D.C. DITIZING Sally Wambold University of Richmond School of Law wambold@uofrlaw.richmond.edu

This is a futuristic column in more than one way. It talks about digitizing, but it also talks about future programs that discuss the digital tools that are all around us. Knowing what will be available at AALL in Washington in 1999 can be useful in planning and justifying attendance at the meeting. There are many more programs that will be available; so, be on the lookout for the Program Announcement with your December Spectrum that will describe all that is offered. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge the help of Timothy Coggins, Chair of the Annual Meeting Program Selection Committee (AMPSC); Anne Myers, AMPSC Member; Janet McKinney, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect of TSSIS and coordinator of "The Internet in Technical Services"; Joe Thomas, Chair of TS-SIS; and Brian Striman, Vice-Chair/ Chair-Elect of OBS-SIS. I would also like to acknowledge again the very interesting Library Journal column, "Digital Libraries," by Roy Tennant. Roy Tennant’s ideas will constitute the second part of this column.

At the Washington, D.C., meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries, an intriguing program is being sponsored by TS-SIS and coordinated by Pat Turpening, Head of Preservation & Archives at University of Cincinnati College of Law, Robert S. Marx Law Library. This program is entitled Preservation at the Crossroads: a Debate Between the World of Print and the Brave New World of Digital. It will feature two speakers - one who will talk about traditional preservation methods and another person who will explain the benefits of preserving content digitally.

Other technical services/online bibliographic services programs approved by AMPSC include:

• Information Architecture for the World Wide Web promises to be a fascinating program, because the fields of information science and librarianship offer valuable insights into the design and architecture of Web sites. This program explores the principles of information architecture and their application toward the design of sites that support growth, management, and ease of use. A review of design of organization, labeling, navigation, searching and the indexing systems will also be given. Time allowing, the program also will cover the use of metaphors, paper prototypes, scenarios, and blueprints as tools for communicating the design. Examples and case studies will be interwoven to provide a balance between theory and practice. This program is co-sponsored by Computer Services SIS.

• Crosswalks to Information Management: Metadata: What is it? Who is Using it? How is it Being Used? -- Most law librarians have heard of metadata or perhaps have just read snippets on this topic, but many do not understand what metadata is and what it means to information management in libraries and beyond. This unique program will blend a panel of experts who will set the stage by lecturing on the different aspects of metadata. Then, join your colleagues for something new at this year’s meeting. There will be a roundtable discussion where participants can discuss issues surrounding metadata and have their questions answered in an informal setting after the program.

• The Small Library at the Automation Crossroads: Is it Time for an Integrated System? -- Experienced panelists will discuss micro-based systems, where to get bibliographic records, where do you go for help, and what small systems are available for limited budgets.

• The Internet in Technical Services: Internet resources have been beneficial to technical services librarians for years. This program will explore those resources and will examine the many means by which the Internet is used in technical services work, focusing on collection development, acquisitions, serials, and cataloging. Speakers also will consider ways in which technical services use and understanding of the Internet can be improved, including the creation and application of departmental web sites and analyzing future trends. Finally, the presenters and participants will discuss the impact the Internet has on technical services functions and workflow, as well as whether these changes are lasting and desirable.

(Just to complete the Washington picture, other technical services programs of interest are Loose-leafs at the Crossroads: Defining Seriality; Cataloging a la Carte; Classifying International Legal Materials; and Collection Development Policies for Electronic Format Materials.)

To segue to another digital aspect of technical services, I would like to refer to the "Digital Libraries" column by Roy Tennant of October 15, 1998 in Library Journal. It is entitled "The Art and Science of Digital Bibliography." Mr. Tennant, who manages the Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE and the listservs Web4Lib and DigLibns, has a view of cataloging worth considering. In the digital Internet environment, the MARC record is even more cumbersome than ever. Tennant proposes the use of bibliography instead. He sees annotated bibliographies for a selected audience as a prime service, central to the work of librarians. He refers to such bibliographies as indexes or subject gateways and lists their common qualities:

» Evaluation skills are important, special cataloging skills are not
» Annotations of description or evaluation are important
» Links need checking regularly
» These bibliographical services are targeted to certain interest groups
» Access is enabled with additional keywords

Roy Tennant lists several digital bibliography projects in his column. Among these resources are:

» Resource Organisation and Discovery in Subject-based Service (ROADS) (http://www.roads.lut.ac.uk)
» Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout)
» The Access Catalogue Gateway to Resources (http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue15/main)

Tennant ends by saying that the library catalog is not the model upon which to base these services. He calls for specialized organization of knowledge that enables the searcher to investigate the subject in more than one resource at once. Law librarians familiar with Lexis may think of a mega;mega file in computer-assisted legal research. This is food for thought. As always, the challenge is to implement an ideal in a practical way.