From BIOSCI-REQUEST Wed Sep 10 02:00:07 1997 Return-Path: BIOSCI-REQUEST Received: (from daemon@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id CAA18455; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 02:00:07 -0700 Received: (from biohelp@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id CAA18434; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 02:00:05 -0700 Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 02:00:05 -0700 From: BIOSCI Administrator Message-Id: <199709100900.CAA18434@net.bio.net> To: rust-mil@net.bio.net Subject: BIOSCI/bionet miniFAQ & Fundraiser (LAST REVISION: 30-JUL-95) This BIOSCI "miniFAQ" is designed to answer the questions that come up the *most frequently*. The main BIOSCI FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is accessible on the World Wide Web at URL http://www.bio.net/. If you can not find an answer to your question in this or other documentation, the BIOSCI technical support staff answers e-mail queries sent to biosci-help@net.bio.net We can only answer questions about the use of the newsgroups and mailing lists. We unfortunately do not have the staff to do Internet information searches or answer scientific questions. Please post those to the appropriate BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. Contents: -------- 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!! 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc. 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists. 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory. 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!! ------------------------------ BIOSCI's government funding has been expended, and we are now operating solely from advertising revenue that we have raised from our Web site at http://www.bio.net/. We need just a few minutes of your time to help us serve you. You can do two important things which will take very little time for you individually and will immensely help us continue to help you. First, please use our WWW system at http://www.bio.net/ to access the archives. You can post or reply to messages via your Web browser as described in item #1 below. Your usage helps attract sponsors. If you contact any of our sponsors, please be sure to thank them for supporting BIOSCI. It is critical for them to get this feedback if they are to continue their sponsorship for the long term. Second, if you work for a company or organization that provides products or services of interest to the biology community, please pass this message on to your marketing or marketing communications department or other appropriate group. Please ask them to help support BIOSCI by sponsoring our Web site and explain the uses and benefits of the system to the biology community. If they are interested, they can then contact us for further information at our tech support address, biosci-help@net.bio.net. 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. -------------------------------------------------------- As of 10 December 1995, all BIOSCI/bionet full newsgroups are accessible through the World Wide Web (WWW) at URL http://www.bio.net. One can read and reply publicly or privately to both recent postings and archived messages through one's Web browser if it is configured properly to send e-mail. Each newsgroup is equipped with its own WAIS index. The main BIOSCI home page also has access to the BIO-JOURNALS Table of Contents database WAIS index and the BIOSCI user address database described in another item further below. 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc. ------------------------------------------------------- BIOSCI is a set of parallel USENET newsgroups (the "bionet" groups), mailing lists, and a hypermail archive at URL http://www.bio.net/. The same postings are distributed on all media (except for a small number of mailing-list-only groups at net.bio.net). Unfortunately it is becoming a despicable practice on the Internet (by a few people out to make a fast buck) to do automated mass postings to thousands of newsgroups and mailing lists. These attempts to grab free advertising are refered to as "spams" in the usual, somewhat boneheaded, net terminology. USENET is more susceptible to this practice, and many spams originate on the USENET groups and then are passed on to the mailing lists. However, spammers also get lists of mailing addresses and hit these too, so neither medium is immune. What should you do personally if you get junk mail? --------------------------------------------------- Just delete it and move on without reading it further. Filing a protest is becoming increasingly useless because spammers are often disguising the addresses where the messages are sent from. Unless you really understand Internet mail systems, your attempt at protest by sending replies to the message will often end up being sent to the address of an innocent person that the spammer is victimizing. What can BIOSCI/bionet do to protect its