Editorial	Sydney Organising Committee
Olympic Museum - Library	World of Sport
1996 IASI Meeting	IASI Membership
People in Sports Information	Sport Information on the 'NET
Sport Discus Workshops	Recent Publications
European Sports Information	Impressions of NSIC (Australia)
Sports CD-ROM	Australian Information Providers Meet

IASI is a non-profit making organisation whose aim is to stimulate, support and develop activities in the field of international documentation and information for physical education and sport. It brings together a world-wide network of scientists, documentalists, librarians, information experts and managers of sports information and documentation centres.

For more information about the Association contact:

The IASI Secretariat

c/o "Sport for All"

Clearing House

"Espace 27 septembre"

Boulevard Leopold II, n 44,

B - 1080

Brussels

Tel: (+32) 2 413 2893

Fax: (+32) 2 413 2890

All items for the Newsletter should be addressed to the Editors, either:

Steve Hewett

Centre for Sports Science and History

Main Library, University of Birmingham

Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT

United Kingdom

Tel: (+44) 121 414 5843

Fax: (+44) 121 471 4691 (or)

Nerida Clarke

Director

National Sport Information Centre

Australian Sports Commission

PO Box 176, Belconnen ACT 2616

Australia

Tel: (+61) 06 252 1369

Fax: (+61) 06 252 1681

Further to the report from SOCOG published in the last issue of the Newsletter, Melissa Kimmerly, Information Manager for SOCOG, reminds IASI members that SOCOG publishes a bimonthly newsletter, The Sydney Spirit. It is available, at a cost of A$30.00 for 6 issues, from:

Sharon Nixon

SOCOG

GPO Box 2000

Sydney NSW 2001

Australia

Fax: (+61) 2 931 2020

Alternatively, visit their web site: http://www.sydney.olympic.org

The Olympic Museum opened in June 1993 in the Swiss city of Lausanne. Its aim is to give access and popular expression to the objectives of the Olympic movement. The stlg40 million project has become an important tourist attraction winning the accolade of European Museum of the Year earlier this year. The Olympic Museum has its own library whose computerized catalogue is connected to the Swiss-French and Swiss-Italian Library Network (RERO). RERO is a collective catalogue of more than 100 university, cantonal and specialized libraries in Swiss-French and Ticino. It serves around 4,000 university professors, 30,000 students, 85,000 junior-high and high school students, as well as the French speaking and Ticino population. The catalogue can be consulted from any of the 600 connected terminals and by the group of the Swiss university network users (SWITCH). International access is possible through Internet (telnet: sibil.switch.ch or sibil.unige.ch. For "enter application name" type: cicsub. Type <cr> twice, ignoring messages such as "user identification". The Library also produces a list of new acquisitions.

For information about the library please contact:

Yoo-Mi Steffen

Head of Library

Tel: (+41) 21 621 6511

Fax: (+41) 21 621 6512

Sportcal International is a unique database that contains over 14,000 sporting events from now until the year 2005 and includes details on date, city, country, host broadcaster, rights holders, sponsors and organisers.

Working closely with a number of national sports Institutions, Sportcal International has been instrumental in the promotion of sporting events to a worldwide audience. The national sports Institutions, including the Australian Sports Commission, where our contact is Nerida Clarke, have licenced the Sportcal International software to produce their own domestic calendars and we are now looking to work with other Institutions around the world.

Available for IBM PC's or Apple Macintosh, the Sportcal International service is easily installed and enables you to find the answers to your questions, such as:

• What events are taking place in 1997?

• Where are they being held?

• Who are the organisers and how do I contact them?

No matter what event you are interested in, from the Grand Prix in Athletics, to the ATP Tour in Tennis, to the World Cup in Soccer, Sportcal International provides the most up to date, flexible and detailed sports events planning and research tool available. To find out more about the Sportcal International service please contact:

Tim Walker

Tel: (+44) 181 944 6688

Fax: (+44) 181 944 8740

Members who have not received their official invitation to next year's meetings should contact Ayala Maharik as soon as possible. The dates are 4 to 10 May and the venue is the Wingate Institute. Accommodation at the Institute will be available on a first come first served basis so anyone who wishes to stay there should return their registration form a.s.a.p.

