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Guide to Database Distribution II (Publication Date: 1995)
by Joseph P. Bremner

This very popular second edition of the Guide to Database Distribution reviews the process of licensing machine-readable databases and addresses the important issues involved in negotiating database agreements, including intellectual property protection in light of recent important copyright cases.

Topics covered include: distribution schemes for intellectual works; legal relationships between and among the players in the distribution chain; sample contractual language; contractual issues; royalty arrangements; and site licensing. An appendix to this book is a complete model agreement that may be used to check the content and style of active agreements.

Created with the executive or attorney involved with distribution of information in online and CD-ROM formats in mind - but extremely readable for anyone with an interest in intellectual property protection - this guide covers the options and issues to keep in mind when negotiating a license agreement.

The author, Joseph Bremner, is an attorney who combines his expertise in copyright law and his practical experience in the database publishing and online areas to create a most authoritative guide.Contents: Chapter 1, Industry Background; Chapter 2, Legal Background; Chapter 3, Recitals and Definitions; Chapter 4, The License Grant; Chapter 5, Protecting Intellectual Property; Chapter 6, Royalties; Chapter 7, Database Operations: Delivery, Loading and Updating; Chapter 8, Marketing and Sales; Chapter 9, The Allocation of Risks: Representations, Warranties, Indemnities and Limitations; Chapter 10, Assignment; Chapter 11, Confidential Information; Chapter 12, Setting the Term of the Agreement; Chapter 13, Breaches, Failure to Perform and Arbitration of Disputes; Chapter 14, Choice of Law and Domicile; Chapter 15, Miscellaneous Provisions. Chapter 16, Direct Distribution Agreements; Chapter 17, The Direct Subscription Agreement; Appendix - Sample Database Distribution Agreement.


Published (214 pp. 1994)
Price: $75 ($50), NFAIS Members)

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Flexible Workstyles in the Information Industry (Publication Date: 1993)
edited by Ann Marie Cunningham & Wendy Wicks

Flexible Workstyles in the Information Industry examines non-traditional approaches to staffing, work time, and work style among abstracting and indexing ("A&I") organizations. The result of the 1992 work styles survey distributed among NFAIS members and other prominent A&I institutions are reported. Department directors, human resource managers, and company administrators will learn about their peers' practices in the following work style categories: flextime, compressed workweek, part-time employment, job sharing, phased/partial retirement, leave time, and flexplace/telecommuting.

Content and authors: Chapter 1, "Workplace Flexibility: Snapshots of a Work-inm-Progress, Paul Rupert, Flexibility Consulting Practice, Rodgers & Associates; Chapters 2-5 consist of the NFAIS survey, analysis, and trends in the information industry; Kip Rosmarin, Information Access Company ; Chapter 6, "Information Access Company's Telecommuter Program: A Marriage of Human Resources and Technology."

(116 pp. 1993)
Price: $75 ($50), NFAIS Members)

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Impacts of Changing Production Technologies (Publication Date: 1995)
edited by Dick Kaser

In these volatile economic times, secondary publishers have come under great pressure to reduce database production costs while maintaining the timeliness and quality of their products. To ensure competitiveness, many database publishers have reengineered their production systems, or are in the process of doing so. So can you!

Impacts of Changing Production Technologies provides a clear and understandable overview of the latest technological advances in editorial production. Covered are: text processing, document management, machine translation, automatic text analysis, and automatic indexing. This report also addressees the human factors in adopting new technologies, including the impacts on organizational structure and traditional job duties.

Contents and Authors: Chapter 1, "Technologies for Database Reengineering: Technologies to Define Design:" & Chapter 2, "Technologies for Database Reengineering: Technologies to Select and Apply," Gail Hodge, RMS Associates, NASA Center for AeroSpace Information; Chapter 3, "A Case Study - From the Front Lines: Implementing a New Production System at PAIS," Debra Brown-Spruill, Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS).


(103 pp. 1995)
Price: $75 ($50), NFAIS Members)

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Beyond Boolean (Publication Date: 1997)

In this collection of readings, noted industry figure Ev Brenner traces the development of automated information search and retrieval technologies up to and including the new search engines powering the World Wide Web.

