ALBUQUERQUE, NM (January 9, 2004) – Sounding the call to “shape new product development ideas, influence evolving standards, and ensure open protocols for information exchange,” Marjorie MK Hlava, has assumed the presidency of NFAIS, the National Federation of Abstracting and Indexing Services. Hlava, a veteran member and committee leader for NFAIS, is president of Access Innovations, Inc., a knowledge management company she established in Albuquerque in 1978. In accepting the leadership position with NFAIS, she also challenged the organization to further “foster education, professional growth, and innovations in technology transfer.
NFAIS is a membership organization that represents an international cross-section of technology, publishing and information providers. It is a partnership of government, nonprofit and commercial organizations - all sharing a common mission of improved access to, and use of, information. She is also Chair and Board Liaison to the Standards Committee.
NFAIS members' services successfully merge human intellectual processes and judgment with the strength of technological solutions. The primary activities undertaken by member organizations are aggregating, organizing, and facilitating access to information.
Assisting users in creating knowledge from published information is the key focus and purpose of every NFAIS member. Some of the hallmarks that distinguish the products and services provided by NFAIS members from other information providers include: content management; precision search and retrieval; enriched indexing; depth and scope of content; and automated electronic access. Whether provided by profit seeking companies, government agencies, or nonprofit entities, these products and services are crucial to professionals in the academic, corporate, government, and library communities who need quick, reliable and easy access to the sometimes overwhelming amount of information available in both print and digital formats.
Products and services provided by NFAIS members are often the most important interface between the user seeking either specific or general information on a chosen topic and the sources of information relevant to that topic. This sector of the publishing industry is integral to productivity in a diverse number of fields of study and research - thus contributing positively to the national and global economies, as well as to the goals of social, scientific and political progress.
Regardless of their size or their profit motive, NFAIS members have moved aggressively in the delivery and integration of their products and services through new technologies. Web-based resources, wireless devices, online services, digital archives, CD-ROMs are just some of the many delivery and communication channels employed by NFAIS members organizations to reach customers and offer solutions to their information needs.
NFAIS members have successively made the transition from traditional, and often niche, information publishers to global, digital information providers, They strive to continue providing the highest value of service and the most efficient tools available to enhance the productivity of information professionals.
In conjunction with NISO and other participating organizations, the NFAIS Standards Committee is reviewing initiatives pertaining to:
In conjunction with the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org), the NFAIS Standards Committee is currently monitoring developments in the flowing areas:
Metadata is a critical mechanism both in knowledge representation of digital collections and in data mining. Metadata describes the attributes of a resource, where the resource may consist of bibliographical objects (e.g. EAD metadata), geospatial objects (e.g. CSDGM), museum and visual resources (e.g., CDWA, VRA, CIMI metadata), or software implementation (e.g. CORBA).
Statement of the President-Elect
Marjorie M. K. Hlava
Access Innovations, Inc.
NFAIS Looking Forward...
During the past year I have been fortunate to work with NFAIS President, Michael Dennis of CAS, and the hardworking and dedicated NFAIS Board and staff in thinking about our changing industry, its impact on NFAIS, and the directions that we should take in order to strengthen the organization. Problems are best solved when addressed head on. Burying things we know to be true will not make them go away.
Industry consolidation and the recent economic downslide have affected everyone in the Information Community and NFAIS is no exception. Today NFAIS has fewer than 50 members, down 20% form last year. The organizations'efforts are supported almost exclusively by a relatively high dues structure and the revenues generated from the Annual Conference. And, due to declining membership, or revenue has decreased by 14.4% in the past year resulting in depletion of our reserves and significant reduction in our net worth. The driving forces impacting NFAIS are not all within our control, but they all must be faced and dealt with. We have a Newsletter, a News Alerts, a Web Site, and an excellent Annual Conference..but we need much more to ensure the future health of the organization.
