User Services Area
Director:
Eight active working groups were held in
the User Services Area (USV) of the IETF in Los Angeles, California.
Humanities and Arts WG (HARTS) session
chaired by Scott Stoner and Janet Max
The HARTS Working Group opened their session
with introductions of attendees. Janet Max is the new working
group co-chair along with Scott Stoner. Susan Siegfried resigned
due to a job change.
This entire session specifically focused
on developing the outline/draft document, "Humanities and
Arts: Sharing Center Stage on the Internet". This group will
continue to work the document via the HARTS email list and have
a completed draft in place by the Montreal IETF in June.
Internet School Networking (ISN) session
chaired by Jennifer Sellers and Jodi Ito
The ISN Working Group convened at 3:30pm
by Jodi Ito, co-chair. There was one addition to the agenda as
listed at the beginning of the meeting - discussion of Net Day
'96. First order of business was to announce the change in co-chairs.
Jennifer Sellers has resigned and Sepi Boroumand will be replacing
her. Next, attendees introduced themselves to the group and briefly
explained their interest in ISN. The update to FYI 22-FAQ for
Schools has been completed. It was submitted as an Internet-Draft
and approved by the IESG to be published as an Informational RFC.
Pat Smith from Merit will lead the relocation of the ISN document
repository once it has been reviewed by ISN members. Several members
volunteered to review the site and the site will be mirrored at
ISI once it is moved. An FYI describing the repository will be
written before the Montreal IETF. A brief discussion suggested
having an educational organization assume on-going maintenance
in the future.
The directory of educational projects was
killed due to a lack of progress and the increase in web search
tools which facilitate searching for school projects on the Web.
The ISN goals and milestones will be updated to reflect these
changes. The effort to publicize the FYI series to the educational
community was discussed. Suggestions included approaching international
organizations involving youths like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts,
National Educators Assn. (www.nea.org), Computer-Using Educators
and distribution of informational sheets at education conferences.
The group expressed concerns regarding Net
Day 96. Though Net Day 96 raises community awareness of the lack
of technology infrastructure in schools, if schools are wired
with regard to key elements, the effort will be wasted. A suggestion
was made to include sample school technology plans and wiring
guidelines in the ISN document repository. Last item to be discussed
was the ISN support for INET 96 educational activities including
organization and support of an education booth at INET 96 in Montreal.
A question was raised regarding waiver of INET fees for those
assisting which will be brought to the attention of the ISOC Education
committee and workshop planning group. The meeting concluded at
approximately 4:35pm.
Network Training Materials (TRAINMAT),
chaired by Jill Foster, Margaret Issacs, and Mark Prior
The TRAINMAT Working Group has almost completed
the work on the Network Training Materials Catalogue. A small
amount of verification work is still to be done, which should
be completed within the next month. The final draft will then
be submitted. Before closing down the group, there was some discussion
of current network training activities including the use of the
network to deliver training. As this involves both the use of
web-based tutorials and video-conferencing, there may well be
requirements, such as the registration of Powerpoint as a MIME
type (already in progress), that will need to be fed via USWG
to other working groups.
Site Security Handbook WG (SSH), chaired
by Barbara Fraser
The Site Security Handbook Working Group
met twice during this IETF meeting. The first meeting was focused
on addressing any outstanding issues concerning the Site Security
Handbook draft. We expect to submit a final draft by June 1. The
group discussed the idea of submitting it for a final call and
decided it would be a good thing to do.
The second meeting was spent working on
the next document to be produced by this working group, a site
security guide for end users. We developed an outline for this
document and made writing assignments. We expect a draft before
the Montreal IETF meeting.
User Glossary (USERGLOS) chaired by Gary
Malkin
Another small but dedicated group reviewed
the glossary Internet-Draft. Once the comments from this meeting
and those previously sent to the mailing list are incorporated,
a new Internet-Draft will be published. This should be done in
early April. In early May, the document will be submitted as a
replacement for FYI 18.
User Services Working Group (USWG) chaired
by Joyce K. Reynolds
A report on IETF User Services Area activities
was presented by Joyce Reynolds, which included USV Area Working
Group Status and related USV Area Internet-Drafts. A pointer was provided
on a Spanish translation of the "Internet Users' Glossary".
Tom Newell (InterNIC Liaison) presented
an update on the USV-Web page, and an update on new InterNIC projects.
Jill Foster (University of Newcastle) presented a report on related
global liaison group activities of TERENA's Information Services
and User Support (ISUS) group.
Discussion/Participation of USWG projects
were next on the agenda. A brief discussion was held in regards
to the future vision of the USV Area in the IETF for the next
two years, and potential candidates for the USV Area Director
position in 1998. USWG project focus was placed on updates to
FYI 7 "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly
Asked "Experienced Internet User" Questions", (Also
RFC 1207), February 1991, and FYI 4 "FYI on Questions and
Answers: Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User"
Questions", (Also RFC 1594), March 1994.
Guide for Internet Standards Writer WG
(STDGuide)
This working group is a combined endeavor
of the USV and OPS Areas of the IETF. Their summary report has
been filed with the OPS Area Report.
Integrated Directory Services WG (IDS)
This working group is a combined endeavor of the USV and APPS Areas of the IETF. Their summary report has been filed with the APPS Area Report.