUROPEAN REGIONAL 

CEN/CENELEC Joint European Standards Institute 
ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute 
ITSTC: Information Technology Steering Committee 
RARE 

Communications Trade Press

Communications Week 
Network World 
Telecommunications Magazine 
Point Communications 


Defense Information Systems Agency Joint Interoperability Engineering Organization Center for Standards     Author or Rep: James D. Buckner, Deputy Commander 5/23/97

What's Hot
The Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM) Version 3.0 
DOD's Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Implementation Conventions 
MIL-STD-498 --Downloadable Zip Files 
Information Technology Standards Guidance (ITSG) Version 3.1 
Defense Information Infrastructure Common Operating Environment (DII COE) 
Joint Technical Architecture (JTA) 
Infosec Standardization Activities Report

National Committee for Information Technology Standards    Author or Rep: Ari Tibbs 5/23/97

Welcome to the WWW site of the National Committee for Information
Technology Standards*. 

NCITS's mission is to produce market-driven, voluntary
consensus standards in the areas of: 
multimedia (MPEG/JPEG), 
intercommunication among computing devices and
information systems (including the Information Infrastructure,
SCSI-2 interfaces, Geographic Information Systems), 
storage media (hard drives, removable cartridges), 
database (including SQL3), 
security, and 
programming languages (such as C++). 



The world changes and every day the role of information technology evolves,
expanding into new areas, transforming the processes of our lives:
communication, transportation, artistic expression, healthcare, and more.
Standards provide the platform from which technological advances spring. 

NCITS (pronounced "Insights") develops national standards and its technical
experts participate on behalf of the United States in the international standards
activities of ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information Technology. Through participation in
NCITS, industry leaders and users alike have the opportunity to open new
markets, dismantle non-tariff trade barriers, and build the basic structure of the
Global Information Infrastructure. 

Some information technology standards have been in existence for many years
-- the most basic connection between computers and peripherals works because
of such standards -- and NCITS is committed to the maintenance of the
infrastructure. Obsolete standards are withdrawn, and the base standards are
revised when necessary. 

NCITS welcomes new members in the development of critical new standards
and the review of the standards that built the infrastructure. We welcome
everyone who wants to start standards projects in the information technology
area. Contact us at ncits@itic.nw.dc.us. 

NCITS is sponsored by ITI -- representing the leading companies providing
information technology products and services-promotes the global
competitiveness of its members. ITI's mission is to shape policies and actions
that open markets, promote free and open competition, rely on market based
solutions, protect intellectual property, and develop and advance the use of
voluntary standards. 

*From 1961- 1996, NCITS operated under the name Accredited Standards
Committee X3, Information Technology. 


Z39.50 Maintenance Agency    Author or Rep: Ray Denenberg 5/23/97

Welcome to the Library of Congress Maintenance Agency page for International Standard
Z39.50: "Information Retrieval (Z39.50): Application Service Definition and Protocol
Specification". 

The Z39.50 standard is represented both as ANSI/NISO Z39.50 and ISO 23950 (both with the same name, above, and identical text). 

This page includes documentation and information related to the development and ongoing maintenance of Z39.50; development of future versions of Z39.50; and information related to the implementation and use of the Z39.50 protocol.
                                               
                                               
                                               
                                               
                                               
                                               
                                               
                                               
                                               
                                               


Berkeley Multimedia Research Center: A Distributed Hierarchial Storage Manager for a Video-on-Demand System    Author or Rep: Craig Federighi, Lawrence A. Rowe 5/23/97

Abstract

The design of a distributed video-on-demand system that is suitable for large video libraries is described. The system is designed to store 1000s of hours of video material on tertiary storage devices. A video that a user wants to view is loaded onto a video file server close to the users desktop from where it can be played. The system manages the distributed cache of videos on the file servers and schedules load requests to the tertiary storage devices. The system also includes a metadata database, described in a companion paper, that the user can query to locate video material of interest. This paper describes the software architecture, storage organization, application protocols for locating and loading videos, and distributed cache management algorithm used by the system.


