NFAIS RELEASES DRAFT DISCOVERY SERVICE CODE OF PRACTICE FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT

(February 1, 2012) The National Federation of Advanced Information
Services (NFAIS™) has posted a draft Discovery Service Code of
Practice for review and comment by March 16, 2012.  NFAIS believes
that discovery services have the potential to provide ease of
information discovery, access, and use, benefitting not only its
member organizations, but also the global community of information
seekers. However, the relative newness of these services has generated
questions and concerns among information providers and librarians as
to how these services meet expectations with regard to issues related
to traditional search and retrieval services; e.g. usage reports,
ranking algorithms, content coverage, updates, product identification,
etc. Accordingly, this document has been developed to assist those who
choose to use this new distribution channel through the provision of
guidelines that will help avoid the disruption of the delicate balance
of interests involved.

NFAIS is inviting all members of the information community to review
the draft and submit questions and comments for consideration by the
Code Development Task Force. Background information and the draft Code
can be accessed at:
http://info.nfais.org/info/codedraftintroduction.pdf.

We want to hear from you.  Are there other issues to be considered?
Who do they impact? What solutions should be considered? All comments
are welcome and can be submitted online at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RV257LM.  Alternatively a marked up
document or written comments can be submitted to Bonnie Lawlor, NFAIS
Executive Director, via the contact numbers listed below.

About NFAIS

Founded in 1958, NFAIS is a membership organization of more than 60 of
the world's leading producers of databases and related information
services, information technology, and library services in the
sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, and the arts and
humanities. For more information on NFAIS and its member
organizations, contact Jill O'Neill, Director of Communication and
Planning (jilloneill@nfais.org or (215)-893-1561) or visit the NFAIS
web site (www.nfais.org). For more information on this Code of
Practice, contact Bonnie Lawlor, NFAIS Executive Director, 1518 Walnut
Street, Suite 1004, Philadelphia, PA 19102, 215-893-1561 Phone,
215-893-1564 Fax, blawlor@nfais.org.

NFAIS: Serving the Global Information Community