August 2003-- Today the NSDL Sustainability Standing Committee (SSC) is distributing its 2003 survey across NSDL. The purpose of this online survey is to: 1) educate projects on topics the SSC is exploring, 2) establish a baseline of activity related to ensuring project longevity, and 3) identify projects' sustainability information needs. Results will be presented in a poster and during the SSC meeting at the 2003 NSDL Annual Meeting October 12-15 in Washington, D.C. Visit the SSC website for a link to the survey. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and will be available until Sept. 1.
Related Link: http://sustain.comm.nsdlib.org/

August 2003-- Version 3.0 of the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues is now available at alsos.wlu.edu. The website has a new look and feel that is designed to improve its use. One new feature allows direct access to articles and books that are available on the web. It also contains approximately 1000 annotated references. The new look is only one of the projects completed this summer. Annotators have processed an additional 400 references including a number that address post cold war issues. The computer group has provided the ability to monitor how our system is being used (searches, topics, and annotations accessed) by individual users along with a general view of who is using the library.

Alsos recently designed and presented a workshop, Planning Digital Collections for Evaluation and Research: Fundamentals, at Georgetown University, Georgetown, Texas on June 19-21. The workshop, sponsored by the Associated Colleges of the South was attended by 18 participants from 12 different colleges. Workshop resources are available online.
Related Link: http://home.wlu.edu/~blackmere/planning/electronicmaterialsguide.htm

August 2003-- In order to visually represent the breadth and depth of NSDL's collections and community in promotional materials and on the NSDL.org site, we are seeking digital photographs of people engaged in activities related to STEM research and education, and the use of digital libraries. It is our preference to use images from actual NSDL projects instead of commercially available stock photos. Ideally your photos will represent a diversity of people, activities, scientific disciplines, and educational settings. The images should be clearly discernable in a thumbnail size reproduced in black and white. Minimum resolution is 400 x 300 dpi (higher is better). We would love to have a pool of good images by September 15, but also feel free to send them at any time. Please contact Susan Van Gundy at 303-497-2946 / vangundy@ucar.edu with any questions or to submit your photos.
Related Link: http://nsdl.org

August 2003-- Exhibits in the new NSDL.org web site due to be released thi s fall will be powered by The Internet Scout Project's Scout Portal Toolkit (SPT). Using SPT groups or organizations that have a collection of knowledge or resources they want to share via the World Wide Web may put that collection online without making a big investment in technical resources or expertise. Find out more about how to use SPT at http://scout.wisc.edu/research/SPT/

In addition the Scout Project has developed an NSDL-focused initiative that builds upon success with the Scout Portal Toolkit. The turnkey software package dubbed 'CWIS' (Collection Workflow Integration System), is intended for use by NSDL collection developers. The initial, beta version of CWIS software will be released next month. NSDL Core Integration is working closely with Scout to integrate CWIS into a collection management strategy.
Related Link: http://scout.wisc.edu/research/SPT/

August 2003-- Please send error messages, broken link information, or questions about NSDL.org content to feedback@nsdl.org.
Related Link: http://nsdl.org

August 2003-- Just a reminder to join us on August 20 at 4:00PM EDT to hear Bruce Caron (PI, Data Discovery Toolkit and Foundry) talk about building community with examples drawn from the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP).

ESIP brings together government agencies, universities, non-profit organizations, and businesses in an effort to make Earth Science information available to a broader community. It facilitates interactions among scientists, engineers, information technologists, and user communities by encouraging the use of best science, supports exchange and integration of Earth science data, information, products, and services, and increases the diversity and breadth of users and uses of Earth science data, information, products and services.

To join the call, dial 800-473-8794. Your host for the call will be Susan Van Gundy, Education Outreach Specialist for CI. So, listen in to find out how this community works, and participate in a discussion about lessons learned along the way. Slides will be posted on the web site.
Related Link: http://cops.comm.nsdlib.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Communities_of_Practice

August 2003-- NSDL is an organization built from the work of its members and volunteers which is why the NSDL community needs you to attend the NSDL Annual Meeting 2003. Register online at nsdl.comm.nsdlib.org/registration bring a poster about your project, and meet others with similar interests and goals.

Posters are a way for projects to inform others in the NSDL community about what they are doing and what they can offer. Please take the time to submit a poster registration about your project when you register at http://nsdl.comm.nsdlib.org/meeting/?pager=185.
Related Link: http://nsdl.comm.nsdlib.org/registration/

August 2003-- IEEE Pervasive Computing: Art, Design and Engineering.
June 24-27, 2004, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire Abstracts: Sept. 15, 2003
Related Link: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sicu/circ1.html

August 2003-- In a jolt of good news for the library community, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) has officially abandoned UCITA, the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. At the group's 112th Annual Meeting in Washington, NCCUSL president K. King Burnett officially discharged the UCITA standby committee. He said, 'We have determined to focus the Conference's energies on the items related to our larger agenda and not expend any additional Conference energy or resources in having UCITA adopted.' UCITA is the first uniform law governing information contracts and was opposed by broad coalition, led by the library community, because of the sweeping power it gave to vendors over software licensing. Although this is good news for libraries, UCITA has been enacted in Maryland and Virginia and contracts can name either of those UCITA states as the law governing a software license even if they have no presence in those states.--Library Journal Academic News Wire, Aug. 5, 2003.
Related Link: http://www.nccusl.org/nccusl/DesktopDefault.aspx

August 2003-- The Los Alamos National Lab set the internet speed mark in the Guinness Book of World Records last month. Using off-the-shelf personal computers, a trillion bytes of data were blasted from California to Switzerland at an eye-popping 2.38 billion bits, or 2.38 gigabits, per second. By comparison, a typical telephone modem connection transmits data at less than 56,000 bits per second.
Related Link: http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/news/releases/archive/03-100.shtml