6.0 References

5.0 Acknowledgements
Back to Top

[1] D.P. Anderson, G. Homsy, "A Continuous Media I/O Server and Its Synchronization Mechanisms," Computer, Vol. 24, No. 10,
October 1991, pp. 51-57. 
[2] T.J. Berners-Lee, R. Cailliau and J.F.Groff, "The World-Wide Web," Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, Nov. 1992, vol.25,
(no.4-5), pp. 454-9. 
[3] D. Ferrari and D. C. Verma, "A Scheme for Real-Time Channel Establishment in Wide-Area Network," IEEE Journal on Selected
Areas in Communications, Vol. 8, No. 3, April 1990, pp. 368-379. 
[4] J. Harris and I. Ruben, "Bento Specification," Apple Computer, Cupertino CA, 1992. 
[5] R. L. Haskin, "The Shark Continuous-Media File Server," Proc IEEE COMPCON `93, San Francisco CA, February 1993. 
[6] J.H. Howard, et. al., "Scale and Performance in a Distributed File System," ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, Vol. 6, No.
1, February 1988, pp. 51-81. 
[7] V. Jacobson, "Personal communication," 1993. 
[8] R. Katz, "High Performance Network and Channel-Based Storage," Computer Science Division Report No. UCB/CSD 91/650,
U.C. Berkeley, 1991. 
[9] R. Katz, et.al., "Robo-line Storage: Low Latency, High Capacity Storage Systems Over Geographically Distributed Networks,"
Computer Science Division Report No. UCB/CSD 91/651, U.C. Berkeley, 1991. 
[10] K. Keeton and R. Katz. "The Evaluation of Video Layout Strategies on a High-Bandwidth File Server," Proc. 4th Intl Wkshp on
Operating Systems and Network Support for Digital Audio and Video, Lancaster, UK, November 1993. 
[11] M. Mitzenmacher, UC Berkeley, personal communication, November, 1993. 
[12] J. Ousterhout, "Tcl: an embedded command language," Proc. 1990 Winder USENIX Conference, 1990. 
[13] J. Ousterhout, "An X11 toolkit based on the tcl language," Proc. 1991 Winder USENIX Conference,1991. 
[14] P.V. Rangan, H.M. Vin, and S. Ramanathan, "Designing an On-Demand Multimedia Service," IEEE Communications Magazine,
Vol 30, No. 7, July 1992, pp. 56-64. 
[15] L.A. Rowe and B.C. Smith, "A Continuous Media Player," Proc. 3rd Intl. Wkshp on Operating Systems Support for Digital
Audio and Video, La Jolla, CA, November 1992. 
[16] R. Sandburg, et.al., "Design and Implementation of the Sun Network Filesystem," Proc. 1985 Summer USENIX Conference,
Portland, OR, June 1985, pp. 119-130. 
[17] M.D. Schroeder, A. D. Birrel, R.M. Needham "A caching file system for a programmer's workstation," Proc. 10th Symp. on
Operating Systems Principals, Orcas Island, WA, December 1988, pp. 25-32. 
[18] H. Schulzrinne and S. Casner, "RTP: A Real-Time Transport Protocol," IETF Draft, available by FTP from gaia.cs.umass.edu:
~ftp/pub/rtp, July 1993. 
[19] Ed Sesek, Silicon Graphics Incorporated, personal communication, August 1993. 
[20] B.C. Smith, L.A. Rowe, and S. Yen, "Tcl Distributed Programming," Proc. 1993 Tcl/Tk Workshop, Berkeley, CA, June 1993. 
[21] M. Stonebraker and G. Kemnitz, "The POSTGRES Next-Generation Database Management System," Comm. of the ACM, Vol.
34, No. 10, October, 1991, pp. 78-92. 
[22] F.A. Tobagi and J. Pang, "StarWorks *TM -- A Video Applications Server," Proc. IEEE COMPCON `93, San Francisco, CA,
Feb 1993. 
[23] F.A. Tobagi, et. al, "Streaming RAID - A Disk Array Management System for Video Files," Proc. 1st ACM Intl Conf. on
Multimedia, Anaheim, August 1993, pp. 393-400. 
[24] P. Tzelnic, "Calaveras Continuous Media Server," personal communication, August 1993. 
[25] H.M. Vin and P.V. Rangan, "Designing a Multi-User HDTV Storage Server," IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communications, Vol. 11, No. 1, January 1993, Pages 153-164.