Ayala's postal address is:

Wingate Institute Library, 42902

Israel

Tel: (+972) 9 63 94 87

Fax: (+972) 9 63 94 82 Email:

AFRICAN CONTINENT

Centre National d'Information et de Documentation Sportive

(Mr A. Benslimane)

Cite Olympique B.P. 139

16011 Rostomia (Membership status unclear)

NIGERIA

Nigerian Olympic Committee

(Mr E. Nweri)

P.O. Box 3156

Lagos (Membership status unclear)

SOUTH AFRICA (Republic)

Newlands Sport Science Institute

Mr T.D. Noakes (Institutional member)

University of Cape Town Medical School

Observatory 7925

Cape Town

Tel: (+27) 21 406 6242

Fax: (+27) 21 407 7669

South Africa Sports Documentation and Information Centre

Mr L. Tempelhoff (Institutional member)

Info Centre

P.O. Box 13206

Clubview 0014

Pretoria

Tel: (+27) 12 663 3290/1/2/3

Fax: (+27) 12 663 3294

Sportslink

John Donaldson (Personal member)

P.O. Box 1861

Joubert Park 2044

Johanessburg

Tel: (+27) 11 726 6516

Fax: (+27) 11 726 6516

TANZANIA

University of Dar Es Salaam

Faculty of Education

Mrs R.D. Jengo (Institutional member)

P.O. Box 35048

Dar Es Salaam

Tel: (+255) 51 43 50 08

Fax: (+255) 51 48274 (49161)

TUNESIA

Association Internationale des Statisticiens de Natation

Mr B. Chaker (Institutional member)

21, rue Claude Bernard Le Belvedere

1002 - Tunis

Tel: (+216) 1 28 52 93

Fax: (+216) 1 76 79 28

ASIA

China Sports Information Institute (CSII)

Mr Zhao Yaping (Institutional member)

11, Tiyuguan Road

Beijing

Tel: (+86) 1 701 2233 ext. 2616

Fax: (+86) 1 701 2028

China Sports Information Institute

Ma Tie (Personal member)

9, Tiyuguan Road

100061 Beijing

Tel: (+86) 1 701 2223

Fax: (+86) 1 701 2028

China Sports Information Institute

Zhao Yaping

11, Tiyunguan Road

Beijing

Tel: (+86) 1 701 2094

Fax: (+86) 1 701 2028

Wang Ruying (Honorary member)

c/o China Sports Information Institute

CHINESE TAIPEI

Chinese Taipei Sports Information Centre

Min-Chung Tsai (Institutional member)

20, Chulun Street

Taipei

10406 Taiwan (ROC)

Tel: (+886) 2 741 3915

Fax: (+886) 2 741 1512

Chinese Taipei Sports Information Centre

Wu Wei-Chih (Personal member)

HONG KONG

Hong Kong Sports Information Centre

Hong Kong Sports Institute

Dr. D. Whitby (Institutional member)

Shatin

New Territories

Tel: (+852) 2681 6888

Fax: (+852) 2601 4440

INDIA

National Institute of Sports, Sports Authority of India

Mr. A.S. Garika (Institutional member)

Netaji Subhas National, Institute of Sports

Moti Bagh

Patiala 147.001 (Pb)

Tel: (+91) + 70336 ext 36

Kerala Sports Council Sagil Seeveli Nagar

Godinvan Nair (Honorary member)

Kaithamukku

Trivandrum Kerala

JAPAN

Sasakawa Sports Foundation

SSF Sports Information Centre

Mr. Yoshio Tsubouchi (Institutional member)

1-15-16 Toranomon Minato-ku

Tokyo 105

Tel: (+81) 3 35 02 87 78

Fax: (+81) 3 35 80 59 68

Osaka University of Health and sport sciences

Masaru Ikeda (Personal member)

Graduate Department of Sport Management

1558-1 Noda, Kumatori-cho

Sennangun, Osaka 590-04

Tel: (+81) 6 724 53 70 00

Fax: (+81) 6 724 53 70 28

KOREA (DPR)

Korean Olympic Committee, Sports Information Department

(Mr. Kim Hak Rim)

Sohung Dong, Morandong District

Pyongyang P.O. Box 57 (Membership status unclear)

MALAYSIA

National Sports Council of Malaysia

Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia, Sports Resource Centre

Mr. Hajak Supiah HJ Ishak (Institutional member)

Stadium Negara, Jalan Hang Jebat, Peti Surat 10440

50714 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (+60) 3 232 4522

Fax: (+60) 3 230 0484

Pusat Sukan

The Sports Centre of the University of Malaya

Mrs. S. Khoo (Institutional member)

59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (+60) 3 756 0022

Fax: (+60) 3 756 9590

SINGAPORE

Singapore Sports Council, Library

Mrs. L. Toh (Institutional member)

National Stadium Kallang

Singapore 1439

Tel: (+65) 345 7111 or 340 9641

Fax: (+65) 340 9537

THAILAND

Sports Authority of Thailand

Sports Museum and Library

2088 Ramkhamhaeng Road

Bangkok 10240 (Institutional member)

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PEOPLE IN SPORTS INFORMATION

After twelve years of dedicated service at the Australian National Sport Information Centre, Greg Blood, the Services Librarian, has resigned to move to the greener pastures ofthe horticultural industry. Greg has been planning his career move for some time and has been studying for a qualification in horticulture. Greg will be sadly missed by all who work at the Australian Sports Commission as he is renowned for his encyclopaedic knowledge of sport and his outstanding commitment to service. We wish him well in his new career.