newsgroups? ---------------------------------------------------- The only solution currently available is to moderate the newsgroup. If this newsgroup is already moderated, then you are in good shape. Moderation protects the USENET distribution from about 95% of the spams that are being sent to date and protects the mailing lists completely. Moderation means, however, that someone has to take the time to review each message before it goes out. We have set up software here that simply allows the moderator to forward to an address at net.bio.net messages that (s)he wishes to have distributed. This takes no more time than that needed to read the message and pass it on, say about 1 min. per message. Most newsgroups currently have a discussion leader who is responsible for their newsgroup. The discussions leaders and their e-mail addresses are listed in the BIOSCI Information Sheet which is available on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. If a newsgroup is being hit with too many junk postings, please contact the discussion leader for that group and see if there is interest in moderating the group. Please do not assume that by simply posting a complaint to the newsgroup itself, anyone on the BIOSCI staff will act on your complaint. With close to 100 newsgroups to run, the BIOSCI staff has to rely on the discussion leaders of each newsgroup to report problems directly to us at biosci-help@net.bio.net. We will moderate any of our newsgroups if the discussion leader tells us that the readership of the group wishes to do so and if a moderator is willing to do the work. For most BIOSCI/bionet groups, this entails only a few minutes of work each day. Moderating a newsgroup will resolve probably 95% of the junk postings on the USENET distribution. Unfortunately there are easy ways for determined spammers to override the moderation mechanism on USENET, but we can protect our e-mail subscribers from unwanted postings if the newsgroup is moderated. You can also access our newsgroups over the WWW at URL http://www.bio.net. While this Web interface will not stop spammers from trying to post to the groups, this will give you yet another way, besides using USENET news, to keep the junk out of your personal mail files. For those of you with local USENET news systems, the Web interface will also give you faster access to new newsgroups and recent postings. 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists. ------------------------------------------------------------------ PLEASE NOTE: The BIOSCI management does NOT act on subscription/unsubscription requests that are posted improperly to the newsgroups and mailing lists. People who do this only bother everyone on the lists to no avail. Please be sure to follow the proper procedures below. Gory details are in the BIOSCI Information sheets on the Web at http://www.bio.net. Below we give an example utilizing the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list at both of our two BIOSCI sites: Users in the Americas and Pacific Rim countries who use the BIOSCI ------------------------------------------------------------------ node at computer net.bio.net: ---------------------------- A) Determine the "listname" which is the <=8 character mail address ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ for the group. These can be found in the BIOSCI Info. Sheet. For the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS group the mailing address is methods@net.bio.net. The listname is the portion of the address to the left of the @ sign, i.e., "methods". The listname is used with the "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" commands illustrated below. B) Mail all commands in the body of a mail message addressed to biosci-server@net.bio.net. Do NOT send commands to the newsgroup posting addresses! Leave the Subject: line blank, any text on it will be ignored. C) In the body of your message put one or more of the following commands with an "end" command on the last line, e.g., subscribe methods unsubscribe methods end Do NOT put your e-mail address or other text on these lines. The server only allows you to cancel your subscription if the address on your mail header matches the address on our mailing list. Please ask for help at biosci-help@net.bio.net if your address has changed, e.g., if you know you are on the list but the server tells you that you are not a member. Users in Europe, Africa, and Central Asia who use the BIOSCI node at -------------------------------------------------------------------- computer daresbury.ac.uk (also known as dl.ac.uk): ------------------------------------------------- To subscribe and unsubscribe to/from the BIOSCI lists, you need to specify the full USENET newsgroup name with "bionet-news." prepended. The USENET newsgroup names are listed in the BIOSCI Information sheet on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. For the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list the USENET newsgroup name is bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts, thus the appropriate commands are sub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts unsub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts These commands are included in a message addressed to mxt@dl.ac.uk, NOT to the newsgroup mailing addresses. As usual, include the text in the body of the message as text on the Subject: line is ignored. To unsubscribe from all the lists at the UK node, use unsub bionet-news Please note that if the address in the list is different than the one in your mail message header, you will not be able to unsubscribe by this method. If you have problems, please mail biosci@daresbury.ac.uk. 