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HARTS Working Group Minutes (March 5, 1996) 

Scott Stoner and Janet Max, HARTS Working Group Co-Chairs, asked individuals in attendance to introduce themselves and their interests regarding the arts and humanities. They then outlined the agenda and goals of the meeting which were focused primarily on review and expansion of the current draft outline for an information document about the arts and humanities on the Internet. Agenda items also included external review by the field, dissemination strategies, and potential need for a separate tools doc ument.

Participants were given a hard copy for reference as they reviewed and discussed each section of the draft document (the draft document was circulated online to working group members prior to the meeting). Participants were also asked to volunteer to con tribute additional text to sections of the document based on their interest and expertise as the discussion moved forward. The Abstract was essentially approved as is. 

Members recommended that the Introduction more specifically define "humanities" as well as the "arts", including what is commonly used by the National Endowments at the federal level. It was also agreed that the Introduction should respond to the basic question: What is the Internet? Points to make include: The Internet is not new, but it is constantly evolving, as has the World Wide Web. Content issues relate to technical issues that, when solved, provide enormous potential for developing and providin g access to the arts and humanities globally. IETF provides the appropriate forum and resources for working with arts and humanities users to develop new and innovative Internet-based applications. 

There was consensus that the second section focus on "What the Internet means to the Artist", to include information about 1) access to the global community, 2) communicating with other artists, 3) collaborating with other artists, and 4) presenting one's own work and sharing the work of other artists on the Internet.

Members suggested the third section focus on basic information about getting started and determining how to best use the Internet (under the tentative title: "Finding Your Forum"). This section should respond to such questions as: How do I get there? Wh at is there? How can I contribute? It would include brief explanations of basic hardware and software needs, Internet service providers, online commmunications opportunities, how to find resources, etc. Members suggested that examples should be used whe rever possible and conclude with a "look to the future" of the Internet.

The fourth section should focus on "Creating Content", which would demonstrate the correlation between the nature of arts and humanities-based content (e.g. music, visual arts, etc.) and the various technology-based platforms and applications available. This section should include many examples of the range of applications available. 

The fifth section should focus on "Issues and Challenges" and briefly summarize key issues related to the use and dissemination of arts and humanities content. This should include the following topics: rights/permissions, censorship, marketing/doing busi ness, not offending others, not being offended by others, viruses, and security. The final sections of the document should be devoted to a glossary, resources, acknowledgements, and authors' information. 

At the conclusion of the discussion of the draft document, it was agreed that it would be most helpful to create a Web site for the document that would be accessible for working group members to contribute text and ideas at their convenience. The Web site will be designed and hosted by Janet Max. Once this is accomplished, members will be invited (and encouraged) to contribute to and respond to others' contributions to the document, with a goal to have a completed document ready for final review at the next IETF meeting (June, 1996).

Working group members also agreed to make the document available for review and contributions from invited members of the arts and humanities community for a six-week period prior to the next IETF meeting. Members felt it was necessary to consider the de velopment of a separate tools document at this time. The meeting was adjourned with an indication by the Co-chairs that an announcement would be made to all HARTS list subscribers when the Web site was ready for them to access.