Jill Haynes is the Acting Services Librarian of the National Sport Information Centre so Jill now has responsibility for making sure all that Australian data gets into SPORT Discus.

Sue Carpenter replaces Joanne James as the Reference Librarian at the National Sport Information Centre. Joanne is on maternity leave and gave birth to a son, William, on 7 November. Congratulations to her.

Congratulations also to Sally Hall, Information Services Manager at the Sports Council for England, who has recently given birth to a baby boy named Thomas.

Also to Michele Shoebridge, who was an active member of IASI during the 1980s, and who recently gave birth to a baby girl, Nancy. Michele used to be Librarian in charge of the Centre for Sports Science and History, formerly the Sports Documentation Centre, at the University of Birmingham. In 1989 she became the University Library's Systems Librarian before moving up to Sub-Librarian within the newly constituted Information Services.

Honorary Member Siegfried Lachenicht has recently retired from his post at the Bundesinstitut fur Sportwissenschaft in Cologne. Mr Lachenicht was an Executive Board Member from 1972 to 1993, and held the post of President of IASI from 1985 to 1989. Members of IASI who knew Mr Lachenicht will undoubtedly wish him a happy and peaceful retirement.

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SPORTS INFORMATION ON THE 'NET

There are an increasing number of books and pamphlets on the subject of sport on the Internet. Here is a list of recent titles:

Cox, R.W. Sport and the Internet: an introduction to the Internet for people in sport. Available from The Coxburn Press, 13, Bradley Lane Frodsham, Cheshire WA6 6QA, United Kingdom. Price stlg5 plus post and packing (approximately stlg1.50 for overseas). It is possible to pay an equivalent in Australian/Canadian/US dollars cash.

Fain, T. Pocket tour of sports on the Internet. Sybex, 1995. (0782116930)

Maloni, K. Netsports: your guide to sports mania in cyberspace. NY Random House, 1995. (067976187X)

Temple, B. Sport on the Net. Indianapolis, Que Corporation, 1995. (0789702401)

There are an increasing number of articles being indexed for the SPORT database on the same subject.

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SPORT WORKSHOPS

SPRIG, (Sport and Recreation Information Group), organised two workshops during September and invited Linda Wheeler, Promotion/Marketing Coordinator for SIRC to come to England to be the facilitator. The workshops, held in London and Leeds, were a huge success. The participants were mainly from the education sector. Some were considering the purchase of SPORT Discus whilst others already subscribed to it but wanted to learn more about how to make the most effective use of it.

Feedback from delegates showed that Linda's presentations, which included demonstrations and hands on exercises, were much appreciated. Additional interest in SPORT Discus was generated in the UK and some new sales were created.

IASI members might like to consider organising something similar in their own country. If so, Linda Wheeler at SIRC would be happy to hear from them.

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AUSTRALIAN KEY SPORT INFORMATION PROVIDERS MEET

[Report by Nerida Clarke, Director, Information Services, Australian Sports Commission].

In September 1995 sport information providers from all States in Australia met at the New South Wales Academy of Sport to discuss issues related to service delivery and in particular to discuss a draft National Sport Information Strategy for Australia.

During the meeting discussions took place regarding the definition of key clients for each information service, the Internet and its use in sport, SportNet, the new national electronic network for Australian sport, document delivery policy and the issue of equity in sport information provision. Australian sport information providers are aware that there will be increasing demands for sport information in the lead up to the Sydney Olympic Games and recognise the need for development of a coordinated approach to information provision to ensure that there is equity of access to information throughout the country.

The draft National Sport Information Strategy has been developed because a number of inadequacies in the current provision of sport information in Australia have been identified by information providers who believe that a uniform set of objectives and set of strategies need to be adopted to ensure that all those who work in Australian sport have equitable access to sport information resources and services in support of their work.

Objectives of the Australian National Sport Information Strategy

The major objectives of the National Sport Information Strategy are:

• Objective 1 - Provide stakeholders, particularly priority stakeholders, with equitable access to sport information services.

• Objective 2 - Provide efficient, timely and relevant information services to stakeholders.