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory. ----------------------------------------------------------- Please take this opportunity to add your name, address, and research interest information to the BIOSCI User Address Database if you have not already done so. You can fill out the address form directly through our Web page at URL http://www.bio.net/adrform.html. The address database is reindexed nightly for WWW access (the URL is http://www.bio.net/). If you are not directly on the Internet but can reach it by e-mail, please use our waismail server to access the user directory. waismail use is described above. You can also request a user address form by e-mail from biosci-help@net.bio.net. Please check your database entry from time-to-time to see if your address information is still up-to-date. Because of our limited personnel resources, we ask that you resubmit a *complete* form to revise your entry; we only replace complete entries and do not have resources to edit old forms. From BIOSCI-REQUEST Wed Sep 10 10:05:52 1997 Return-Path: BIOSCI-REQUEST Received: (from daemon@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id KAA14501; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 10:05:52 -0700 Received: from gatekeeper.sandoz.att.nl (gatekeeper.sandoz.att.nl [194.151.3.11]) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) with ESMTP id KAA14496; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 10:05:50 -0700 From: BERNARD.VERNOOIJ@sandoz.com Received: by gatekeeper.sandoz.att.nl; id TAA03091; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 19:06:03 +0200 (MET DST) X400-Originator: BERNARD.VERNOOIJ@sandoz.com X400-Recipients: RUST-mil@net.bio.net X400-MTS-Identifier: [/PRMD=SANDOZ/ADMD=400NET/C=CH/;0034700006513462000002] X400-Content-Type: P2-1988 (22) Message-ID: <0034700006513462000002*@MHS> To: Subject: No Subject Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 19:07:54 +0200 subscribe rust-mil end From BIOSCI-REQUEST Wed Sep 10 12:37:33 1997 Return-Path: BIOSCI-REQUEST Received: (from daemon@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id MAA02566; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 12:37:33 -0700 Received: from mhub2.tc.umn.edu (0@mhub2.tc.umn.edu [128.101.131.52]) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) with SMTP id MAA02562; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 12:37:32 -0700 Received: from puccini.crl.umn.edu by mhub2.tc.umn.edu; Wed, 10 Sep 97 14:37:43 -0500 Received: from [134.84.228.18] by puccini.crl.umn.edu (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id OAA22278; Wed, 10 Sep 1997 14:42:29 -0500 Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 14:42:29 -0500 Message-Id: <199709101942.OAA22278@puccini.crl.umn.edu> From: "Mark E. Hughes" Reply-To: "Mark E. Hughes" Apparently-To: Apparently-To: Apparently-To: To Subject: position announcement Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mailer: POPmail 2.3b7 Research Fellow (MS) or Research Associate (Ph.D.) Constructs for Plant Transgenes University of Minnesota, St. Paul A 12 month non-tenure track, full-time position; renewable annually dependent upon performance and availability of funding. Current funding 12 months. The experienced candidate will design and modifiy existing transgene constructs for biolistic plant transformation of oat for fungal disease resistance. New and existing constructs will be used in a transcient assay system and in whole plant transformation. The position requires a M.S. or Ph.D. and one or more years of proven experience in making of transgene constructs. PCR and/or RT-PCR and northern and expression vector experience is needed. Experience with plant transformation, fungi, and grant writing desired. The successful candidate will be part of an oat and cereal transformation team. Salary commensurate with experience - $28,000 maximum, plus standard University fringe benefits. Written applications including a short curriculum vitae, academic transcript and the names and addresses of three references, by 30 October, 1997, to: Dr. Richard J. Zeyen, Department of Plant Pathology, 495 Borlaug Hall, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108; telephone (612) 625-9748, FAX (612) 625-9748, e-mail . