DOE STI Meeting February 2-5, 1998 Washington D.C.

Agreements

What types of information should sites consider STI? Decision is predicated on what is useful to others outside the originating organization.

YES

Technical Reports
Conference Proceedings
Foreign Trip Reports
Translations
Multimedia
Software
Work for Others Deliverables (Unless agreement to the contrary)
Conference Papers
CRADA Deliverables
Technical Standards
Thesis Papers
Non-commercially published books
LDRD STI Deliverables

NO

WWW Pages
Preprints
Journal Articles
Databases
Newsletters
Brochures
Catalogs
Engineering Drawings
Administrative Materials
Public Communications
Report Sections (When full report is STI)
Proposals
Weekly Reports
Financial Information
Commercially Published Books

If a book is published and copyrighted, by a publisher, OSTI doesn't want it. If it is lab published and not copyrighted, send it to OSTI.

ORDER/GUIDE REVISION TOPICS

A - Electronic Environment - General (3, 4, 5, 6, 23)

3, 4, 5, 6. With the agreed upon goal for electronic exchange, all DOE complex sites and facilities agree to initiate the transition of newly generated STI to electronic format by no later than 10/1/98 with increasing steps to full transition with a sense of urgency to be completed by 2004. After 10/1/98, paper processing will result in reduced timeliness and ability to make information accessible.

23. Appropriate limited availability and classified full-text information will continue to be sent to OSTI through appropriate channels. The preferred format for these materials is electronic format, just like unclassified/unlimited materials. This transition will likely be slower-paced than the unclassified/unlimited materials and timing will be based on site capability.

B - Metadata (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28)

7. Agreement on the revised simplified metadata structure has been reached (handout).

8, 9, 10. OSTI will receive a site prepared metadata record for each full-text (electronic or paper) document made available for the DOE collection. Sites will strive to include the abstract, keywords, and subject category in their metadata records to the extent feasible. Where this is not feasible, OSTI will strive to enhance the site prepared metadata records with an abstract, keywords, and subject category.

11. Originating sites will perform the only evaluation function for announcement and availability restrictions applicable to their documents.

12. Only statutory or written funding Program announcement and availability restrictions can be applied.

13. The EDB announcement record as we now know it will be replaced by the new simplified site-initiated metadata record.

14. The new site initiated metadata record will replace the current EDB announcement record being used by GPO, NTIS, Knight Ridder and other vendors.

15. Effective 10/1/98, the number of keywords and subject categories on the metadata records will be significantly reduced. OSTI will maintain core authorities for subject categories and keywords, providing pick lists and web access whenever possible for site and OSTI use. Those authorities will be developed in collaboration with the STIP community.

17. EDB will become a static file similar to NSA; the current EDB will also likely be recast into the new simplified metadata structure. OSTI's goal is to include NSA and EDB metadata records in the DOE Information Bridge.

18. The "official" publication date for technical reports will be the date that the originator first makes the document available or considers it published (regardless of format).

19. Each document made available in a distributed manner by the originator will have a unique URL.

20. Metadata elements determined by the STIP stakeholders to be mandatory will be necessary for the central OSTI metadata index to accept the item.

21. The originating sites will have the option to submit metadata records using the Web-based input form, through batch processing, or providing appropriately tagged elements accompanying an electronic full-text document.

28. If mandated by the Department, metadata records for STI products must include an element for a unique identifier(s) which tags the product to an R&D project(s) or funding source

C - Electronic Formats (1,2)

Current

TIFF(G4)
PDF
HTML
SGML
Postscript

Interim - 10/1/98-2004

WP5+
MSWord5+
XML

Future - 2004 and beyond

SGML
HTML
XML

Delivery Mechanisms

URL, FTP, Discs, Mail, CD-ROM, E-mail, Videotape, etc.

Conceptually the direction is away from image formats to machine-readable formats, and others will be considered as environmental/technological changes necessitate.

D - Access/Availability (22, 25)

22. OSTI will continue to respond to paper requests or other special requests after the sites have made their electronic full-text documents available on the Web.

25. Standard document distribution and special distributions will be discontinued by OSTI and standard distribution categories will be eliminated.

E - Repository (24, 26)

24. OSTI will capture full-text documents hosted by sites before the sites make the information unavailable for immediate public access, the notification procedure needs to be determined. Batch processing will be accommodated as needed.

26. Even in the distributed environment, OSTI will be the final ultimate repository for DOE STI documents. Information held in the ultimate repository will be considered the record copy, but this does not preclude separate agreements by sites for other records management issues.

F - Order/Guide/Process - (27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)

27. The specific requirement for a site-initiated announcement record need not be added to the "Contractor Requirements Document" section of the Order. Instead, the annoucement record will be covered in the Guide.