Featuring discussions on: The Evolution of Controlled and Uncontrolled Vocabularies; Thesarus Development; Trends in Searching; Relevance Ranking; and Natural Language Processing.

Includes the full text of: "Natural Language and the New Search Paradigm," by Ross Evans; "Effective Information-Searching Without Perfect Indexing," the classic paper by R. J. Tritschler (IBM Corporation); and Ev Brenner's lively coverage of the evolution of non-Boolean search engines in Monitor (1988 to 1994).

Contents: Part I: The Boolean World; Part II: The Non-Boolean Picture; Part III: The Commercial Search Engines; Part IV -- The Monitor Papers; Bibliography; Appendices; and Index.

(160pp. 1996)
Price: $75 ($50), NFAIS Members)

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Computer Support to Indexing (Publication Date 1999)

Practical, realistic and readable, this book is for those working in database indexing, for those seeking to enhance their computer support or wondering what the future holds.

Computer Support to Indexing is must-reading for secondary publishers, primary publishers, and intermediaries who seek to provide subject access to databases, as well as for consultants who support this effort. This report is based on extensive interviews with twenty-nine database producers. It describes the current environment of database indexing, the use of indexing with metadata, plus the surrounding issues, polices, and developments since the advent of the Web. This updates the 1992 NFAIS publication, Automated Support to Indexing, by Gail Hodge.

Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Database Indexing; Chapter 3: General Design of Existing Systems; Chapter 4: Aids to the Clerical Aspects of Indexing; Chapter 5: Support to Intellectual Decisions; Chapter 6: Quality Control; Chapter 7: Management; Chapter 8: Implementing system Improvements; Chapter 9: Factors Affecting for Future of Computer Support to Indexing; Bibliography.

About the authors:

Gail Hodge has been involved in the design of production systems for abstracting and indexing services since 1978. As Senior Project Manager for Information International Associates, Inc., she has primary responsibility for project management and consulting in the areas of database production, metadata and bibliographic record analysis, and the application of technology to cataloging and indexing.

Jessica Milstead is Principal of the JELEM Company, which since 1986 has been offering consulting services in thesaurus and index development, including machine-indexing. She works with a variety of clients, including database producers, Web content developers, and government agencies, to aid in development of user-oriented, cost-effective products.

Published: October 1998 (118 pp)
Price: $235 ($175), NFAIS Members)

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BIOSIS - Championing The Cause (Publication Date: 2001)
By Richard T. Kaser and Victoria Cox Kaser

BIOSIS is dedicated to serving the life sciences community. From its humble beginnings in 1926, the publication Biological Abstracts and its derivative databases have weathered war, economic recession, and one wave of information technology after another. At the helm have been six presidents: J.R. Schramm; John Edward Flynn; G. Miles Conrad; Phyllis V. Parkins; H. Edward Kennedy; and John E. Anderson. Over the past 75 years, these six have guided - sometimes against all odds - this not-for-profit organization on its altruistic mission to serve science. Here is the organization's proud, and often poignant, story - a tale that also traces the general course of scientific abstracting and indexing services in the 20th century.

Contents: Part I: Against All Odds (1917-1953) - Chapter 1: Years in the Making (1917-1925), Chapter 2: BA's Early Struggles (1925-1937), Chapter 3: Reprieve and Rescue (1938-1953); Part II: BIOSIS at the Crossroads (1953-1975) - Chapter 4: The Time of Transition (1953-1964), Chapter 5: The Era of Techno Innovation (1964-1975); Part III: An Evolution that Sparks Revolution (1975-1993) - Chapter 6: The Golden Age of Online (1975-1993), Chapter 7: Looking Back with Ed Kennedy; Part IV: The Brave New World - Chapter 8: Symptoms of Impending Change (1988-1992), Chapter 9: A Light at the End of the Tunnel (1993-forward), Chapter 10: Looking Forward with John Anderson.

Published April 2001 (165 pps.)
Price: $29 (Members and Non-Members)

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