|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
4. Publications on the Internet : publication
types and a section on access conditions Contents The documents on the net can be divided roughly into 2 fundamentally different bibliographic categories: static and dynamic. They are all accessible on the net, so they are also regarded as having been published (which is why we are concerned with them). We will refer to them as static and dynamic publications respectively, whether they consist of pictures, sound, music or text. However, it should be added that the following presentation is largely based on text-based publications, since during the project we rarely encountered publications in which sound, music or pictures were the primary forms of expression, or actual multimedia forms. This is presumably because such forms of expression occupy a lot of space in terms of kB, and thus place a great demand on the communication speed of the net.
However, net access to music, films etc. to a larger and more
commercial extent must be predicted as technological progress
is made.
In what follows various bibliographic types will be classified
within these 2 main groups, with dynamic publications being divided
into sub-categories. In this connection a number of concrete titles
will be mentioned. Finally, this section concludes by describing the access conditions experienced during the project period.
The publications belonging to this type are expected to be static
in terms of their content and bibliographic details. In other
words, no changes in content, title, copyright information etc.
can be expected while they are accessible on the net. Conceptually,
static publications present fewest problems because they are virtually
identical with many of the monographic works currently available
in physically fixed form (e.g. books, diskettes, CD-ROMs, films,
tapes); and in terms of analysis they can be compared in printed
form with individual contributions to collected works (including
periodicals). So far on the net we have considered publications issued by ministries, state agencies, research institutions and other public corporations in particular; the types concerned include guidelines, discussion papers, recommendations and reports of a scientific or research-related nature.
Here are some examples: Kommuneinformations Landdistrikterne
er en del af kommunerne (http://www.kominfo.dk/WEBBOOKS/6528/6528.htm),
the Ministry of Research's Kabling i statens bygninger
(http://www.fsk.dk/fsk/publ/kabling/), and the Danish Environmental
Protection Agency's Polyurethane foam without ozone depleting
substances (http://www.mst.dk/pubs/no300/contents.htm).
According to the Danish State Information Service's Netpublikationer
(http://www.fsk.dk/fsk/publ/online-pub/), which is itself a fine
example of a static publication, all state publications (i.e.
publications issued by ministries and government agencies in printed
form) can be expected to be available on the net from 1997 onwards.
Many of these publications can be regarded as static. We have seen a great variety of non-state publications, which in principle vary just as much in terms of topic and form as they do on the printed market, although the big difference is that in many cases only extracts or individual chapters from major works are included. A number of publishing companies have this kind of presence on the net, and it seems clear that the extracts involved are published primarily for marketing purposes (i.e. to introduce the actual product - the "real" printed book in question).
For instance, the publishing company "Forlaget Systime"
has placed 3 chapters on the net from its (printed) publication
Medborgerskab (http://www.systime.dk/fagbank/fagframe.htm).
The "Net-Bog-Klubben" book club, on the other hand,
can be seen as an example of a publishing company which has specialised
in publications in electronic form as its only product, since
its (largely fictional) publications are published on diskettes
and on the net. One example of the club's publications is Under
et vattæppe på Taj Mahal og andre kaotiske dannelsesrejser
(accessible to members at http://www.dbc.dk/net-bog-klubben).
Static publications on the net often seem to be published in other forms as well (physically fixed forms such as diskettes or books). As far as we can see, the online version is a result or by-product of the "real" printed version.
It also seems characteristic that there is often a download option.
