OSTI Update - Sharon Jordan provided an update on several topics ranging from OSTI on-line resources to the budget --

New OSTI Home Page - The OSTI Home Page (www.osti.gov) has changed. The redesigned OSTI Home Page was up on October 1. In addition to a new look, the search feature allows for distributed search of OSTI resources. OSTI has received a number of positive responses about the changes.

Energy Files (http://www.osti.gov/EnergyFiles/) - As of October 1, Energy Files also has a new look. The former Energy Portal search has been revamped, now divided into subject pathways the user has distributed search options within a subject pathway.

PubScience - PubSCIENCE was discontinued on November 4. There is now an announcement to that effect on the site. DOE journal articles will continue to be covered via Energy Citations.

LOWG - Sharon presented a paper at the October 2002, DOE Library Operations Working Group (LOWG) meeting. The paper focused on the state of OSTI, FY 02 activities, updates on products, and FY 03 initiatives. The paper is available at http://www.osti.gov/wwspeech.html.

Budget - Like much of the government, OSTI doesn't have budget numbers for FY 03.

Spring 2003 STIP Meeting - Sharon announced that things are we are getting closer to setting the date for the Spring 2003 STIP Meeting. The Annual Information Technology Conference (AITC) is scheduled for March 31-April 4, 2003, in Las Vegas at Bally's. There will be at least two tracks to the AITC: Records Management and Wireless Communications. OSTI is working with AITC to include STI topics on the agenda. As with last year, we plan to schedule the STIP Meeting in conjunction with the AITC. The STIP community is encouraged to actively participate in both meetings.

STIP Strategic Plan Status - Sharon mentioned that the STIP Strategic Plan had not been forgotten, the completion has just been delayed. Since OSTI got its Board of Visitors report the focus has been on the OSTI Strategic Plan. The STIP Strategic Plan will be discussed at the upcoming December STIG meeting and we are hopeful a draft of the plan will be available at the spring meeting.

FY 2002 R&D Data Call - Kathy reminded everyone that the FY 02 R&D Data Call memo was sent out under James Campbell's signature on October 25, and that the memo is explicit in stating NNSA's concurrence. Several key dates were mentioned; such as, November 15, the last day to send in XML test data and December 6, the last day to provide final production data. March 2003, is when OSTI will send the resulting data to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

DOE O 241.1A - Sunset Review - Kathy reported that Sunset reviews have been eliminated from the Directives revision process. In the future, the only requirement to review a Directive for revision will only occur if a Directive hasn't been updated in a while (e.g., 10 years). Additional changes to the Directives process are also being implemented; for example, DOE Directives will also no longer have expiration dates and the comment opportunities are different. The new Directives process will be two-pronged; one for administrative changes (e.g. renaming organizations, etc.), and one for substantial changes. The latter would have formal comment periods through RevCom, etc., similar to the current process. OSTI still plans to review the DOE O 241.1A to determine if the need to revise it currently exists. We plan to include this as a topic at the upcoming spring STIP meeting.

Other DOE Orders - (Kathy Waldrop, Susan Tackett, David Bellis):

DOE Order 224.1, "Contractor Performance-Based Business Management Process" - Kathy shared that the Order requiring the Business Management Oversight Process (BMOP) expired December 2001, and there are no plans to re-issue the Order. With BMOP eliminated, STIP activities will be measured in a less formal, less cumbersome manner. The performance objectives in Part I of DOE G 241.1-1A are still applicable from the perspective of defining the areas for measurement. As the STIP Strategic Plan is finalized, some tweaking to these objectives and measures will be necessary. OSTI currently provides SC-5 with STI submission information used for the Headquarters Laboratory Appraisals. The request for this information will continue indefinitely. SC has also expressed interest in OSTI obtaining more specific sponsoring organization information from the sites; implementation has yet to be determined. New ways to measure performance will likely be a topic discussed at the spring meeting. Sharon Jordan added that DOE O 241.1 was reviewed last year, as were all Orders that contained Contractor Requirements Documents and no changes were made as a result of that review.

DOE O 412.1, "Work Authorization System" - Susan provided a status on the WAS. Shortly after the WAS Order went into effect, the Office of Field Management was abolished, leaving the Order without an owner or champion. In August 2002, the Field Management Council initiated a Departmental review of the Order to determine if the WAS Order was still relevant. It was determined that the Order is relevant and the new champion is the Office of Management, Budget and Evaluation, ME-60, Office of Procurement and Assistance Management. This topic will also likely be addressed at the spring meeting.

DOE O 471.X, "Identifying and Protecting Official Use Only Information" - David discussed the current drafts of the Official Use Only Order, Manual, and Guide that are under review. The comment period for each has been closed and the major comments are being resolved. Linda Brightwell, SO-12, is the lead for the directive has expressed the desire for the directives to be issued by spring 2003. A copy of the draft is available at http://www.directives.doe.gov . The new directive will specify that in addition to Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information, OUO will be the only other distribution marking for unclassified controlled information.

Data Quality Act - Sharon Jordan provided an update on DOE's Data Quality Act guidelines issued October 1, 2002. The Data Quality Act is Section 515 of one of the FY01 appropriations bills. The Data Quality Act provides a mechanism for members of the public to challenge data that is used in making decisions. In general, most of the activity that results from the Act is with the EPA and similar agencies. The GAO has an ongoing study related to public availability of federally funded research. Their focus thus far has been on university research. This will be a topic at the December STICG meeting.

Harvesting Update - Susan Tackett shared that PNNL transitioned to harvesting production on 10/23/02. Three sites are currently participating in the harvesting activity; they are: NREL, ANL/IPNS, and PNNL. A weekly harvesting update cycle has been put into place. OSTI is actively working with LLNL and LANL to prepare for future harvesting. LLNL is expected to be transitioned into production soon. Based on ongoing communications, 2-3 additional participants are expected to transition to harvesting during the first quarter of FY03 (ANL/APS, BNL, and INEEL).

FY02 User Facility Acquisitions - Susan Tackett provided an update on the user facility activity resulting from the FY 02 IG audit. A total of 1,877 user facility citations were received by OSTI in FY02 from nine facilities. Some of the records received included only minimal data - OSTI continues to work through some of those issues. If the submitted product type is other than a journal with the publisher listed as the source of availability, OSTI should receive the associated full text or have the site serve as the source of availability. Additionally, OSTI should get any legacy user facility data that is available from all sites. OSTI will continue to track user facility data receipts and communicate progress to the IG. The next formal report is due March 2003.

Miscellaneous - The next STIP Managers teleconference will be noon ET, on January 15, 2003