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark E. Hughes, Biologist markh@puccini.crl.umn.edu USDA-ARS, Cereal Rust Laboratory www.crl.umn.edu University of Minnesota phone: (612) 625-7295 1551 Lindig, St Paul, MN 55108 fax: (612) 649-5054 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From BIOSCI-REQUEST Mon Sep 15 07:12:24 1997 Return-Path: BIOSCI-REQUEST Received: (from daemon@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id HAA13668; Mon, 15 Sep 1997 07:12:24 -0700 Received: from risvm1.risoe.dk ([130.226.48.29]) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) with ESMTP id HAA13656; Mon, 15 Sep 1997 07:12:04 -0700 Received: from risrms1.risoe.dk (risrms1.risoe.dk) by risoe.dk (PMDF V5.0-7 #12571) id <01INO9HQUSHC9YJMBJ@risoe.dk> for rust-mil@net.bio.net; Mon, 15 Sep 1997 13:45:12 +0200 Received: from RISRMS1/SpoolDir by risrms1.risoe.dk (Mercury 1.32); Mon, 15 Sep 1997 13:45:10 +0200 Received: from SpoolDir by RISRMS1 (Mercury 1.32); Mon, 15 Sep 1997 13:44:46 +0200 Date: Mon, 15 Sep 1997 13:44:40 +0200 From: Hanne Oestergaard Subject: COST 817 - Management Committee meeting To: rust-mil@net.bio.net Message-id: Organization: Risoe National Laboratory, Denmark. MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.54) Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN Content-transfer-encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Priority: normal To MC-members: Preliminary agenda=20 for the 8'th MC Meeting=20 to be held in Prague, Czech Republic on Tuesday 11th of November 9.30 to 12.00 and Friday, 14th of November, 13.30 to 16.00 1. Approval of agenda 2. Approval of Minutes of 7'th MC Meeting 3. Status for member countries and institutes 4. Status for Internet home pages. 5. Evaluation of work/plans for work in working groups. Coordinators of working groups and subgroups are invited to present a short report= From BIOSCI-REQUEST Wed Sep 24 08:54:26 1997 Return-Path: BIOSCI-REQUEST Received: (from daemon@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id IAA13202; Wed, 24 Sep 1997 08:54:26 -0700 Received: from darius.nas.edu (darius.nas.edu [144.171.1.12]) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) with ESMTP id IAA13199; Wed, 24 Sep 1997 08:54:24 -0700 Received: from smtpmta.nas.edu (smtpmta.nas.edu [144.171.1.40]) by darius.nas.edu (8.8.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id LAA00996 for ; Wed, 24 Sep 1997 11:58:19 -0400 (EDT) Received: by smtpmta.nas.edu(Lotus SMTP MTA v1.1 (385.6 5-6-1997)) id 8525651C.00573F5A ; Wed, 24 Sep 1997 11:52:58 -0400 X-Lotus-FromDomain: NAS From: "Barbara Wright" To: rust-mil@net.bio.net cc: "Paul Uhlir" Message-ID: <8525651C.00571B26.00@smtpmta.nas.edu> Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 11:51:59 -0400 Subject: Data Conference Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Dear colleague: This is a reminder for readers of your Web site about the upcoming Conference on Scientific and Technical Data Exchange and Integration. If you have not yet posted an announcement about it there, please do so at your earliest convenience. You can use the following message: +++++++++++++++++++++++ The Conference on Scientific and Technical Data Exchange and Integration will be held December 15-17, 1997 at the Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda, MD just outside Washington, D.C. The conference is being organized by the National Research Council's U.S. National Committee for CODATA and is being cosponsored by nine federal science agencies and several firms. Information about the program, registration, and local arrangements may be obtained by calling (202) 334-2124, sending an e-mail inquiry to , or by visiting the Web site for the conference at . ++++++++++++++++++++++++ We also are providing below the full text of the revised conference announcement for your information. Please share it with others in your organization who may be interested. Thank you. Paul F. Uhlir Director, U.S. National Committee for CODATA National Research Council Washington, DC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT (Revised September 1997) The Conference on Scientific and Technical Data Exchange and Integration Sponsored by U.S . National Committee for CODATA National Research Council December 15-17, 1997 Natcher Conference Center National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD Purpose of the Conference The exchange of scientific and technical (S&T) data among different computing environments and across diverse scientific and engineering disciplines presents major problems that hinder full exploitation of computer-based modeling, the Internet, modern scientific databases, and new computer technology. The U.S. National Committee for CODATA is sponsoring the first major interdisciplinary conference on this subject on December 15-17, 1997, in Bethesda, MD. The conference has three main objectives: - To identify areas, with special emphasis on interdisciplinary needs, in which data exchange and integration are important; - To highlight major S&T