Publications whose length does not justify publication in book
form, or publications whose quality does not convince the editor
(of a publishing company or magazine) that they should be printed,
can be expected to occur with a certain degree of frequency because
they are not published in any other way. In such cases publication
on the net will probably occur in connection with a personal homepage
or the homepage of an association/organisation. Dynamic publications on the Internet are basically characterised by the fact that they change over time. Changes are expected owing to the nature or type of the publication concerned, or due to an expressed intention. The changes which are of particular interest from an information point of view are changes in content: the contents may have been altered, added to and/or deleted. But there will also often be changes of a formal nature which are important for the catalogue: the title may change, copyright information may change, etc. As a whole, the net's dynamic publications comprise currently familiar bibliographic types such as fact bases, databases containing metainformation (i.e. bibliographic data) and works which are currently updated constantly or published as magazines. Dynamic publications also include new types like search engines and homepages. A search engine is a database that has stored a large number of collected documents or parts of documents on the net. The base has search facilities that are activated when users start searches. A homepage is understood here to mean the document or logically cohesive collection of documents that comprises the presence of a person or corporative unit on the net. In bibliographic terms the first page/start page/welcome page will be particularly important because it will often be the primary source used for registration. But it is important to point out that the concept of "homepage" used here also covers underlying documents.
A homepage may consist of one or more static and/or dynamic publications.
The basic dynamic processes (i.e. the fact that information is corrected, deleted/overwritten and/or that additions are made in dynamic publications) will be the focus, among other things, of the following classification of several bibliographic example types such as fact bases, databases containing information, collected works, periodicals etc. The summary mentions a couple of other methods which can be used to classify the bibliographic examples named.Our premise for what follows is that a dynamic document on the Internet expresses its dynamism in 1, 2 or all 3 of the following ways: 1) Overwriting the content (existing content removed and replaced) 2) Supplementing the content by integrating new content (accumulation) 3) Supplementing the content by adding new content as independent
sections/supplements
Bibliographic example types on the Internet categorised according
to basic dynamic process
4.2.2. Dynamics of overwriting (content removed and replaced) These works generally comprise works of reference, i.e. works containing concrete, "direct " or "immediate" information such as directories, collections of rules, encyclopedias etc. In printed form such works can be found in the form of loose-leaf documents which are updated on a regular basis, with the basic work plus latest update forming the current version of legislation or other administrative documents, etc. They can also be found in the form of publications which are normally printed once a year, such as telephone directories and other types of directory, with subsequent versions replacing previous versions as outdated and incorrect information is replaced by new, correct information. An annual publication such as Lademanns multimedia leksikon (on CD-ROM) is also an example of this type in physically fixed form.
It is important to emphasise that for such works the 2 other dynamic
processes will of course also apply to some extent (in particular,
new information will be integrated into existing information),
but it is the overwriting element that characterises this type
in particular (it is also expected by users). On the Internet such printed loose-leaf documents and annual works of reference will often be replaced by databases which are updated with more or less regularity and frequency; e.g. Kraks virksomhedsinformation (http://www.krak.dk/vejviser/index.htm). This is a nationwide directory of Danish companies which is updated once a month with new or amended information.
Many standard company homepages also belong to this category,
since product catalogues, lists of services, lists of staff etc.
will be updated regularly if the homepage in question is maintained
conscientiously. 4.2.3. Dynamics of supplementing content
The distinction between integration and the injection of new content
may seem slightly artificial, since in both cases new content
is added and existing content normally retained (and possibly
restructured). But the distinction can be justified here because
of the way this is achieved. The best way of illustrating the
difference is by quoting examples of periodicals as we know them
in printed form. 4.2.3.1. Dynamics of supplementing new content by integration Accumulated bibliographies and catalogues which are published in printed form as periodicals are obvious examples of a type in which whatever is added is integrated and cannot normally be distinguished from what was there already. The printed version of Dansk bogfortegnelse is an example of a periodical whose quarterly editions integrate the registrations of the previous month into those of the 2 months immediately preceding.
Another typical method of publishing this type in printed form
is monthly booklets followed/concluded by annual accumulation.
On the net the general pattern is that bibliographies and catalogues published in printed form as periodicals are replaced by (or published parallel with) databases in which new information can be added. The online version of the book list is included in the DanBib complex, and is updated on a daily basis.
Another Danish example of this is the bibliographic database Fonden
Undervisnings Information (http://www.fui.dk), which contains
the same data as the printed bibliographies published independently.
