Editor's Note: Minutes received 7/27 CURRENT_MEETING_REPORT_ Reported by Ellen Hoffman/Merit and Lenore Jackson/NASA Minutes of the User Documents Revisions Working Group (USERDOC2) Review of Previous Session The Group reviewed the discussion of the San Diego IETF meeting held during the USWG meeting to issue two documents. This includes producing a new, short, 2-pager aimed specifically at novice users, and a revision of the longer bibliography to update RFC 1175. Status of Documents Two documents were distributed. The first, a draft of the proposed short bibliography was distributed as well as a list of proposed additions to the long bibliography. Review of New Short Bibliography A number of changes were suggested for the draft novice user bibliography. There was some discussion that there is no single, brief (2-3 page) description of the Internet, and it was agreed that this should be further discussed at the USWG. One book was added to the list, some reorganization was proposed, and it was agreed there should be a line to encourage users who needed more information to contact their local network provider. It was also agreed not to add how-tos about applications like mail or FTP. A focus of the discussion is how new users, who may not have a connection or may not know how to get materials on the net, could find on-line documents and whether there should be more instructions about FTP, WAIS, Gopher, etc. The Group accepted a proposal to have a single directory with all the on-line materials which several NICs would agree to mirror, and when possible, have these accessible through other tools such as WAIS, Gopher, and Archie. This directory could also be updated as new resources are added. While this was agreed to as a short-term solution that could be implemented immediately, it was also recognized that this was not an ideal longer term solution. The Group agreed to go ahead so the material would at least be available soon using existing mechanisms. Merit volunteered to create a ``master'' directory on nis.nsf.net and seven other NICs volunteered to create ``mirror'' directories. These include ftp.nis.sri.com, nnsc.nsf.net, ftp.concert.net, paccom?, nic.ddn.mil, nic.mr.net, and ftp.jvnc.net. Merit will also set up its mail server to send out a generalized ``help'' file for those who want more information on getting the on-line documents and using retrieval tools to help keep the bibliography short. 1 Review of Proposed Additions to Longer Bibliography The list of proposed additions was briefly discussed. It was agreed that the bibliography needed to reflect the world-wide Internet and should not focus on NREN and other U.S. policy papers or controversies. Volunteers were recruited to help write abstracts for the new entries. Review of Action Items All attendees will be automatically added to the mailing list. A revised short bibliography will be sent out within two weeks, and if there are no major objections, it will be sent to the RFC editor. The long list additions will be sent out and the Group will recommend additions. The goal is a draft with all additions for review at the next IETF. Merit will put up a directory and work with the volunteer mirror sites to implement the on-line sources. Attendees Vikas Aggarwal aggarwal@nisc.jvnc.net George Brett ghb@jazz.concert.net Jodi-Ann Chu jodi@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu Alan Clegg abc@concert.net Daniel Dern ddern@world.std.com Peter Deutsch peterd@cc.mcgill.ca Alan Emtage bajan@cc.mcgill.ca Jill Foster jill.foster@newcastle.ac.uk Maria Gallagher maria@nsipo.nasa.gov Alisa Hata hata@cac.washington.edu Ellen Hoffman ellen_hoffman@um.cc.umich.edu Lenore Jackson jackson@nsinic.gsfc.nasa.gov Edward Krol e-krol@uiuc.edu Hock-Koon Lim lim@po.cwru.edu Andrew Maffei arm@aqua.whoi.edu April Marine april@nisc.sri.com Charlotte Mooers mooers@nnsc.nsf.net Marsha Perrott mlp+@andrew.cmu.edu Joyce K. Reynolds jkrey@isi.edu Bradley Rhoades Karen Roubicek roubicek@faxon.com Richard Schmalgemeier rgs@merit.edu Jennifer Sellers sellers@nsinic.gsfc.nasa.gov Jane Smith jds@jazz.concert.net Patricia Smith psmith@merit.edu Chris Weider clw@merit.edu Moira West mjw@cert.org Scott Williamson scottw@nic.ddn.mil 2