Association of Moving Image Archivists: Mission    Author or Rep: Gregory Lukow 5/23/97

Mission:

The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) is a professional association established to advance the field of moving image archiving by fostering cooperation among individuals concerned with the collection, preservation, exhibition and use of moving image materials. The objectives and purposes of the association are to:

Provide a regular means of exchanging information, ideas and assistance. 
Take responsible positions on archival matters affecting moving images. 
Encourage public awareness of and interest in the preservation and use of moving images as an important educational, historical and cultural resource. 
Promote moving image archival activities, including preservation, cataloging and documentation, and access, through such means as meetings, workshops, publications and direct assistance. 
Develop and promote professional standards and practices for moving image archival materials. 
Stimulate and facilitate research on archival matters affecting moving images. 

Moving Image Society   
5/23/97


BKSTS Mission Statement 

To encourage, sustain, educate, train and represent all those who, creatively or
technologically, are involved in the business of providing moving images and
associated sound in any form and through any media. 

To encourage and promote excellence in all aspects of moving image and
associated sound technology. 

Whilst remaining independent of all goverments and commercial organisations, to
promote these aims throughout the world. 


The Society 

Originally called The British Kinematograph Society, the society was founded in
1931 to serve the growing film industry. The title was later changed to The British
Kinematograph Sound and Television Society to reflect the members' wide range
of interests 

As well as meetings, presentations, seminars and international exhibitions and
conferences, the society also organises a programme of training courses,
lectures and workshops, special events, evening meetings. 

With technology constantly changing the BKSTS offers members every opportunity
to keep up with new developments, and to meet with international experts. Close
links are also maintained with other similar organisations throughout the world. 

Biennially, the society organises conferences on the following subjects: Special
Effects, Moving Images, Wildlife Film-making. 

The society publishes a journal Image Technology and newsletter Images ten
times per year as well as the quarterly supplement Cinema Technology. 

Membership of the Society is open to everyone with a professional interest in the
industry, including students, technicians and those just starting out. 

Regional branches of the Society are established in Manchester, Birmingham,
Bristol and Southampton. 

The BKSTS is funded by the subscriptions of its members and sponsors, and is
supported by a permanent staff. 


BKSTS 
63-71 Victoria House,
Vernon Place, 
London WC1B 4DA,
England 

Tel: +44 (0)171 242 8400 
Fax +44 (0)171 405 3560 

Email: movimage@bksts.demon.co.uk 


RARE MULTIMEDIA WORKING GROUP    Author or Rep: John Dyer 5/23/97

APPENDIX 1: RARE MULTIMEDIA WORKING GROUP

The RARE Multimedia Working Group has a charter which includes the following objectives: 

To act as a focus for user requirements for emerging technology. 
To promote standards which allow the inter-operation of multimedia services across open networks. 
To act as a forum for discussion between developers, users and service providers about requirements and quality. 
To act as a catalyst in the development of new applications. 

The scope of the group includes: 

Video/audio conferencing over computer networks. 
Multi-party collaborative working. 
Delivery of video output from supercomputers. 
Multimedia-enhanced communications applications (such as multimedia mail). 

Further information is available by sending a mail message to mailserver@rare.nl containing in the body the message INFORMATION
WG-IMM.