4.2.3.2. Dynamics of supplementing new content by adding independent sections/supplements
In their printed version, standard polygraphic magazines such
as Kritik and Varv (regarded as entities consisting
of individual issues) are examples of periodicals in which new
content is added in the form of independent and clearly distinct
sections or supplements (as new issues in a series).
On the net the picture is somewhat more diffuse, but the following
2 types are distinct: 1) Collected works as periodicals: Publications issued as standard periodicals in successive parts with clear designations, making it possible to click on the issue you want to read (or download).
The periodicals in question originate in printed form, with the
online version faithfully following the printed version so that
when an issue of the printed periodical is available for sale
it is also available on the net - either in its entirety or in
the form of selected articles.
Two Danish examples of magazines published in their entirety on
the net are the music magazine Gaffa (http://www.gaffa.dk/index.html)
and FAMØS : fagblad for aktuar, matematik, økonomi
og statistik (http://www.math.ku.dk/~rbhfamos/famos/). IKON
: informations- og samtaleforum for kristendom og nyreligiøsitet
(http://home3.inet.tele.dk/jahn/) is an example of a Danish
magazine that is only partially available on the net. 2) Non-periodic collected works: This group is slightly more complex, and applying a joint category may be oversimplifying the issue. However, the common denominator is that this category includes works published as databases, or collected works supplemented regularly by new articles. They all originate on the net, and have no parallel printed versions.
It is possible to say that certain anthologies, collected works,
conference reports etc. published in printed form as monographs
can be published on the net in this category. The problem of this
comparison is that the printed versions are clearly monographs,
i.e. works which have been completed (or which are planned for
completion), whereas this may be more difficult to determine in
the case of the net versions. Some of these publications may (for
this reason?) seem to regard themselves as periodicals (in the
title, for instance), and/or they may resemble periodicals in
their editorial design. But they are not periodicals in the general
sense of the word, since periodicals must be 1) issued in successive
parts, 2) designated as independent parts (alphabetically, numerically
and/or chronologically), and 3) published without aiming for a
conclusion. In particular, point 2) concerning independent designation
is not fulfilled in such publications.
This type will probably be used in future on the net. It utilises
the online medium's potential for interactivity, rapid publication
potential and online contact to the surrounding world to a far
greater extent than the net-borne publications mentioned above,
which merely publish the printed version is accordance with its
fixed deadlines.
Danish examples of this type are Scope (http://www.scope.dk/),
which focuses on the popular topic of films, Tintinologisk
tidsskrift : et skandinavisk videncenter og diskussionsforum
for tintinologer (http://emil.ruc.dk/%7Ersj/tintin/sn2.htm),
and www.befri.dk (http://www.befri.dk), which is a political,
right-wing/liberal homepage.
Another good example of this type is the English-language publication
Glacial geology & geomorphology (http://boris.qub.ac.uk/ggg/),
which functions editorially as a "standard" scientific
magazine, with articles being published subject to editorial approval.
We believe we can identify a clear shift from publication in printed
form to database publication in online form for reference works
and bibliographic works published periodically. It seems clear
that the reason for this trend is that publication in the printed
medium (or other fixed form) has certain limitations when it comes
to producing the latest and most up-to-date information, which
must objectively be the ideal goal for works of this nature. In
printed form this is only possible to a certain extent , and often
involves delays and a certain amount of administrative difficulty
(loose-leaf documents, for example). In one sense the idea of printed publication in the form of loose-leaf documents involving regular issues of updated loose leaves and accumulated indexes was the forerunner of database publication, which is potentially capable of supplying the latest day-to-day updates.
Another significant but not (yet?) quite so distinctive characteristic
of net publication is the type we have chosen to call "non-periodic
collected works", whether or not they resemble familiar monographs
or periodicals. The future will show whether there is a clear
tendency for certain publications which would have been published
in printed form as periodicals or monographic collected works
to be published on the net as databases. In conclusion, the dynamics issue could be considered from a slightly different angle from that outlined above, based on the basic processes of dynamics.