data exchange and integration efforts already underway or in planning; and - To foster serious and significant cooperation in these kinds of activities among scientific and engineering disciplines, and governmental and non-governmental organizations. Conference Sponsors Defense Technical Information Center Department of Energy Environmental Protection Agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Institutes of Health National Institute of Standards and Technology National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Science Foundation United States Geological Survey Hughes STX Corporation TRW [Additional government and corporate sponsors welcome] Preliminary Program Monday, December 15, 1997 8:40 a.m. Welcome Goetz Oertel, U.S. National Committee for CODATA 8:45 Conference Introduction William Wulf, National Academy of Engineering Plenary Session 1: The Importance of Scientific Data Sharing 9:00 Sharing Scientific Data--A Key to Progress in Research and Development Rita Colwell, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute 9:30 Getting More from Our Research Investment--Cross-discipline Research and Data Sharing Neal Lane, National Science Foundation 10:00 Data Exchange and Integration--Fundamental Issues John Rumble, National Institute of Standards and Technology 10:30 Coffee 10:50 An Industrial Perspective: Why Industry Shares Scientific and Technical Data, and How Robert Kiggans, PDES, Inc. 11:20 The Need for Data Exchange in Global Change Research Robert Corell, National Science Foundation 11:50 Lunch 1:00 p.m. Contributed Papers, Posters, and Demonstrations (available for viewing until noon on Wednesday) Plenary Session 2: Tearing Down the Walls--The Art and Science of Data Exchange and Integration 3:00 Data Exchange and Integration Approaches Gio Wiederhold, Stanford University 3:30 Information Modeling Yuhwei Yang, Product Data Integration Technology 4:00 Resolving Conceptual Disagreements Frank Olken, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 4:30 The Sociology of Data Exchange--Reaching Consensus on Data Exchange Tools G. Bruce Wiersma, University of Maine at Orono 5:00 Making Data Easy to Share Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland 5:30 Reception 7:30 Adjourn Tuesday, December 16 Plenary Session 3: Challenges to Cooperation--Why Data Exchange Must Succeed 9:00 a.m. Sharing Scientific and Technical Data--Maximizing the Potential of the National Information Infrastructure Senior Administration Official 9:45 Long-term Ecological and Environmental Data--The Challenge of Keeping and Remembering Susan Stafford, Oregon State University 10:10 Space Observation Data: Looking in and Looking out Jim Green, National Aeronautics and Space Administration 10:35 Coffee 11:00 Human Health and Global Climate Change Paul Epstein, Harvard University 11:25 Geographic Information: What Everybody Needs, and Why David Mark, University of Buffalo 11:50 Molecular and Cellular Bioinformatics: From Molecules to Biological Functionality David Lipman, National Center for Biotechnology Information 12:15 p.m. Lunch 1:15 Break-Out Discussion Group Sessions (topics to be finalized later) 2:45 Coffee 4:15 Conclusion of Break-Out Sessions Plenary Session 3: Challenges to Cooperation (continued) 4:30 Integrating Social Science and Natural Science Data Roberta Miller, Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network 5:00 Legal Challenges to Data Exchange and Integration Paul Uhlir, National Research Council 5:30 Adjourn Wednesday, December 17 Plenary Session 4: How to Cooperate--Examples of Successful Cross-Discipline Data Exchange and Integration 8:45 a.m. Geographic Information Systems John Moeller, U.S. Geological Survey and Federal Geographic Data Committee 9:05 ISO Standard for the Exchange of Product Data Howard Bloom, National Institute of Standards and Technology 9:25 World Data Centers Ferris Webster, University of Delaware 9:45 The Earth Observing System Gregory Hunolt, National Aeronautics and Space Administration 10:05 Coffee Closing Plenary Session 10:30 Ideas from the Break-Out Sessions Julian Humphries, University of Kansas 10:50 Next Steps for Working Scientists Robert Robbins, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 11:20 Next Steps for the Federal Research Community Senior Official, Office of Science and Technology Policy 11:45 Final Remarks Goetz Oertel, U.S. National Committee for CODATA Noon Adjourn Contributed Papers and Technical Demonstrations The conference will consist of four types of sessions: plenary invited lectures; contributed papers (which will be presented as posters); technical demonstrations and exhibits; and small break-out discussion groups. Case studies are particularly encouraged. Contributed papers and demonstrations are being provided on the following topics: Discipline-specific data exchange activities and requirements Interdisciplinary data exchange activities and requirements Federally supported data exchange programs Definitions of