There is a mailing list which anyone is free to join. The address is wm-imm@rare.nl. To subscribe, send a mail message to
mailserver@rare.nl containing in the body the message SUBSCRIBE WG-IMM.

Working Group chair: John Dyer (J.Dyer@jnt.ac.uk)
Joint Network Team
c/o Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Chilton
Didcot
OX11 0QX
Great Britain
Phone: +44 235 445433
Fax: +44 235 446251

Commission on Preservation and Access Newsletter    Author or Rep: Deanna B. Marcum 5/23/97

Commission on Preservation and Access
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 740
Washington, DC 20036-2217
(202) 939-3400 Fax: (202) 939-3407

The Commission on Preservation and Access was established in 1986 to foster and support collaboration among libraries and allied organizations in order to ensure the preservation of the published and documentary record in all formats and to provide enhanced access to scholarly information.

The Newsletter reports on cooperative national and international preservation activities and is written primarily for university administrators and faculty, library and archives administrators, preservation specialists and administrators, and representatives of consortia, governmental bodies, and other groups sharing in the Commission's goals. The Newsletter is not copyrighted; its duplication and distribution are encouraged.

Deanna B. Marcum--President
James M. Morris--Vice President
Maxine K. Sitts--Program Officer, Editor

MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS ASSESSMENT: VERSION 2    Author or Rep: DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY Center for Standards 10701 Parkridge Boulevard Reston, Virginia 22291-4398 5/23/97

FOREWORD

This document is a revision of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Center For Standards (CFS) September 1993 Multimedia Technology Standards Assessment publication. During preparation of this revision, editing focused on updating, amplifying, and expanding various sections for clarity and currency. Additionally, the document has been reorganized and many new features have been incorporated. Among these are a glossary and list of acronyms to clarify terminology surrounding this complex technology and World Wide Web (WWW) Universal Resource Locators (URLs) for most standards.

Standards Management Groups, Working Groups and Forums    Author or Rep: Defense Information Systems Agency 5/23/97

Alphabetic list of Standards ManagementGroups, Working Groups and Forums

EDI Standards Management Commitee (EDISMC)
Imagery Standards Management Committee (ISMC)
Information Processing Steering Group (IPSG)
Information Standards and Technology (INST)Management
Information Systems Security Standards WorkingGroup (ISWG)
Information Transfer Standards Management Panel(IXMP)
Joint MILSATCOM Technical Working Group(JMTWG)
Joint Multi-TADIL Standards Working Group (JMSWG)
JMSWG Data Link Working Group (DLWG)
JMSWG Digital Message Transfer Device (DMTD)Subgroup
JMSWG Implementation Subgroup (IMSG)
JMSWG Network Management Subgroup (NMSG)
JMSWG Operational Subgroup (OPSG)
JMSWG Tactical Data Link Working Group (TDLWG)
JMSWG Theater Missile Defense (TMD) Subgroup
Joint Technical Architecture (JTA) Working Group(JTAWG)
Information Technology Standards Guidance (ITSG)
JTA Standards Selection/Conflict Resolution(SS/CR) Working Group
Multimedia/Optical Digital Technologies StandardsWorking Group (MM/ODTSWG)
Portable Information Carrier (PIC) StandardsWorking Group
Security Standards Transition Team (S2T2)
Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC)
Symbology Standards Management Committee (SSMC)
TADIL Configuration Control Board (CCB)
TADIL CCB Configuration Management AutomationTeam
TADIL CCB International Technical Working Group(ITWG)
U. S. Message Text Format (USMTF) CCB

AMIA-L Association of Moving Image Archivists discussion.    
5/23/97

Subscription Address: 
listserv@lsv.uky.edu 
Submission Address: 
AMIA-L@lsv.uky.edu 

CONSERVATION DISTLIST   
5/23/97

Library, archive and museum materials. 
Subscription Address: 
consdist-request@lindy.stanford.edu 
Submission Address: 
CONSDIST@lindy.stanford.edu 

POPCULIB    
5/23/97

"The purpose of POPCULIB (Popular Culture and Libraries) is to facilitate discussion of popular culture resources in libraries. Appropriate topics for this list include, but are not limited to: the use of primary popular culture materials in libraries; acquisition, cataloging, and preservation of primary popular culture materials; secondary resources relating to popular culture, including notices and reviews of new sources."