However, all is not doom and gloom! On the bright side, we have a strong team at NFAIS, Headquarters, and they are concerned and working very hard to create the best and strongest NFAIS ever. While it might be tempting, we cannot simply hire a new Executive Director and expect the Headquarters team to fix our problems. That would be naïve and unfair. Fortunately, the NFAIS Board of Directors is equally committed to investing significant time and energy into strengthening the organization.
So where do we go from here? We are a small organization with few dollars and a big agenda. Who will help us? "Us" - We are Those who aggregate, organize and facilitate access to information!!!
A New Information Industry is evolving and we must embrace it. NFAIS needs to evolve in order to provide the organizational benefits members need, want and expect. We must foster understanding of secondary publishing in all its variations to the primary publishers, to the librarians, to the end user, and perhaps most importantly to those who are new to the business and who are shaping its future.
How will NFAIS serve the evolving Information Community and those new to our business? Of equal importance, how can we motivate those newcomers to take advantage of NFAIS organizational benefits? How? By creating an environment that showcases the wealth of knowledge and talent that our community has developed and by leveraging the combined strength and experience of existing NFAIS members.
NFAIS should be a forum for shaping new product development ideas, a place for influencing the evolving standards in our industry and for insuring open protocols for information exchange. We should be a place renowned for the development of new partnerships. And we should be a place that fosters education, information exchange, professional growth, and technology transfer.
The Ideal NFAIS will serve all tax sectors - government, not-for-profit, and for-profit. It will also serve all industry sectors - users, libraries, both secondary and primary publishers, and Host services. NFAIS also will pay attention to and invite in the new sectors - Web & Internet.
How will do this? What do we need to do to make this happen? The Evolving Plan:
| Committee/Roundtable | Interim Board Chair/Advisor |
|---|---|
| Best Practices: | Paul Ryan, Defense Technical Information Center |
| Conferences & Meetings: | David Brown, The Dialog Corporation |
| Humanities Roundtable: | Terence Ford, Getty Research Institute |
| Information Linking: | Linda Beebe, Amercian Psychological Association |
| Information Policy: | Linda Beebe, American Psychological Association |
| Chief Information Officer Roundtable: | Matt Dunie, Cambridge Scienfitic Abstracts (CSA) |
| Nominations: | Michael Dennis, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) |
| Public Relations & Marketing: | Linda Sacks, BIOSIS |
| Publications: | Sally Sinn, National Agricultural Library |
| Standards: | Marjorie Hlava, Access Innovations Inc. |
| Usage Statistics & Member Data: | Lucian Parziale, The H.W. Wilson Co. (Bernie Seilor, Chair) |
The Industry is evolving and the future is unknown. Technical variables are increasing. The economic climate is unstable. Future market directions are uncertain. We all need a place to meet and talk with our peers who face the same challenges and so that we can identify solutions for our own organizations. NFAIS is that place! I am looking forward to a very exciting year!
Data Harmony, the software arm of Access Innovations, offers a range of tools that seamlessly work with the newly offered domain taxonomies. For example, Thesaurus Master allows creation of a full ISO/NISO standard compliant thesaurus with customization options for adaptation to web and publishing environments. The Machine Assisted Indexing (MAI) module includes natural language, semantic, syntactic, and statistical algorithms in addition to allowing the user to further control and refine their automatic classification system through a sophisticated rule base creation interface. The Data Harmony system is controlled at the desktop by the user rule base interface and does not require complex training and retraining of sets as terms change in usage or association.
Domain taxonomies are available for a one time charge. Update options are available. They may be augmented for internal use. They may not be resold without prior arrangement. For additional information and pricing, contact Access Innovations.
More information on
Data Harmony can be found at www.dataharmony.com.
Access Innovations is a woman-owned, small business in Albuquerque, New Mexico. During their 26-year history, Access Innovations has expanded to encompass all aspects of database creation and electronic publishing. The acquisition of the NICEM audiovisual database and the establishment of its Data Harmony and NewsIndexer content management products have made Access Innovations a global leader in the information industry. Their clients include the Association of Radiologic Technologists, the American Chemical Society, the Naval Post Graduate School Homeland Security, the OPOCE of the European Parliament, Kimberly Clark and Genetech.