Networked Information Retrieval (nir) Charter Chair(s): Jill Foster George Brett User Services Area Director(s) Joyce Reynolds Mailing lists: General Discussion:nir@mailbase.ac.uk To Subscribe: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk In Body: subscribe nir Archive: mailbase.ac.uk:~/pub/nir Description of Working Group: As the network has grown, along with it there has been an increase in the number of software tools and applications to navigate the network and make use of the many, varied resources which are part of the network. Within the past year and a half we have seen a wide spread adoption of tools such as the ARCHIE servers, the Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS), the Internet Gopher, and the WorldWide Web (WWW). In addition to the acceptance of these tools there are also diverse efforts to enhance and customize these tools to meet the needs of particular network communities. There are many organizations and associations that have recently begun to focus on the proliferating resources and tools for networked information retrieval (NIR). The Networked Information Retrieval Group will be a cooperative effort of three major players in the field of NIR: IETF, RARE, and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) specifically tasked to collect and disseminate information about the tools and to discuss and encourage cooperative development of current and future tools. The NIR Working Group intends to increase the useful base of information about networked information retrieval (NIR) tools, their developers, interested organizations, and other activities that relate to the production, dissemination, and support of NIR tools, to produce documentation that will enable user services organizations to provide better support for NIRtools, to develop materials that will assist the support and training of end users and to evolve in the future as necessary to meet and anticipate changes in the field (i.e., NIR tools, protocols, network topology, etc.) Goals and Milestones: Done Review and comment on proposed charter. Discuss Applications Template and Organizational Template. Sep 92 Post an Internet-Draft containing the Applications and Organizational Templates. Oct 92 Post an Internet-Draft of the ``Consumer Report'' with introductory material and completed templates. Dec 92 Submit ``Consumer Report'' to the IESG for publication as an Informational RFC. Internet Drafts: Posted Revised I-D Title ------ ------- ------------------------------------------ Mar 93 New A Status Report on Networked Information Retrieval: Tools and Groups Request For Comments: None to date.