Subscription Address: 
listserv@listserv.kent.edu 
Submission Address: 
POPCULIB@listserv.kent.edu 

ERECS-L    
5/23/97

ERECS-L is a forum for the discussion of ideas, techniques, and issues associated with the management and preservation of electronic records. To subscribe, send "SUBSCRIBE YOUR_NAME" to
listserv@uacsc2.albany.edu 

Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences (11th Revision)     Author or Rep: Diane K. Kovacs 5/23/97

Scope of the Directory

"The Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-conferences is screens, evaluates and organizes discussion lists, newsgroups, MUDS, MOO'S, Muck's, Mushes, mailing lists, interactive Web chat groups etc. (e-conferences) on topics of interest to scholars and professionals for use in their scholarly,
pedagological and professional activities. 

"The e-conferences in this Directory are all accessible via Internet services including email, Usenet News Readers, telnet, gopher, or WWW."

ARL Preservation Program    Author or Rep: Mary Case 5/23/97

The ARL Preservation Program serves the objective of supporting member libraries' efforts to preserve research collections, both individually and in the aggregate.
The ARL Preservation Action Plan focuses on the following ongoing program strategies: 

1.Support and Advance North American Preservation Efforts; 

2.Support Member Libraries' Preservation Programs by Assisting with Needs Assessment and Long-range Planning; 

3.Assist in Ongoing Assessment of the Scope of Preservation Activity in ARL Libraries; 

4.Promote Education and Training for Preservation Managers, Technical Specialists, and Generalists; 

5.Support Effective Bibliographic Control of Preservation-related Records; and 

6.Monitor Technological Developments, Keeping the ARL Membership Informed and Recommending Action Where Appropriate.

DigLibns Electronic Discussion   
5/23/97

The DigLibns electronic discussion is aimed toward professionals involved in building digital collections or maintaining digital services.

TO SUBSCRIBE:
Send "subscribe diglibns your name" to listserv@sunsite.berkeley.edu

TO UNSUBSCRIBE:
Send "unsubscribe diglibns" to listserv@sunsite.berkeley.edu

TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISCUSSION:
Send your message to diglibns@sunsite.berkeley.edu.


National Digital Library Federation   
5/23/97

Fifteen of the nation's largest research libraries and archives have agreed to cooperate on defining what must be done to bring together--from across the nation and beyond--digitized materials that will be made accessible to students, scholars, and citizens everywhere, and that document the building and dynamics of United States heritage and cultures.

Reports on Standards for the Information Market : Monthly Reports on Multimedia/Hypermedia Standards Activity.   
5/23/97

This page provides access to the reports produced under the OII initiative. These reports aim to promote the awareness and use of standards for the exchange of information in electronic form by describing relevant activities in the standards arena. They include:

OII Workshops - details of workshops organized as part of the OII initiative 
Conference Reports - reports on standards meetings and conferences in areas which are within the scope of OII 
Monthly Reports on Multimedia/Hypermedia Standards Activity

INFO2000 : European multimedia content projects   
5/23/97

Under INFO2000 the production of high quality European multimedia content is being stimulated in four strategic areas: economic exploitation of Europe's cultural heritage, business services for firms in particular for SMEs, geographic information, and scientific, technical and medical information.

SMASH - STORAGE FOR MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS SYSTEMS IN THE HOME    
5/23/97

AC018: SMASH - STORAGE FOR MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS
SYSTEMS IN THE HOME 


Workplan References: Area: 
AC119,AC120,AC121,AC122 


Main Objectives

The SMASH project will investigate the user needs for local storage in the home environment to enable the cost effective usage of future Multimedia Services. Based on this investigation a storage system consisting of an hierarchy of storage technologies will be developed. This system should satisfy both the demand for large storage capacity as well as the need to access the stored information in a fast and interactive way. Therefore the main objective is to show the technical feasibility of an integrated storage unit that is connected to the network and other consumer equipment and enables to down load, store and retrieve information efficiently for all multimedia applications.