• Objective 3 - Collect sport and other relevant information to meet priority and secondary stakeholders' information needs.

• Ojective 4 - Improve the marketing of sport information services in Australia.

• Objective 5 - Manage sport information efficiently and in a timely manner, particularly utilising the latest information technology.

• Objective 6 - Utilise national and international networks for the management and dissemination of sport information.

• Objective 7 - Improve co-operation between sport information providers in Australia and overseas.

• Objective 8 - Ensure that primary sport information providers have adequate resources so that efficient, timely and relevant information services are provided to priority stakeholders.

Based on these objectives a number of strategies have been proposed which are now under consideration by sport information providers. The information providers will consider whether the proposed strategies are feasible in terms of their organisational objectives and in terms of there sources they have available. It is proposed to finalise the strategy early in 1996.

All in all the meeting was very successful and provided an excellent opportunity for sport information providers to exchange ideas and consider new developments in sport information services, particularly in relation to technology. Participants at the meeting also had the opportunity of visiting the Library of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games which provided a useful insight into the operation of a corporate information service operating within sport.

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NEW PUBLICATIONS

Sportspeak is a new encyclopaedia that has been produced in Australia although the content is international and should be of use to all sport information providers. It defines particular sports, contains key terms used in sport, has some history and explains the meaning of many sporting terms like "clerk of the course" and "clearing the puck". Details of the book are:

Sportspeak: an encyclopaedia of sport by Bill Coppell.
Reed Reference Australia, 1995. ISBN 1 87558973 2.
Available from: Reed Reference Australia, 18, Salmon Street,
Port Melbourne VIC 3207, Australia.

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EUROPEAN SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICERS MEET

[Report by Bruno Rossi-Mori, Head of the Documentation and Information Division, Italian National Olympic Committee and outgoing Chairman of SIONET]

The national Sports Information Officers from 30 different European countries met in Strasbourg, (5-6 October 1995), for the plenary session of SIONET, the network co-operating within the Council of Europe.

The aim of SIONET is the co-ordinated collection of information about national sports policies according to the priorities indicated by the Committee for the Development of Sport (CDDS), and the dissemination of news obtained from member countries. An essential partner of SIONET is the Clearing House in Brussels whose Executive Director is Albert Remans. The task of the Clearing House is to turn the documentation coming from the various countries into information products available by subscription or upon request.

During the meeting priority topics for the next term are examined. Such as fair play, mutual assistance, transfer and mobility of athletes, health, participation - together with the best working methods for the collection and use ofinformation. A new edition of the handbook "Sportsstructures in Europe" is planned.

Specific attention was given to the use made of European information products in the different countries. In general, it has been pointed out that, in comparison with the worth of the news collected, the access from the potential users is still too limited. In other words, it would be necessary to develop opportune initiatives of sensitization towards all operators which could appreciate all information about sport politics and ease the selective retrieval of what is made available. At present the European Sports Information Bulletin is indexed on SPORT Discus, but in the future technology may allow direct access to full texts.

At the end of their term of office as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, Bruno Rossi-Mori and Andreas Georghiades were thanked for all their hard work. Mr Tony Formosa (Malta) was elected as the new Chairman and Mr Stig Hedlund (Sweden) as Vice-Chairman. Our friend Alain Poncet was appointed as technical advisor.

Further information about the work done in the Clearing House may be obtained from Albert Remans c/o Clearing House Brussels.

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IMPRESSIONS OF THE NATIONAL SPORT INFORMATION CENTRE - AUSTRALIA

by Richard W. Stark, Sport Information Resource Centre.

During February, March and April of 1995 the Sport Information Resource Centre (Canada) and the National Sport Information Centre (Australia) exchanged one of each of their personnel for a three month work period. This was fortunate for me since it allowed me to flee the depths of winter for the tranquil heat of late summer down under. In a professional vein it allowed me to spend an extended period of time familiarizing myself with the operations of Australia's National Sport Information Centre (NSIC). This was useful to both organizations since the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) and the NSIC have long had a close working relationship in the dissemination of sport information dating back to the mid 1980s.

The NSIC is located right in the midst of the Australian Sports Commission's campus in a suburb of Canberra. This campus houses training and competition facilities for over 20 sports. Athletes from a wide variety of sports come and go to train at the Commission's facilities for short or long periods of time. Often they live in residence during these times so that they can benefit from being able to train together with some of the best coaches the country has to offer.

This environment immediately lent itself to a very different library user community than we have at SIRC in Canada. SIRC's principal library clients are sport administrators and technical directors. Coaches are infrequent and athletes even less. Consequently, it was a nice change to be assisting coaches and athletes on a daily basis at the NSIC. After all, they are often the end users of most sport information around the world. It is unfortunate that we do not always see them in some sport libraries due to geographic location constraints and other reasons.