We could 1) consider dynamics to be a general process or 2) consider
the way publications are structured editorially and the way this
fact influences dynamics. Dynamics as a general process
In other words, it is possible to take a more general view of
dynamics and consider what happens to the existing content when
something new is added. Is updating involved (i.e. the
existing content is deleted or corrected at the same time as something
new is added), or supplementing (i.e. the content is supplemented
with new information without (normally) deleting or changing the
existing content)?
From the examples named above Kraks virksomhedsinformation
can be mentioned as an example of a work which is updated; and
Gaffa and standard bibliographic databases such as Fonden
Undervisnings Informations databaser as examples of works
which are supplemented.
Bibliographic example types categorised according to dynamic general
process
Dynamics in relation to the editorial structure of publications In this section the nature/processes of dynamics is ignored, and attention will be focused purely on dynamics in relation to the editorial structure of publications. The interesting point is whether the content exists and whether it is regularly added to as clearly defined parts, or as supplements which have an independent value. The main issue here is whether individual items of information (e.g. an article, a bibliographic item, an entry in a directory) have any value outside the context of the work in which they occur. Our way of deciding this issue would be to find out whether it would be reasonable to index the document concerned.
There is one potential problem left - we have not considered how
much of the content needs to be indexable before deciding whether
the publication as such is indexable. The above-mentioned IKON and Gaffa are obvious and unproblematic examples of indexable Internet publications; equally obvious examples of works which cannot be indexed are a reference work like Kraks virksomhedsinformation and the bibliographic database Fonden Undervisnings Information.
One example of a publication which is hard to categorise in this
respect is Scope, which can only be indexed partially.
Bibliographic example types categorised according to the editorial
structure of publications
During the project period we learned that for the vast majority of Danish publications online access is still free of charge (or partially free). When possible, downloading may be free too; but sometimes downloading software is required which has been paid for in other connections, and this can be regarded as payment for access. One example of this is Månedsskrift for praktisk lægegerning (http://www.mpl.dk/), for which the program MediBOX must be purchased before being able to read/download certain articles.
Some examples of free publications are the film magazine Scope
(http://www.scope.dk/), Tintinologisk tidsskrift : et skandinavisk
videncenter og diskussionsforum for tintinologer (
All three give free access to the content of their pages, and
there are no access conditions attached.
In other words, the general picture in Denmark is that free access
still applies, but there is a clear tendency for this to change,
and in the slightly longer term a wide range of payment models
will probably appear. We have still not encountered many such
forms, and this area will probably not develop in earnest until
an E-money system becomes widespread, and particularly if this
is combined with a payment system based on the principle of pay-per-view.
The situation will then be that you pay for what you see, and
that you can pay immediately.
Here are some examples of the existing payment forms we have encountered.
The Net-bog-klubben book club (http://www.dbc.bib.dk/net-bog-klubben/)
is an example of a payment model which you join via an electronic
form as well as paying a subscription fee via the postal giro
system. You are then given a password for a number of works published
during the past six months.
Internetavisen Jyllands-posten (http://www.jp.dk/cgi-bin/dbpublish.dll?page=hjem)
has established a homepage with free access to a number of articles
and appetisers. A key symbol indicates that an article can only
be reached by taking out a subscription or using a special access
card.
Kraks virksomhedsinformation (http://www.krak.dk/vejviser/indeks.htm)
offers general directory information free of charge. Information
about financial ratios is paid for by a special access card system.
This form of payment is being replaced (July 1997) by a subscription
system.
Outside Denmark the English-language publication Glacial geology
& geomorphology (http://boris.qub.ac.uk/ggg/), which functions
editorially as a "standard" scientific magazine, with
articles being published subject to editorial approval, is an
example of the subscription payment system. When you take out
and pay for a subscription you are given a confidential subscriber's
ID, which gives access to articles. Efforts are also being made
to develop a payment system using the pay-per-view principle.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||