scientific and technical metadata issues The computer science of data exchange and integration The impact of the Internet and the World Wide Web on S&T data exchange and integration Future needs for data exchange and integration for scientific and technical data The contributed papers and technical demonstrations will play a major role in the conference by identifying existing activities and approaches that will provide direction and insight for further activities. All contributed papers will be considered for publication in the Conference proceedings, which will be published on the Internet soon after the Conference. The abstracts for all accepted contributed papers and technical demonstrations and exhibits will be put on our Web site in October at . For further information about the conference, please contact: Paul F. Uhlir Director, U.S. National Committee for CODATA National Research Council 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418 (202) 334-2421 (tel.) (202) 334-2422 (fax) codataco@nas.edu For questions about the conference program, please contact: John Rumble Conference Program Chair National Institute of Standards and Technology Building 820, Room 113 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (301) 975-2200 (tel.) john.rumble@nist.gov Break-out Discussion Group Sessions The purpose of the small group discussions, which will be held on the afternoon of the second day, is to address focused topics within the broad conference themes. All conference participants are invited to participate in a discussion group of their choice. Each group will have a designated chair and rapporteur, who will lead and record the discussion. The results will be used by the U.S. National Committee for CODATA and the other conference sponsors for planning follow-on activities. The discussion groups are expected to examine data exchange and integration issues in the following discipline and issue areas: - Biodiversity - Biophysics - Bioinformatics - Engineering knowledge systems - Industrial data - Space sciences - Earth observations - Geographic information - Social sciences - Intellectual property rights - International cooperation - Computer science - Long-term archiving Further details about these discussion groups will be made available in October. Additional Background By data exchange is meant several things: the transfer of large amounts of data from one set of software to other software; extracting small amounts of data from one or more data sources for specific use; and the creation of a linked or integrated data system with multiple data sources. Other possibilities exist. Data exchange has two major components: the stream of bits and bytes that actually represent the data items and fields, and the contextual meaning of individual data items and fields. S&T disciplines and applications have begun addressing data exchange issues, but progress has been slow and difficult for a variety of reasons. Scientists are often not accustomed to formal standards. Discipline experts, even though they may be quite knowledgeable in computation and database management, frequently lack expertise in information modeling and exchange standards. Metadata are not well defined, complicating the application of data across diverse scientific areas. As a result, interdisciplinary data exchange has been difficult to promote and rarely implemented. Consider for a moment geographic information. Many applications need such information: to locate physically the sources of samples, to describe the range of a phenomenon, or to specify the location of an event, among others. Today many geographic information systems serve diverse communities of users, and several efforts to develop standards for exchanging data among these systems have been proposed. Yet progress to develop such standards in other areas has been slow. Other types of scientific data, such as biological nomenclature, chemical and engineering material identification and temporal data, suffer the same problem. Many uses for these data exist outside the scientific disciplines that generate them, yet accepted methods for exchanging these data remain elusive. In Finding the Forest in the Trees, The Challenge of Combining Diverse Environmental Data, the U.S. National Committee for CODATA clearly documented case studies in which data interfacing, defined in that report as the coordination, combination or integration of data for the purpose of modeling, correlation, pattern analysis, hypotheses testing, and field investigation at various scales, was necessary to achieve full value of research investment. Data interfacing is founded upon the standards and protocols agreed to by different scientific disciplines to exchange data. Particular emphasis must be put on the role of metadata in this data exchange. About CODATA The Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) is an interdisciplinary committee organized under the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). CODATA