BIBFRAME Development

The Library of Congress has been exploring “linked data” for over 10 years. The genesis of this development goes back to the W3C projects in the late 1990s on SGML, then XML, HTML, and finally a linked data oriented format RDF. In 2007 the Library of Congress organized a community inquiry into the “future of bibliographic control,” that became a catalyst for exploration and change. A wide ranging report was written and some major recommendations were made. Some have been acted upon, others are still on the table such as a rethinking of subject vocabularies. But two technical recommendations were ideally suited for exploration using the emerging linked data framework of the W3C: the use of technology to get broader use of library curated vocabularies and the replacement of the MARC format with a data interchange framework that makes library data more readily available on the web. The Library was investigating the linked data framework for standards and models for exposing its vocabularies such as the LCSH. Accordingly, LCSH was made publicly available as linked data in 2009 followed by name authorities, countries, languages, and many other controlled lists used in bibliographic standards such as MARC, MODS, and PREMIS. This project became the Library of Congress Linked Data Service. Its aim is to establish stable identifiers in URI form for entities and concepts that are useful for description of cultural heritage material. Then in 2011 the Library of Congress announced the start of the Bibliographic Framework Initiative (subsequently labelled “BIBFRAME”) to respond to the second major technical recommendation of the future of bibliographic control report: to replace MARC for interchange and to make library resources more visible on the web. The Library of Congress, with the library community, is tackling the challenges described above and this paper looks at main aspects of that development.The Library of Congress has been exploring “linked data” for over 10 years. The genesis of this development goes back to the W3C projects in the late 1990s on SGML, then XML, HTML, and finally a linked data oriented format RDF. In 2007 the Library of Congress organized a community inquiry into the “future of bibliographic control,” that became a catalyst for exploration and change. A wide ranging report was written and some major recommendations were made. Some have been acted upon, others are still on the table such as a rethinking of subject vocabularies. But two technical recommendations were ideally suited for exploration using the emerging linked data framework of the W3C: the use of technology to get broader use of library curated vocabularies and the replacement of the MARC format with a data interchange framework that makes library data more readily available on the web. The Library was investigating the linked data framework for standards and models for exposing its vocabularies such as the LCSH. Accordingly, LCSH was made publicly available as linked data in 2009 followed by name authorities, countries, languages, and many other controlled lists used in bibliographic standards such as MARC, MODS, and PREMIS. This project became the Library of Congress Linked Data Service. Its aim is to establish stable identifiers in URI form for entities and concepts that are useful for description of cultural heritage material. Then in 2011 the Library of Congress announced the start of the Bibliographic Framework Initiative (subsequently labelled “BIBFRAME”) to respond to the second major technical recommendation of the future of bibliographic control report: to replace MARC for interchange and to make library resources more visible on the web. The Library of Congress, with the library community, is tackling the challenges described above and this paper looks at main aspects of that development

ARL White Paper on Wikidata: Opportunities and Recommendations

This white paper highlights opportunities for research library involvement in Wikidata, particularly in community-based collections, community-owned infrastructure, and collective collections

No father required? The welfare assessment in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008

Of all the changes to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 that were introduced in 2008 by legislation of the same name, foremost to excite media attention and popular controversy was the amendment of the so-called welfare clause. This clause forms part of the licensing conditions which must be met by any clinic before offering those treatment services covered by the legislation. The 2008 Act deleted the statutory requirement that clinicians consider the need for a father of any potential child before offering a woman treatment, substituting for it a requirement that clinicians must henceforth consider the child’s need for “supportive parenting”. In this paper, we first briefly recall the history of the introduction of s 13(5) in the 1990 Act, before going on to track discussion of its amendment through the lengthy reform process that preceded the introduction of the 2008 Act. We then discuss the meaning of the phrase “supportive parenting” with reference to guidance regarding its interpretation offered by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. While the changes to s 13(5) have been represented as suggesting a major change in the law, we suggest that the reworded section does not represent a significant break from the previous law as it had been interpreted in practice. This raises the question of why it was that an amendment that is likely to make very little difference to clinical practice tended to excite such attention (and with such polarising force). To this end, we locate debates regarding s 13(5) within a broader context of popular anxieties regarding the use of reproductive technologies and, specifically, what they mean for the position of men within the family

