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Epidemiology of IPSV. Stella G Dextre Clarke sdclarke@lukehouse.demon.co.uk. Our Dream . Anyone can find the information they want/need, any time, from wherever it was generated. ...and the way a government librarian might put it: .
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Epidemiology of IPSV Stella G Dextre Clarke sdclarke@lukehouse.demon.co.uk
Our Dream Anyone can find the information they want/need, any time, from wherever it was generated
...and the way a government librarian might put it: • The public can find out anything issued by (or even being thought about by) government… • …without knowing which office is responsible • And government employees can find out what each other is up to
The dream became government policy! • “Modernising government” white paper in 1999: • Joined-up government in action • all dealings with government .. deliverable electronically by 2008 • public service users, not providers, are the focus • “e-Government” to be enabled by an “e-Government Interoperability Framework”
But how does an “interoperability framework” enable subject access? • Subject indexing should be included in an “e-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS)” • A “Pan-Government Thesaurus” (PGT) was proposed in 2000 • Discussed by a committee with good representation from government librarians • Workshop held in May 2001: what do we need to make the PGT successful?
Recipe for success includes: • Initial development project • Business case including clear benefits • Critical mass of users • Quality indexing/categorisation • Lifelong maintenance
PGT Workshop outcomes • Original conception of PGT unrealistic • To achieve indexing of a tolerable quality across the public sector, the vocabulary must be small and simple • Instead of a PGT, let’s have a “Government Category List (GCL)”
GCL in outline • Launched January 2002 • Just 360 preferred terms + 1000 non-preferred • Supports broad categorisation (browsing), not detailed indexing (search) • e-GMS is launched in April 2002, and makes use of GCL mandatory, for all electronic resources in the UK public sector
Next, developments in local government … • Local authorities see opportunity to do better • Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM, now DCLG) offers liberal funding for local e-government projects, including standards • LGCL (Local Government Category List) is born! • LGCL has 1400 preferred terms and supports indexing of local government subjects
and not only that … • The Seamless Consortium, led by Essex County Council, has developed a portal for which many local authorities are using a taxonomy of 2600 preferred terms • As a result, some local authorities are obliged to index resources with GCL, LGCL and Seamless taxonomy
Let’s have just one standard please! • 2004 sees decision to merge GCL, LGCL and Seamless taxonomy • Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary (IPSV) launched in April 2005. (View, or download, at http://www.esd.org.uk/standards/ipsv/) • IPSV has 3000 preferred terms and supports detailed indexing of local government/community information • Abridged IPSV has 500 preferred terms and supports broad categorisation • e-GMS 3.1 mandates IPSV instead of GCL
Summary of milestones 1999 ‘Modernising government’ white paper 2001 Decision to develop GCL 2002 Launch of Seamless taxonomy 2002 Launch of GCL 2002 e-GMS mandates use of GCL 2003 Launch of LGCL 2005 Launch of IPSV 2006 e-GMS mandates use of IPSV
But has it caught on? 2002 GCL has committed band of supporters in central government, but no users 2002 Seamless has 29 partner organisations, but taxonomy use shows variable quality 2003 LGCL has committed band of supporters in local government + half a dozen users 2005 28 websites have e-GMS compliant metadata, using IPSV 2006 136 websites have e-GMS compliant metadata, using IPSV
What was that dream again? • The public can find out anything issued by (or even being thought about by) government… • …without knowing which office is responsible • And government employees can find out what each other is up to
and the recipe for success? • Initial development project • Business case including clear benefits • Critical mass of users • Quality indexing/categorisation • Lifelong maintenance • The proof of the pudding will be in the eating – taste it again in 2010
Last words • Development and implementation of any standard is a long-term project • For a controlled vocabulary, it is even longer • If indexing with IPSV catches on across the public sector, that will be a famous victory • Cataloguing and indexing, once the occult preserve of a small coterie of followers, becomes a standard practice behind every electronic page!