is concerned with all types of quantitative data resulting from experimental measurements or observations in the physical, biological, geological, and astronomical sciences. Particular emphasis is given to data management problems common to different scientific disciplines and to data used outside the field in which they were generated. The general objectives are the improvement of the quality and accessibility of data, as well as the methods by which data are acquired, managed, and analyzed; the facilitation of international cooperation among those collecting, organizing, and using data; and the promotion of an increased awareness in the scientific and technical community of the importance of these activities. The U.S. National Committee for CODATA is organized by the National Research Council to administer activities within the United States related to CODATA. The Committee is funded by several federal agencies. Over the past decade, the Committee has completed several studies that have identified and analyzed issues related to maximizing the availability and usability of scientific and technical data. This national conference builds upon those studies and is intended to spur further progress and cooperation in data exchange and integration. Local Information Location The conference will be held at the Natcher Conference Center (Building 45) on the NIH Campus, 45 Center Drive (off of Wisconsin Avenue/Rockville Pike), Bethesda, Maryland. 301-496-9966. There is a cafeteria at the Natcher Center which is open for breakfast and lunch. The Natcher Center is accessible for the physically challenged. Hotel Accommodations A block of rooms has been made available for conference attendees at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1 Bethesda Metro Center, Bethesda, MD, at the rates of $110.71 for single occupancy, $135.71 for double occupancy, plus 12% tax. Attendees are responsible for their own expenses while attending the conference and for making their own hotel and other reservations. If you wish to take advantage of the reduced rate at the Hyatt for conference attendees, call the hotel at 301-657-1234 or 800-233-1234 and tell the clerk you are attending the Scientific and Technical Data Exchange and Integration meeting. Hotel reservations must be made before November 13, 1997 in order to assure the special room rate. The Hyatt Regency is located next to the Bethesda Metro (subway) station, which can be used from National Airport and to the Natcher Center (see Metro directions below). The hotel is at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Old Georgetown Road, 2.5 miles inside the Capital Beltway (I-95/I-495). Check-in time at the Hyatt is 3:00 pm, and luggage storage is available for guests arriving prior to check in. Check-out time is 12:00 noon. Local Transportation and Parking The Natcher Center and NIH have extremely limited parking, and parking spaces are not guaranteed. It is highly recommended for attendees to use the Metro or car pool. Cars parked in 3-hour spaces in front of the Natcher Center will be ticketed after 3 hours. Handicapped-tagged cars can be accommodated with day of event notice by request directly to the conference center business office. Driving Directions Interstate 495 Westbound: Take exit 33B (south, Connecticut Avenue). At 2nd traffic light, turn right onto Jones Bridge Road and proceed 2 more traffic lights to the intersection of Rockville Pike. Travel through the intersection onto Center Drive, make 3rd left and follow signs to parking lot 41B. Interstate 495 Eastbound: Take exit 34B (south, Bethesda/Wisconsin Avenue). Proceed 2 miles south on Rockville Pike. At 5th traffic light, turn right onto Center Drive, make 3rd left and follow signs to parking lot 41B. Wisconsin Avenue, from the District of Columbia: Proceed north from the District to 9000 Rockville Pike (Wisconsin Avenue). Turn left onto Center Drive (1st traffic light after Ramada Inn). Make 3rd left and follow signs to parking lot 41B. Metro >From the Hyatt Regency Hotel or downtown DC, take the Metrorail Red Line (in the direction of Shady Grove) to the Medical Center station, which is located on the NIH campus. The hotel is located only one metro stop from the conference site. Exit the Metro station via the escalator. At the top of the escalator (street level), turn left and follow the path (with signs) to the Natcher Center. You will see the building from the station. The path is ramped to accommodate the physically challenged. Organizing Committee Goetz Oertel (Chair), Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Gerald Barton, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Barbara Bauldock, Department of Energy James Beach, National Science Foundation W. Murray Black, George Mason University Rita Colwell, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute Sara Graves, University of Alabama at Huntsville Stephen Koslow, National Institutes of Health Micah Krichevsky, Bionomics International