ANSI/NISO Z39.99-2017 ResourceSync Framework Specification

This ResourceSync specification describes a synchronization framework for the web consisting of various capabilities that allow third-party systems to remain synchronized with a server’s evolving resources. The capabilities may be combined in a modular manner to meet local or community requirements. This specification also describes how a server should advertise the synchronization capabilities it supports and how third-party systems may discover this information. The specification repurposes the document formats defined by the Sitemap protocol and introduces extensions for them

Genomic analyses in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and related diagnoses: Novel candidate genes, <scp>genotype–phenotype</scp> correlations and common mechanisms

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a rare, dominantly inherited multisystem developmental disorder characterized by highly variable manifestations of growth and developmental delays, upper limb involvement, hypertrichosis, cardiac, gastrointestinal, craniofacial, and other systemic features. Pathogenic variants in genes encoding cohesin complex structural subunits and regulatory proteins (NIPBL, SMC1A, SMC3, HDAC8, and RAD21) are the major pathogenic contributors to CdLS. Heterozygous or hemizygous variants in the genes encoding these five proteins have been found to be contributory to CdLS, with variants in NIPBL accounting for the majority (&gt;60%) of cases, and the only gene identified to date that results in the severe or classic form of CdLS when mutated. Pathogenic variants in cohesin genes other than NIPBL tend to result in a less severe phenotype. Causative variants in additional genes, such as ANKRD11, EP300, AFF4, TAF1, and BRD4, can cause a CdLS‐like phenotype. The common role that these genes, and others, play as critical regulators of developmental transcriptional control has led to the conditions they cause being referred to as disorders of transcriptional regulation (or “DTRs”). Here, we report the results of a comprehensive molecular analysis in a cohort of 716 probands with typical and atypical CdLS in order to delineate the genetic contribution of causative variants in cohesin complex genes as well as novel candidate genes, genotype–phenotype correlations, and the utility of genome sequencing in understanding the mutational landscape in this population

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients With Severe COVID-19: The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Corticosteroid Domain Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence regarding corticosteroid use for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited. Objective: To determine whether hydrocortisone improves outcome for patients with severe COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants: An ongoing adaptive platform trial testing multiple interventions within multiple therapeutic domains, for example, antiviral agents, corticosteroids, or immunoglobulin. Between March 9 and June 17, 2020, 614 adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled and randomized within at least 1 domain following admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory or cardiovascular organ support at 121 sites in 8 countries. Of these, 403 were randomized to open-label interventions within the corticosteroid domain. The domain was halted after results from another trial were released. Follow-up ended August 12, 2020. Interventions: The corticosteroid domain randomized participants to a fixed 7-day course of intravenous hydrocortisone (50 mg or 100 mg every 6 hours) (n = 143), a shock-dependent course (50 mg every 6 hours when shock was clinically evident) (n = 152), or no hydrocortisone (n = 108). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was organ support-free days (days alive and free of ICU-based respiratory or cardiovascular support) within 21 days, where patients who died were assigned -1 day. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model that included all patients enrolled with severe COVID-19, adjusting for age, sex, site, region, time, assignment to interventions within other domains, and domain and intervention eligibility. Superiority was defined as the posterior probability of an odds ratio greater than 1 (threshold for trial conclusion of superiority >99%). Results: After excluding 19 participants who withdrew consent, there were 384 patients (mean age, 60 years; 29% female) randomized to the fixed-dose (n = 137), shock-dependent (n = 146), and no (n = 101) hydrocortisone groups; 379 (99%) completed the study and were included in the analysis. The mean age for the 3 groups ranged between 59.5 and 60.4 years; most patients were male (range, 70.6%-71.5%); mean body mass index ranged between 29.7 and 30.9; and patients receiving mechanical ventilation ranged between 50.0% and 63.5%. For the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively, the median organ support-free days were 0 (IQR, -1 to 15), 0 (IQR, -1 to 13), and 0 (-1 to 11) days (composed of 30%, 26%, and 33% mortality rates and 11.5, 9.5, and 6 median organ support-free days among survivors). The median adjusted odds ratio and bayesian probability of superiority were 1.43 (95% credible interval, 0.91-2.27) and 93% for fixed-dose hydrocortisone, respectively, and were 1.22 (95% credible interval, 0.76-1.94) and 80% for shock-dependent hydrocortisone compared with no hydrocortisone. Serious adverse events were reported in 4 (3%), 5 (3%), and 1 (1%) patients in the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority with regard to the odds of improvement in organ support-free days within 21 days. However, the trial was stopped early and no treatment strategy met prespecified criteria for statistical superiority, precluding definitive conclusions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02735707

