TO: Chief Officers of State Library Agencies

FROM: William E. Moen, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

SUBJECT: Questionnaire for State Library Agency Standards Study

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) is sponsoring a study to compile information about state library agencies’ information technology standards policies & procedures. The attached questionnaire is the study's initial information gathering effort, and we request that you complete and return the questionnaire by July 15, 1998.

This nine-month study (June 1998 – February 1999) will identify:

• the extent of state library agency use of information technology standards
• the concerns of State Librarians regarding information technology standards.

For additional information about this study, see the enclosed project description.

Formal technical standards for library automation, digital libraries, networking, Internet/Web, and electronic publishing developed by organizations such as NISO and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) can be vital strategic tools to provide state-wide library services and access to increasingly complex digital information in the networked environment. In addition to standards from formal standards developing organizations, other organizations are developing emerging Internet and World Wide Web standards that are also important in the networked environment.

The focus of this study is the policies and procedures of state library agencies as they relate to the use of technical standards by individual libraries, library systems, library consortia, etc. in all 50 states. Local or internal operating and procedural standards are out of scope for this study. We are primarily interested in identifying how state library agencies address the formal technical standards needed state-wide by libraries. The goals for this study are to:

• help NISO better understand the current state of standards use and need for information about standards at the state level
• provide state library agencies with a national compilation of state library agencies’ policies, practices, and issues related to information technology standards.

Please route the attached questionnaire to the appropriate staff person in your agency to complete and return by July 15, 1998. We have provided a self-addressed envelope to be returned to:

State Library Agency Standards Study
William E. Moen, Ph.D.
SLIS, University of North Texas
P.O. Box 311068
Denton, TX 76203-1068

We also request that you return in the envelope copies of pertinent standards policies and procedures your agency uses. These documents can assist us in better understanding your agency's standards activities.

For your convenience, we also have an electronic version of this questionnaire that can be downloaded and completed. The electronic version is available in Word 97, Rich Text Format (RTF), and ASCII text formats. You can download these files from the Principal Investigators website at:

http://www.unt.edu/wmoen/projects/NISO/questionnaire.html

Upon completion of the electronic version of the questionnaire, send it as an attachment to an email message to this address:

untniso@unt.edu

We thank you in advance for cooperation in this study and look forward to receiving the completed questionnaire. If you have questions about the study or this questionnaire, please contact the Principal Investigator: voice: 940-565-3563, fax: 940-565-3101, email: <untniso@unt.edu>.

[WEM June 26, 1998]