Technical Approach

The project aims to develop technologies that are suitable for consumer use. Therefore magnetic tape will be chosen as the medium for mass storage. Studies will be done to increase the storage capacity of a tape system and to improve the access time. For the interactive use of multimedia services a rewritable disk system will be used. Studies will be done on how to interconnect a tape and a disk system in an optimal way. To the user, a combined tape-disk system must behave as one
integrated system. Therefore studies will be performed in the following areas : file management, file allocation strategies for a combined storage system and search techniques on a tape-disk system. Very essential will also be the development of applications that can benefit the most from local storage. Those applications will be tried out on early prototypes of the SMASH system and be further developed jointly with the development of the storage technologies. Investigations and tests will also be performed on how to interface the SMASH system with other equipment in the home. Developments in the other projects of the Project Line will be followed closely and suitable co-operations will be set up with other ACTS projects.

Summary of Trial

The verification of the developed technologies and applications is a very important aspect of the project. Suitable trial experiments can only be done after a SMASH prototype system has been developed and finalised. The plan is therefore to start trial experiments during the second phase of the project. During this phase some SMASH prototypes will be build and their functions will be verified in a real consumer home environment.

Key Issues

Development of a user friendly and cost effective storage system for consumer use requires the further development of several key technologies. Improvements in recording heads, fast access systems and the realisation of fast transfers between a tape and disk system are very important. Also the development of new techniques for file management , for the addressing of large amounts of data and for the automatic allocation of information on different storage subsystems are key issues. Another aspect is the handling of encrypted information inside a storage system. The parallel development of all those technologies is needed for the SMASH system to be finished in the given time frame.

Expected Impact 

There is no doubt that in the future the consumer will receive massive amounts of digital information in the home. It is to be expected that the consumer will want to save some of this information for later use. Also the possibility to down load information via the network at a different moment than the consumer wants to use this information will be much appreciated. All this is only possible if a cost effective storage system becomes available for the home. Therefore the results of the SMASH project are expected to be of great benefit to the future users of digital information.

Participants

Philips NL

Philips Italy I

Deutsche Thomson-Brandt D

Olivetti I

Tandberg Data Storage N

University of Essen D

Technische Universiteit Delft NL

Contact : Eric H.J. Persoon Philips Research Laboratories 

Tel: +31 40 27 42486 Prof. Holstlaan 4

Fax: +31 40 27 44648 5656 AA Eindhoven

E-mail: persoon@natlab.research.philips.com THE NETHERLANDS

Open Information Interchange Home Page   
5/23/97

Overview of the Open Information Interchange Initiative

The Open Information Interchange (OII) initiative started as part of the European Commission DG XIII's IMPACT 2 programme. As a result of favourable market response, it is being continued under INFO 2000, the Commission's multi-annual programme for simulating the development of the European multimedia content industry and encouraging the use of multimedia content in the emerging information society, which was formally launched in May 1996. OII constitutes one of the Support Actions of INFO 2000 and has the remit of increasing awareness of multimedia content standards. 
...
The objectives of OII, therefore, is to provide all market actors -- including standards and specification developers, product and service providers, and end-users of these products and services -- with an overview of existing and emerging standards and industry specifications designed to facilitate the exchange of information in electronic form.

VESA : Video Electronics Standards Association   
5/23/97

VESA'S MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT

Our Mission

To promote and develop timely, relevant and open standards for the video electronics industry, ensuring interoperability, and encouraging innovation and market growth. 

Our Vision

To be one of the leading, world wide standards organization and internationally recognized voices in the video electronics industry. 

