[UPS] names to replace "UPS" (fwd)

[Herbert Van De Sompel]

	Hi all,

message from Ed Fox re UPS naming issues.

herbert

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 05:02:29 -0400
From: "Edward A. Fox" <fox@vt.edu>
To: herbert.vandesompel@rug.ac.be
Subject: names to replace "UPS"

Hi!  I've just arrived in US, having been delayed due to airplane malfunction.
I hope I am not too late to contribute to the naming game re "UPS".  Feel free
to pass some or all of this on as appropriate.

First, there are some (parts of) names that I am not overly fond of.
1. I believe anything with "print" in it seems inappropriate in that we
      should not define the future with a term from the past that only
partially
      applies, since that will confuse people.  I also find that "eprint"
seems to
      bring up various conflicting opinions among different groups.  Further,
      in the case of electronic theses and dissertations, which we call ETDs,
      this term is particularly inappropriate for multiple reasons, e.g.,
we may have
      no print version (including documents whose existence is only
electronic),
      we may have no connection with journals or pre-prints.
2. I  believe that "self-archiving" is too limiting and hard for people to
      grasp or say.  While authors do contribute their works in many of
      our systems, and while from an educational view I want them to learn
      about digital libraries, electronic publishing, intellectual property
rights
      issues, etc., it is not likely in the near future that all will
either really
      do much themselves, or will really know or act upon the need to have
      preservation and archiving.  In many cases we will harvest for people,
      or a department will handle submissions (as in the case of technical
      reports like NCSTRL).  Also, from my work with the National
      Archives and Records Administration, I have observed strong feelings
      about the term "archive" and its being kept distinct from "digital
      library", which I think is a term somewhat closer to what we are
building.

Second, note that I am not adverse to a nonsense or cute name that has
no clear acronym. Also, I am not opposed to an acronym that may have
several meanings.  Thus, I propose
     NUDL (pronounced "noodle")
which can have, among others, the following readings
* Networked University Digital Library
* Networked Universal Digital Library
* Networked Users' Digital Library
* Networked Universal Document Library
as well as being a cute name that most anyone might swallow
(since noodles are part of the diet of many of the world's cultures).

Third, I'd like to encourage our thinking of our effort using "digital
library".
While I realize that some do not think of our effort as in the digital library
field, many involved are funded under that name.  Also, though we may
have narrow objectives for the moment in terms of getting those at the
Santa Fe meeting to build a working proto-service right away, I really
believe our work will have impact on the whole digital library field.  While
some archives today only have text, ETDs already have a diverse range
of multimedia and hypermedia components.  ETDs are handled in many
cases through the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations,
so are squarely in the "DL" realm.  To say that the broader UPS effort,
which includes ETDs as one aspect, is narrower or more focused than

"DL", seem illogical.  Following this, maybe we can use
        UDL
which can have readings like in case 2 above.  Or we can have
various names of the form
       G*DL
if we focus on the "global" aspect or
        I*DL
for interoperable digital library, etc.  To be honest, however, these
don't really "grab" me.

Fourth, though I don't think it is quite general enough, I am not very
adverse to using "gray" somewhere in our name.  Indeed, I suggest
a cute little line to characterize our effort:
   Covering the Grey - from Santa Fe






Professor Edward A. Fox, Ph.D.
Department of Computer Science
660 McBryde Hall, M/C 0106
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA
ph +1-540-231-5113, FAX +1-540-231-6075
cellular phone/pager +1-540-230-6266
email fox@cs.vt.edu, WWW http://fox.cs.vt.edu