October 24, 2006 -- Canadian Community Information and Referral Conference, Niagara Falls, Ontario; remarks made by Paul Bartel, InformCanada, President.
It's not often that we are called upon to take part in a historic act involving one of the tools of our trade. But today we are celebrating the signing of a pact that for our own small field of Information and Referral is indeed momentous. I am thrilled to officially announce the emergence of a new North American classification system built on the foundational AIRS/INFO LINE Taxonomy of Human Services, marked by the signing of a sublicencing agreement between InformCanada Federation and 211 LA County. This announcement is important to information and referral providers from all sectors, and everyone who believes that improved efficiencies can lead to more dollars directed to front line service delivery.
After over a year and a half of negotiations, built upon eighteen months of research and input from the field, please join InformCanada to celebrate the signing of the Agreement between InformCanada and 211 LA County. This Agreement represents agreement on the development, implementation and ongoing maintenance of a pan Canadian Taxonomy of Human Serivces, en francais, La Taxonomie Canadienne des Services Humains.
The Agreement is significant in that it signals a collaborative undertaking by information and referral providers in the U.S. and Canada on the development of a truly North American resource for managing information. The classification system will be a "common language" for I&R providers, encouraging the development of cost effective, coordinated, shared databases that serve clients better.
The taxonomy is flexible enough to allow for regional differences in terminology, but it is also structured enough to ensure that as 211 develops, a family member in Kenora B.C. will be able to search for "nursing homes" for her aunt in Saint John New Brunswick, and retrieve a reliable, consistent set of records that satisfy her needs.
Here are some of the key features of the agreement:
- Subscriptions support the ongoing development and maintenance costs of the Taxonomy; however, the long term goal of 211 LA is to seek sufficient endowment for the Taxonomy to be able to put it into the public domain. Until then, the Taxonomy is a proprietary product of 211 LA.
- We agreed that the Taxonomy is essentially North American in scope but will have a Canadian view.
- The agreement is based on a mutual understanding that the Taxonomy is owned and managed by 211 LA and that the Canadian work becomes part of that property. 211 LA is responsible for funding their part of the work on the Canadian version.
- InformCanada is protected from situations which could compromise the taxonomy.
InformCanada has several responsibilities under this agreement, including:
- InformCanada will assume responsibility for managing Canadian subscriptions, and InformCanada’s website will be the first point of contact for Canadian subscribers; and
- InformCanada will fulfil editorial and outreach responsibilities including development of initial Canadian terms in French and in English, ongoing maintenance and outreach, supporting an editorial team of InformCanada members and promoting the Taxonomy as a professional Canadian I&R standard.
Many people and organizations deserve our thanks as we celebrate this milestone for information and referral in North America. First, our new partner to the south, 211 LA County (aka INFO LINE of Los Angeles). 211 LA County has steadfastly supported the AIRS/INFO LINE Taxonomy for 24 years to the benefit of information and referral organizations throughout North America. Georgia Sales, the U.S. Taxonomy Editor, has created an extraordinary resource and developed it creatively and tirelessly in close collaboration with experts in fields as diverse as disaster services, substance abuse, and estate planning.
The Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) Board recognized a good thing when they saw it and gave the Taxonomy its early endorsement. United Way of America was not far behind. Hundreds of users in the U.S. participate enthusiastically in the Taxonomy listserv and at Taxonomy User Groups during AIRS Conferences. The listserv creates a community of practice, and provides the taxonomy with what is known as “user warrant” – a guarantee that the system will continue to grow and respond to the needs of local I&R providers and the clients they serve.
In Canada, early adopters in Alberta and Quebec provided initial Canadian input as did the network of Community Care Access Centres in Ontario. Meanwhile, with the support of funding from Service Canada, InformCanada struck the Classification System Task Force, which created the impetus for a complete Canadian version based on consultation with I&R providers. The Classification System Task Force Report resulted in a resolution to adopt a pan Canadian bilingual taxonomy based on the AIRS/INFO LINE Taxonomy of Human Services as the standard for I&R across Canada.
The InformCanada negotiating team depended on the tenacity and dedication of Deb Woods, consultant to InformCanada, and together with Deb, thanks is due to Joan Wright Past President of InformCanada and Cheryl May Vice President. InformCanada’s lawyer, Charles Morgan of McCarthy Tetrault of Montreal provided 100s of hours of service pro bono. Without Charles’ legal advice and encouragement the agreement would never have been possible.
The Canadian English version of the Taxonomy got off to a good start in 2005-2006, with the Stage 1 version of the taxonomy, which came out of the 211 Ontario phase 2 project: Advancing the Provincial Consolidated System, generously supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Stage 1 covered almost 7,000 terms, and represents the hard work and editorial experience of John Allec, Findhelp’s manager of information resources, and Clive Jones, the English language national editor, who is well known within the I&R field. Both of them would want me to add that the work could not have been done without the invaluable input of data managers across the country, who tirelessly contributed as members of the Editorial and National Review Groups.
The Ontario I&R database, representing approximately 50 I&R providers will have converted records representing over 60,000 services to the finalized taxonomy in 2007-2008. This work is being lead by Findhelp as part of the 211Ontario.ca project, and is funded through Strengthening Our Partnerships, an Ontario Ministry of Finance program, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Et la Taxonomie en francais est en train maintenant, sous la direction capable de Corinne Gallois et sa groupe des editeurs situes en Ontario et en Quebec. None of the work to date would be possible without the excellent resource development and project management skills of Findhelp, notably Kathy Kelly, 211Ontario.ca manager, and Cheryl May, executive director.
Finally, our thanks to Maribel Marin, executive director of 211 LA. Maribel was unfortunately unable to join us here today, but it is fitting that here to accept a token of recognition is Georgia Sales, who is the Taxonomy Editor par excellence – the brains behind what will soon be the “North American bilingual taxonomy of human services”.