David Lide, Jr., Consultant Kurt Molholm, Defense Technical Information Center Hedy Rossmeissl, United States Geological Survey John Rumble, National Institute of Standards and Technology James Thieman, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Paul Uhlir, Director, U.S. National Committee for CODATA, National Research Council Program Committee John Rumble (Chair), National Institute of Standards and Technology Martin Hardwick, STEP Tools, Inc. Julian Humphries, University of Kansas Paul Kanciruk, Oak Ridge National Laboratory David Mark, National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis Crystal Newton, Materials Sciences Corporation Robert Robbins, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Gio Wiederhold, Stanford University Conference Registration Space is limited and advance registration is required. To register, please complete the form (below), detach, and mail, enclosing a non-refundable registration fee. Registration fee: Before November 15, 1997 $150.00 After November 15, 1997 $200.00 Students $ 30.00 Please send only one registration per form. For other participants, reproduce the form prior to completing it. Only checks, money orders, or purchase orders can be accepted. We regret that we cannot take reservations by email and that we cannot accept credit cards. If you have special dietary or physical needs, please notify us in writing when registering. Need more information? Call: (202) 334-2421, or Email: CODATACO@NAS.EDU (cut here) Registration for Conference on Scientific and Technical Data Exchange and Integration (One form per registrant only--please print or type) Full Name: Title: Affiliation: Mailing Address Street: City: State: Zip code: Country: Telephone: Electronic mail address: Please indicate below if you have any dietary or physical restrictions, or have other comments: Please make check payable to: U.S. National Committee for CODATA. Mail to: U.S. National Committee for CODATA National Research Council, Room 315 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418 U.S.A. From BIOSCI-REQUEST Fri Sep 26 07:46:24 1997 Return-Path: BIOSCI-REQUEST Received: (from daemon@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id HAA22634; Fri, 26 Sep 1997 07:46:24 -0700 Received: from risvm1.risoe.dk (risvm1.risoe.dk [130.226.48.29]) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) with ESMTP id HAA22612; Fri, 26 Sep 1997 07:46:18 -0700 Received: from risrms1.risoe.dk (risrms1.risoe.dk) by risoe.dk (PMDF V5.0-7 #12571) id <01IO3T10OMVK9YL1LB@risoe.dk> for rust-mil@net.bio.net; Fri, 26 Sep 1997 16:46:16 +0200 Received: from RISRMS1/SpoolDir by risrms1.risoe.dk (Mercury 1.32); Fri, 26 Sep 1997 16:46:17 +0200 Received: from SpoolDir by RISRMS1 (Mercury 1.32); Fri, 26 Sep 1997 16:45:47 +0200 Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 16:45:45 +0200 From: Hanne Oestergaard Subject: Short Term Scientific Missions To: rust-mil@net.bio.net Message-id: <1B651EA3CC2@risrms1.risoe.dk> Organization: Risoe National Laboratory, Denmark. MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.54) Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable Priority: normal To participants in COST 817, Due to only a few applications for Short Term Scientific Missions term August 15th 1997, I open for applications to be sent in before October 20, 1997. The Application Form and Guidelines can be obtained from national delegates of the Management Committee or from myself. Note that the objectives of the mission should be among the following: to learn a new technique (broadly speaking), to make measurements or analyses of data using instruments or methods not available in the applicants laboratory, or to finish manuscripts. The duration of the mission should be between 3 days and 1 month and the maximum amount to be applied for is 1500 ECU per mission. COST will pay travel, accommodation and living expenses, but not research expenses. Expenses has to be at a low budget rate. If this is not possible, the applicants institution must supplement. The application must describe what the visit is intended to achieve, why a visit is necessary and why the visit is to that particular laboratory. Further, it must explain the relevance of the visit for the research of the applicant as well as for the aims of the COST Actions. Only scientists from laboratories actively participating in the COST Action can apply. The applications will be evaluated by a board of scientists from the Management Committee and the related Working Group co-ordinator according to an evaluation scheme. The conclusion will be sent to the applicant medio November. Yours sincerely Hanne =D8sterg=E5rd Chairperson of COST 817 --------------------------- Hanne =D8sterg=E5rd Plant Biology and Biogeochemistry Department PBK-301 Ris=F8 National Laboratory Post Box 49 DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark Direct phone: 45 4677 4111 FAX: 45 4677 4122 Home page: http://www.risoe.dk ---------------------------