29. The Guide Review Board is discontinued.

30. It is agreed that revised procedures related to the electronic environment can be documented in an Order and Guide. A mandatory manual will not be developed.

31. The Public Affairs Order is outdated in its references to STI.

32. A poll will be taken concerning the value of having STI included in the BMOP review process.

33. Specific STI performance measures/requirements will not be added to the Order beyone what is already there.

34. It is agreed that each DOE element and contractor organization/site will identify a single STI point-of-contact.

35. Modify contractor requirements document based on agreements reached during the February STIP meeting, shortening the document wherever possible. Specific areas for consideration include:

• Requirement #5 - needs to be broader than just M&O Contractors
• Requirement #7 - need to reconsider as this (standards) may no longer be appropriate (also consider realtionship with HR)
• Requirement #8 - should refer to the Guide by its name and eliminate the "Discretionary" part . . . may need other revisions. (Note: Also need to correct this in the Order).
• Reconsider requirements on Contractors for inclusion of Work-for-Others as part of STI to be reported on.

36. As for the STIP Plan, need to consider the possibility of lifting from it the higher level information into a Strategic Plan; separating out the Tactical Planning activities. OSTI will develop a proposal to present to the STIP community for how to update the plan on some type of routine (perhaps annual) basis.

37. The STIP Working Groups will continue.

38. Meet Me calls will continue with improved attendance.

Other Commitments

• Use some type of message (push technology) to notify INFO-M when anything new is added to the STIP Home Page.
• Work with TIOs to define statistical information needs for them and their contractors. TIOs will share information with STI Managers.
• Work with TIOs to make Field Performance Measures more widely available.
• Deal with issues of some Programs not wanting unclassified/unlimited information up on the Internet.
• The STIP Integration group will continue (includes all Goal Team leaders); broader participation will be considered if necessary.
• Routine stakeholder Meet-Me calls will continue to be held; but special decision-making sessions will be more structured with information provided prior to the meeting for well-informed decision-making processes.
• Maintain INFO-M as STI Manager and TIO list. Create a STIP list for full STIP community (including LOWG members). Maintain the individual listservs for each STIP Goal group.
• STIP - use for issues needing response or decision
• Goal Lists - use for specific goal discussions
• OSTI will develop a sub-team under Goal 1 to work on the design of a metadata web form.
• Preprints are a potential new DOE product, but there are some reservations:

Author Concerns

• May impede getting article published because publisher won't want to publish
• The pre-print is not final and has changes being made

Other Concerns

• Publishers may be less willing to negotiate discounted subscriptions for journals if DOE has a PrePrints product.
• Need for preprints service is discipline-specific; therefore, a preprints service may need to be discipline-specific as opposed to general
• SUGGESTION - Need a structured survey of the research community to determine their needs, as well as any reservations/justifications.

• Goal Team leaders need to assess how they are doing against the direction outlined in the STIP Plan - and need input from the larger STI community.

Messages to STICG:

• Need Programmatic support to endorse the efforts we are undertaking for a decentralized electronic environment.
• The vision of moving into a National Library future demands the funding to assure good access and retrieval of information (e.g., ability to do subject categories, keywords, abstracts, etc.)
• Need to address the difficulties of applying unique identifiers to STI deliverables which tag them to specific R&D projects or funding sources.

National Library of Energy Science and Technology

The concept of the vision of a National Library of Energy Science and Technology was presented. STIP community comments included:

• Helps to create the ability to move into the electronic vision.

• It falls in line with the STIP concept of making information readily available to the public, who paid for it in the first place.

Next steps:

• Build grassroots support; talk up the concept throughout the Department
• Perhaps host a conference to talk about this concept and begin to build a strategy for how to accomplish the vision; alternative idea presented to discuss this idea during the upcoming InForum conference
• Need to show that there is a national need that is currently unmet; may be best way to approach Congress and the National Laboratories
• Need to show Secretarial level support for the vision before approaching Congress
• Other areas of high public visibility can give good ammunition (global warming, environmental issues, etc.)
• Present concept to the Library Operations Working Group (LOWG); this group can help identify potential savings and duplication elimination which could provide additional ammunition
• One suggestion was to consider broadening the concept to a National Library of Science; concern, however, for the confusion with National Science Foundation
• Determine support of DOE Laboratory Management
• Need to get support of key industry leaders; laboratories are beginning to build strong private industry alliances (particularly in the technology transfer areas, e.g., the new car initiatiave)
• Will distribute paper to STIP community and request assistance from community in grassroots efforts
• Get support from leading scientific universities (e.g., MIT)

• Use Tennessee contacts (Gore)
  
  

Next Meeting

Location Options - California (Bay Area); Chicago
Timeframe - Perhaps Fall 1998