Products

Create unbiased standards 
Encourage short time to market 
Always be non-exclusionary 
Maintain product benefit to industry and consumer 
Promote quality and accuracy of industry standards 
Ensure due diligence in the standards process 

Services

Listen to the need of the industry 
Emphasize service and cooperation 
Provide timely response 
Be a catalyst for information exchange 
Provide access to all information 
Deliver clear and concise information 
Function as the pre-eminent promoter of VESA Standards 
Utilize our collective resources 
Be a true and effective international organization 

Environment

Operate with a high level of integrity and professionalism 
Promote integrity and fairness in the industry 
Maintain a Democratic Process 
Be unbiased but selective 
Hear and consider all Input 
Respect all members ideas 
Operate effectively as a team 


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VESA's Standards Initiatives

As one of the leading standards organizations in the electronics industry, VESA is committed to developing and promoting standards for three key focus areas: (A) Display, (B) Interactive Multimedia, and (C) Systems. All VESA standards are created by its technical committees which consist of hardware and software professionals drawn from high technology companies around the world. Each committee is structured into technical Workgroups whose goals are to focus on specific technical requirements for developing a standards proposal. The proposals are reviewed and, when approved, are submitted to the general membership for ratification. Each VESA parent member is given one vote. VESA's technical committees are described below. 

----
----

B. INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA 

4. VESA Home Network Committee 

The VESA Home Network Committee was founded in 1995 with a charter to develop hardware and software standards which support consumer digital services for the home network. These services will be initially for video devices, and later for other peripherals such as telephone devices, printers, energy management devices, and Local Area Networks (LANs). Devices may be purchased an installed by the consumer to access multiple external service providers and internal home equipment.
The VESA standard will be flexible enough to allow support for all existing uses and have the capability to support unforeseen future services while still being compatible with the network infrastructure. 

The Committee is actively bringing in key companies in the areas of cable, telephone, semi-conductor, and hardware and software suppliers, in addition to forming alliances with other standards organizations such as DAVIC, EIA, and ITA, to support its standards efforts. 

Active in the committee are seven Workgroups: Applications, Connector, DAVIC Liaison, Internetworking, Physical Layer, Proof of Concept Production, and Wiring. Together they are directing activities toward developing standards and creating an open architecture to be used by devices for the Home Network market. 

DAVIC : Digital Audio Visual Council   
5/23/97

"The purpose of DAVIC is to favour the success of emerging digital audio-visual applications and services, by the timely availability of internationally agreed specifications of open interfaces and protocols that maximise interoperability across countries and applications/services."

...

"The current DAVIC 1.0 version of specifications allows the deployment of systems that support initial applications such as TV distribution, near video on demand, video on demand and some basic forms of teleshopping. Each future version will extend on previous versions to provide more functionalities while keeping, as far as possible, backwards compatibility with previous versions."


Standards Framework for the Computer Interchange of MuseumInformationMuseum Computer Network    Author or Rep: David Bearman and John Perkins 5/23/97

From: Executive Summary

"The Museum Computer Network (MCN) launched its initiative for Computer Interchange of Museum Information (CIMI) to develop standards that could support museum requirements. Representatives from all the major North American museum associations and network service providers attended meetings from 1990-92 which contributed to the framework for museum standards presented here.

"This report identifies the types of interchange museums do or have a need to do. It then examines national and international information standards to see if existing standards can serve museums. Using the Open Systems Environment (OSE)1 and Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) models as a benchmark, the report reveals that certain classes of existing standards can serve museums and discusses how to identify applicable application standards. It then reviews the evidence on the suitability
of certain application standards to specific museum applications.

"Based on these findings, the report recommends a standards framework for museum information interchange titled the CIMI Standards Framework.

"This framework encompasses interchange protocols, interchange formats, and lower level network and telecommunications building blocks as well as content data standards that provide the technical basis for museum information interchange."

This page was processed on 7/8/98 by Thom Shepard for WGBH.