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-
- CURRENT_MEETING_REPORT_
-
- Reported by Ellen Hoffman/Merit
-
- Minutes of the User Documents Revisions Working Group (USERDOC2)
-
-
- Current Working Group Activities
-
- The USERDOC2 Working Group has completed two FYI RFC efforts since the
- last IETF. The new FYIs are:
-
-
- o FYI 19: ``Introducing the Internet--A Short Bibliography of
- Introductory Internetworking Readings for the Network Novice'' by
- Ellen Hoffman and Lenore Jackson.
-
- o FYI 20: ``What is the Internet?'' by Ed Krol and Ellen Hoffman.
-
-
- The on-line files associated with FYI 19 are archived in ``Introducing
- the Internet,'' along with newer materials that are of interest to
- beginning users. These archives can be accessed by e-mail, FTP, Gopher,
- and WAIS, as well as dial-up for those lacking Internet connectivity.
- Four sites currently maintain copies of the archive, and volunteers were
- requested for other sites willing to duplicate the files. For
- additional information on the archive, send an e-mail message to
- nis-info@merit.edu with the text, ``send access.guide'' in the body of
- the message.
-
-
- Open Forum on Documentation Activities
-
- The discussion began with a presentation by Bert Stals. He described
- the work of the User Documentation Task Force, a sub-group of the RARE
- Information Services and User Support Working Group (ISUS). Their goal
- is to produce documentation for end users on an introductory and
- intermediate level, without duplicating other efforts such as User-Doc.
- Their first project is a set of one-pagers, each on a separate
- applications topic (gopher, e-mail, WAIS, WWW, archie, file transfer,
- Mailbase). Bert noted user support staff could use the text in their
- own documentation series (using their own house-style). Alternatively,
- simple formatted versions of the pamphlet will be available for those
- who wish to use them directly in several formats, including ASCII text
- and WordPerfect files. The working group maintains a mailing list for
- those interested.
-
-
-
- To join, send to: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
- with the text: subscribe rare-userdoc your_firsname your_lastname
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- Bert also described a cooperative project with EARN to update the first
- edition of EARN's ``Guide to Network Resource Tools.''
-
- Ellen Hoffman asked for comments regarding whether the IETF should get
- documentation translated into other languages. The discussion raised
- several points, including concerns that introductory rather than
- technical information was the area most in need of translation as most
- technical people understand English. David Sitman (EARNInfo Officer)
- said that in his experience people were unwilling to translate documents
- but were more comfortable creating their own. He also suggested that
- documentation written in the US tended to be chatty which made it more
- difficult for non-native English speakers. Issues were also raised
- about when documentation is effective and the amount of effort required
- to produce it. Jill Foster noted that there are various levels of
- documentation, and that each has its own requirements.
-
-
- On-Going Projects
-
- The next project is a revision of RFC 1175, the long bibliography. The
- goal is to have a fairly complete draft by the next IETF. A revised
- charter will be posted (currently the file where the charter should be
- is empty---a situation the chairs will work on correcting after the
- meeting). Ellen noted that she would like to include non-English
- introductory texts in the bibliography. Suggestions for materials to
- include should be sent to her.
-
-
- Attendees
-
- Jodi-Ann Chu jodi@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu
- Henry Clark henryc@oar.net
- Klaus Fueller klausf@osgo.ks.he.schule.de
- Ben Geerlings ben.geerlings@surfnet.nl
- Ellen Hoffman ellen@merit.edu
- Nandor Horvath horvath@sztaki.hu
- Per Jacobsen p.h.jacobsen@usit.uio.no
- Dennis Jennings jennings@irlearn.ucd.ie
- Ola Johansson ojn@tip.net
- April Marine april@atlas.arc.nasa.gov
- Chuck McManis chuck.mcmanis@eng.sun.com
- Pushpendra Mohta pushp@cerf.net
- Lisa Nielsen lisa@hawaii.edu
- Joyce K. Reynolds jkrey@isi.edu
- Ulla Sandberg ulla@kiera.ericsson.se
- Jennifer Sellers sellers@nsipo.nasa.gov
- David Sitman a79vm.tau.ac.il
- Patricia Smith psmith@merit.edu
- Milan Sova sova@feld.cvut.cz
- Bert Stals bert.stals@surfnet.nl
- Marc van der Noordaa noordaa@rare.nl
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