IDF Press Release
October 18, 2001
LEARNING OBJECTS NETWORK, INC. APPOINTED AS A DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER REGISTRATION AGENCY
The International DOI Foundation (IDF) has
announced the appointment of Learning Objects Network, Inc. (LON) as a DOI Registration Agency.
LON intends to register DOIs for use in the management of learning objects, and is currently
working with a number of partners in a development project for Advanced Distributed Learning
for the U.S. Department of Defense and others.
LON has already commissioned work which will enable use of
the
SCORM
(Sharable Content Object Reference Model) guidelines for interoperability
and re-usability of learning objects, course and content materials with the
ONIX (On Line Information Exchange) international standard for representing
and communicating book and related industry product information in electronic
form. Each of these will be usable with the DOI, which facilitates
interoperability by means of a common model, following guidelines developed
for the interoperability of data in e-commerce systems.
Tracy Flynn, Chief Architect of LON, said:
"We have selected the DOI as the most mature
and effective vehicle for identifying and tracking digital content within the Learning Objects
Network initiative. We have found that the DOI meets current technical and business requirements,
and has the capabilities to address the anticipated growth in the business model. We bring to
the IDF as part of this application a new and very large community of interest. Under the umbrella
of the SCORM and IMS processes, several different standards and specifications have already been
aligned and consolidated. As active participants in this and other similar processes, and joint
chairs with the Association of American Publishers of several working groups, Learning Objects
Network anticipates working jointly and closely with IDF to ensure that these various approaches
remain interoperable as they develop and mature."
Norman Paskin, Director of the International DOI Foundation, said:
"We welcome
LON as a significant new partner of IDF, and are particularly pleased to see a further
application of DOI which has the potential to embrace multimedia content. DOI was
designed from the outset to offer easy interoperability of digital content in many
forms from multiple sources, and we believe that distributed learning will be an ideal
application of DOI, especially using features such as the multiple resolution tool already
demonstrated in E-Book applications"
The DOI was launched in response to a series of calls from the
publishing community for consistent and useful tools for digital
commerce. The International DOI Foundation has now provided a
well-respected and proven capability, with the potential for ubiquitous
use in digital commerce of content. The DOI provides the basis of a
key aim of publishers: to facilitate the use of their material in a
legal, controllable, and easy to manage way. Unveiling the power of
the DOI System at Frankfurt communicates to the content world at large
that the publishing community is ready to facilitate the sale of digital
intellectual property while enabling the management and protection of copyright.
About LON
Learning Objects Network, Inc. (
http://www.learningobjectsnetwork.com/) is an Internet
infrastructure company providing services to publishers, corporations, the military,
military contractors, medical information providers, training and education providers,
academia and the global community of Internet users. LON was founded by John Purcell
and Vince DiPaola in March of 2000. They recognized an early opportunity to build the
infrastructure that would be required to support the efforts of the U.S. Government, the
Department of Defense, corporate training providers, and many others to develop
standards for the format and packaging, management and transaction of Learning Objects
to meet a key growing demand in the industry. Learning Objects Network has assembled a
team of high-level engineers and advisors, built a system architecture design, and
developed a firm understanding of the technical issues that need to be resolved.
With partners Sun Microsystems, Artesia Technologies and others, LON is now building
out its prototype network of distributed learning object repositories with the U.S. Department of
Defense.
The DOI is a system for interoperably identifying and exchanging
intellectual property in the digital environment. A DOI assigned to content enhances a content producer's ability to trade electronically. It provides a framework for managing content in any form at any level of granularity, for linking customers with content suppliers, for facilitating electronic commerce, and enabling automated copyright management for all types of media. The International DOI Foundation, a non-profit organization, manages development, policy and licensing of the DOI to registration agencies and technology providers and advises on usage and development of related services and technologies. The DOI system uses open standards with a standard syntax (ANSI/NISO Z39.84) and is currently used by leading international technology and content organizations.
This is a service announcement for the International Digital Object
Identifier Foundation and has been prepared to increase your awareness about important developments to enable digital copyright management of intellectual property. For more information, please send your request to contact@doi.org.
Updated 23 December 2003
DOI® and DOI.ORG® are registered trademarks and the "doi>" logo is a trademark of the International DOI Foundation.
