NISO - An Introduction for
New Committees
NISO History
• Formed in 1939
• Originally known as ANSI Committee Z39
• ANSI Accredited - Follows ANSI consensus
process
• Manages US participation in related standards
activities in ISO (International Organization
for Standards) TC46 (Technical Committee on
Information and Documentation)
NISO Organization
• Supported by Voting Members - currently
around 70 - can accept non US based
organizations as members
• Executive Director - Pat Harris
• Board of Directors
• Standards Development Committee
• Standards Committees - charged to develop a
particular standard
NISO Standards Development
Committee
• Responsible for overseeing the technical work
of NISO
• Decides on new work proposals to be
undertaken
• SDC members work as liaisons with individual
committees
NISO Constituency
Major Constituencies
Libraries
National Libraries
Library Associations
Publishers
Primary Publishers
Secondary Publishers
Abstracting and Indexing Organizations
Aggregators
Information Providers
Library Automation Vendors
Professional Societies
Areas of
Standardization
Information Storage and Retrieval - e.g. Z39.50
Codes and Numbering Systems - e.g. ISBN, DOI
Library Management - e.g. Library Statistics, Criteria for
Price Indexes
Preservation - e.g. Permanence of Paper
Knowledge organization - e.g. Monolingual thesauri
Publishing - e.g. Scientific and Technical Reports, Digital
talking book
Buildings, Furniture, Supplies - e.g. Shelving
Metadata - e.g. Technical Metadata for Still Images
Standards &
Guidelines
• Standards - Contain normative methods,
materials, or practices which must be followed
in order to be in conformance
• Guidelines - non-normative recommendations all elements are discretionary and may be used
as stated or modified to meet specific needs
• Otherwise identical in terms of content, process
NISO Proceedures
• Based on ANSI Procedures
• 4 Basic Components
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Openness (public record)
Due process
Balance of interests
Consensus (not unanimity) (2/3 of those
voting, excl. abstentions, as long as this = 1/2
of all Voting Members)
Standards Process - New
Proposals
• Anybody can submit proposal
• Proposals reviewed by SDC
– is it within NISO scope?
– Does it fill a need?
– What is the technical, economic, and political
feasibility of the proposal being developed?
• If approved, Standards Committee may
be formed
Requirements for Standards
Committee Members
• Membership must be approved and supported
by employer or parent organization
• Must agree to commit the time required to do
the work in timeframe specified in committee
timetable
• Must commit to attend the meetings of the
committee
Managing the Work of a
Standards Committee
• Plan a regular schedule of meetings - face to
face, conference calls
• Make use of electronic communications
• Keep detailed and accurate minutes
• Develop detailed work plan at first meeting
• Meetings (including conference calls) are open
to observers - however they may not participate
in any Official votes of the committee
Other Good Practices
• SDC liaison is a resource - make use of it and
keep liaison informed
• Adopt techniques that will maximize speed of
development
• When defining glossary of terms make use of
relevant definitions from other NISO standards
to avoid duplication and differing definitions
Standards Committee Work
Plan
• Detailed list of tasks necessary to accomplish
committee charge
• Timetable for completion that includes
intermediate milestones - goal should be
completion of first draft within 18 months keep timetable up- to- date as work progresses
• Estimated budget for committee that includes
such expenses as travel, telephone costs,
consultant costs, etc
Standard Development Phases
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Data gathering
Drafting the proposed document
Review and refinement
Committee consensus
Official ballot
Responding to comments
Data Gathering
• Actively solicit data and input from interested
and knowledgeable organizations and
individuals
• Gather and analyze relevant data on current
practices
• Gather and analyze relevant or proposed
existing national, international, and other
standards in the area
Producing a First Draft
• Appoint a committee member to be in charge
• Consider assigning committee members specific
responsibilities for sections of the document
• Consider hiring an outside editor or consultant
to help with writing - if technical writer not a
member of committee - done in consultation
with NISO
Review and Refinement
• Successive versions should be produced according to
timetable in work plan
• Ways to get review include:
– circulating to NISO members for comment
– posting a draft on NISO Web site
– distributing to known experts
– posting to relevant mailing lists
– announcing availability of draft at professional
meeting and conferences
– giving presentations to increase awareness
Committee Consensus
• Committee must agree when a draft is ready
for DSFTU or ballot
• Draft should be stable and mature and
technical content should be complete
• A formal vote of the committee is required to
show consensus has been reached
• A two thirds majority of the full committee is
required
Draft Standard for
Trial Use (DSFTU)
• Way to get rapid, operational experience
• Draft is published on NISO website and
promoted
• Feedback from implementations solicited
• After 12-36 months, must be balloted (with or
without revisions) or withdrawn
Official Ballot
• Committee prepares a submittal package that
includes the draft standard and a report
containing:
– explanation of the significance and value of
the document
– major issues that were resolved in
developing the document
– changes introduced if a revision to an
existing standard
NISO Voting Positions - New
Standards
• Affirmative - supports approval without
substantive change - comments may be
provided
• Negative with comment - does not approve reasons must be given along with specific
actions which if taken would remove objection
• Abstain with reason
Responding to Comments
• All comments must be acknowledged, fully
considered and responded to
• Committee must respond in writing within 60
days - committee may prepare an individual
response to each commenter or prepare a
composite response
• All correspondence with commenters becomes
part of the official record
Addressing Negative Votes
• All negative votes must be carefully
considered, responded to, and a
resolution sought
• SC tries to convince voter to change vote:
– by justifying existing text
– by changing text
Changes to a Draft
• Committee must document and
categorize all changes made to a draft
after a ballot
• Changes are of two types:
– Substantive - requires a reballot
– Editorial (including clarification)
• Committee is charged with making a fair
and honest categorization of changes
Substantive Changes
• A change that directly or materially
affects those who will use the standard or
guideline
• Examples:
– changing “may” to “must” or vice versa
– changing any of the technical content or
requirements
Editorial Changes
• Do not directly or materially affect the
use of the standard or guideline
• E.g. correcting misspellings, adding
examples or words for clarification
• Example:
– Old: “ The identifier shall not exceed 50
characters”
– New: “ The maximum length of the identifier
shall be 50 characters”
Fast Track Process
• method for balloting fully formed documents
that are not already ANSI standards, e.g.
– ISO standards
– NISO DSFTUs
– standards out of non-ANSI agencies
• document cannot be changed as part of process
– revision and reballot procedures don’t apply
– comments and negative votes must be
responded to
Reconsideration Ballot
• If negative votes can not be resolved standard
can still go forward (though rarely used)
• Negative comments are sent to all NISO voting
members who are given the opportunity to
change their votes based on the comments
• If no vote changes, standard can be forwarded
to ANSI - there is an appeals process for
negative voters at ANSI
Approval !
• Standard gets official ANSI document number
• Standard is published by NISO press
• Standard is available free of charge from NISO
website
• Standards Committee is thanked and retired
Maintenance
• All requests for changes, clarification,
corrections considered
• May have maintenance agency assigned
• Must be reviewed every 5 years and affirmed,
revised, withdrawn
• If not reviewed in 10 years, automatically
withdrawn by ANSI
For More Information
• NISO website: http://www.niso.org
• NISO Operating Procedures:
http://www.niso.org/pdfs/OpProc.pdf
• NISO Style Guide
• Information Standards Quarterly