Screening of healthcare workers for SARS-CoV-2 highlights the role of asymptomatic carriage in COVID-19 transmission

Funder: Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002927Significant differences exist in the availability of healthcare worker (HCW) SARS-CoV-2 testing between countries, and existing programmes focus on screening symptomatic rather than asymptomatic staff. Over a 3 week period (April 2020), 1032 asymptomatic HCWs were screened for SARS-CoV-2 in a large UK teaching hospital. Symptomatic staff and symptomatic household contacts were additionally tested. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect viral RNA from a throat+nose self-swab. 3% of HCWs in the asymptomatic screening group tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. 17/30 (57%) were truly asymptomatic/pauci-symptomatic. 12/30 (40%) had experienced symptoms compatible with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)>7 days prior to testing, most self-isolating, returning well. Clusters of HCW infection were discovered on two independent wards. Viral genome sequencing showed that the majority of HCWs had the dominant lineage B∙1. Our data demonstrates the utility of comprehensive screening of HCWs with minimal or no symptoms. This approach will be critical for protecting patients and hospital staff

Organizations Contributing to Development of Library Standards

published or submitted for publicatio

Bon Amoeba

Bon Amoeba is a single lyric poem comprised of unnumbered segments. It is enunciated in the first and second person by female speaker to her best friend. The setting of the poem is the proximate future, when the current environmental deterioration has advanced significantly. Crop failure has lead to widespread famine. The poem's speaker and addressee are neighbors as well as lifelong friends, and are attempting agriculture for the first time. After several failed tries, they take off on a trip to visit a seed bank where they hope to find more hardy breeds of seeds. In this creative thesis, I wanted to explore the lyric "you" and work how a poem might "[evoke] overtones of love without destroying love's life-giving vulgarity, and sustaining the poet's feelings towards the poem while preventing love from distracting him into feeling about the person" (O'Hara). Or, I wanted to better understand how to write poetry that focuses on language (the universal) without completely forsaking my own feelings. I chose to write about a female-to-female friendship because with regards to literature, I'm interested in valuing relationships alternative to romance. The poem therefore is an attempt to address current global and personal concerns of mine, as well as an exercise in style and craft

Extending MARC for Bibliographic Control in the Web Environment:Challenges and Alternatives

This paper deconstructs the "MARC format" and similar newer tools like DC, XML, and RDF, separating structural issues from content-driven issues. Against that it examines the pressures from new types of digital resources, the responses to these pressures in format and content terms, and the transformations that may take place. The conflicting desires coming from users and librarians, the plethora of solutions to problems that constantly appear (some of which just might work), and the traditional access expectations are considered. Footnotes There are a large number of terms being used in the broader information community that often mean approximately the same thing, but relate concepts to the different backgrounds of the players. For example librarians are sometimes confused that metadata is something new and a replacement for either cataloging or MARC. Metadata is cataloging and not MARC. In this article terms based on library specialist terminology are used, with occasional use of alternative terms indicated below, depending on context. No difference in meaning is intended by the use of alternative terminology . The descriptions of the terms are indicative, not strict. cataloging data or cataloging content = metadata - used broadly, in this context, for all data (descriptive, administrative, and structural) that relates to the resources being described. content rules - rules for formulation of the data including controlled lists and codes. data elements - the individual identifiable pieces of cataloging data (e.g., name, title, subtitle) and including elements that are often called attributes or qualifiers (since generally this paper does not need to isolate data elements in to subtypes). relationships - the semantics that relate data elements, e.g., name is author of title, title has subtitle. content rules - the rules for formulating data element content structure = syntax - the physical arrangement of parts of an entity record - the bundle of information that describes a resource format = DTD - a defined specification of structure and markup markup = tag set = content designation - a system of symbols used to identify in some way the following data. ANSI/NISO Z39.2, Record Interchange Format, and ISO 2709, Format for Data Interchange. The two standards are essentially identical in specification. ANSI/NISO has a few provisions where the ISO standard is not specific, but there is no conflict between the two standards. Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records. IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for the Bibliographic Record. Munich, Saur, 1998. ISO 8879, Standardized General Markup Language (SGML)