The growth of the NSIC and its responsibilities has been either well planned or very fortunate in that its current mandate allows it to manage all types of information. By this I mean they have books, periodicals, videotapes, photographs, as well as access to different internal computerized files and databases. Information Services Manager, Nerida Clarke, is also in charge of the records management function of the Australian Sports Commission. This is a logical organizational move that is all too often missing in the makeup of other organizations both smaller and larger.

The athletes and coaches using the facility frequently use the extensive videotape collection. Videotapes can be played in the library on over a dozen different televisions with videoplayers capable of playing videotapes in all major international tape formats. The videotape collection consists both of commercially available videos as well as tapes of recent sports events taped from the various satellite services they subscribe to. Portions of this collection are available for viewing throughout Australia upon the purchase of a 12 month subscription.

The NSIC has both a video technician and a photographer on staff. They are responsible for videotaping and photographing sporting events and athletes. These videos are also available for viewing so that coaches and athletes can perform post-competition analyses of locally held events.

During my stay in Canberra the NSIC was just completing a massive project of evaluating and weeding all their slide photos in order to put them into a machine readable format. This will serve two functions. First, it will allow for more widespread use of them by Australian Sports Commission staff, coaches and athletes, both in the library and soon throughout the campus via the Commission's campus-wide communications network. Secondly, the NSIC will be looking at ways to market or distribute them more widely to the media and other people scattered across the country.

Though I had not performed reference work for some time I was required to spend my share of time on the reference desk along with all the other professionals. The NSIC management philosophy is that it is essential to have all library professionals perform reference work on an ongoing basis so that they can stay in tune with the changing information needs and requests of their clients.

These information requests come from all parts of Australia and even beyond its borders. The NSIC has a high level of recognition. Indeed, the Australian Sports Commission is very widely recognized throughout Australia as being the premier authoritative institution for Australian sport. This results in a wide range of information requests from all age groups, professions and all sports. The NSIC also assists in the development and maintenance of state sport institutes. This helps people with information needs to possibly use the assistance of an information centre much better placed near their own homes.

Basic information products and packages have been developed which can be sent for a minimal fee to students and other individuals seeking an overview of current "hot" topics in sport. The NSIC took a leading role in transferring much of this information to a new World Wide Web site in March of 1995. This is certainly viewed as another important way in which the NSIC can reach out and serve the basic information needs of all Australians.

This overview provides a glimpse of the way in which the NSIC is using all current media to collect and disseminate sport information to the Australian public. Other projects, such as full text cd-roms, were also in the early planning stages. Its status at the Australian Sports Commission and in Australia certainly attests to the success it has accomplished in the relatively short period of time it has been in operation. I certainly look forward to visiting them again sometime soon in order to see where else their vision will take them in the future.

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SPORTS CD ROM

There has been an explosion in the number of sport CD ROMS coming on to the market during the last few years, especially from the United States.

The products available can be broken into three main categories:

Participatory CD ROMS which act as instructional guides for sports players. Intelliplay produce a large number of titles in this category for example ESPN Interactive Soccer: Skills and Strategies which gives users lessons on how to play soccer using the words and images of celebrity players and a chance to try out what they've learned via a simulation soccer game.

Couch-potato CD-ROMS providing statistical information on professional sports past and present and game summaries. Microsoft's Complete Baseball and Complete Basketball are good examples of this sort of thing. They provide a recap of the previous season, a history of the game, biographies and statistical summaries of players, records and team histories. They also include newsreel and video clips. For the coach-potato who wants to have up to the minute information there is the option to subscribe to Microsoft's Baseball or Basketball dailies, an online service which provides scores from the previous day's games, team standings etc.

Sports games which speak for themselves although they may include elements of the other two categories. For example, Microprose's Tony LaRussa Baseball III which combines games with statistical records of Major league players.

Contact addresses:

Intelliplay

Two Piedmont Center, Suite 300

Atlanta, GA 30305

Fax: (+1) 404 261 2282.

Microsoft

One Microsoft Way

Redmond, WA 98052-6399

Fax: (+1) 206 93MSFAX

Microprose

180, Lakefront Drive

Hunt Valley, MD 21030

Tel: (+1) 410 771 1151

Further information and other addresses can be found in CD-ROM Professional, August 1995, pp.54-66.

Steve Hewett

Centre for Sports Science and History

Main Library

University of Birmingham

Edgbaston

Birmingham B15 2TT

United Kingdom email: