To remain viable in the global marketplace, it is essential that government organizations and the organizations through which the government maintains contractual relationships adhere to the best possible business practices. While these practices may be implemented in as many ways as there are organizations, the basic principles can be determined and shared within the Scientific and Technical Information (STI) community. This module is a collaborative effort (truly a best-business practice) with contributing members representing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), the DOE operational field offices, and the DOE contractors and subcontractors. INTRODUCTION Best-business practices embody a philosophy based on a desire to determine ideal ways to perform a standard business practice. Because of the unique missions of the DOE elements and contractors and where they are on the technology curve, there is not just one best way to do business. Therefore, the Scientific and Technical Information Program (STIP) collaborators, comprising many unique DOE elements and contractors, evaluated the practicality of the various STI-related business practices around the DOE Complex before determining which one(s) best fit the majority. The resulting best-business practices spring from many diverse capabilities, insights, and missions; they are not intended to be "one size fits all" practices. If the STIP community can determine some basic measures of success, then DOE and the contractors can determine the implementation strategies that will help them achieve that success. Acknowledging that there is more than one best way to do business actually paves the way for the Department to achieve success and meet the goal to effectively manage the Department's STI. USING THE ORDER AND GUIDE TO DEFINE BEST-BUSINESS PRACTICES The DOE G 241.1-1, Guide to the Management of Scientific and Technical Information, provides nonmandatory guidelines for implementing the objective, requirements, and responsibilities of DOE O 241.1, Managing Scientific and Technical Information. The Guide is based on best-business practices as defined by DOE and contractor STIP participants from across the DOE Complex. Further, the Guide is one of the primary STIP mechanisms for sharing "best-in-class" practices; it will be modified and updated as changes are identified by the STI community. Within these documents are not only requirements, but also the values that constitute the foundation on which best-business practice discussions can be conducted and decisions can be made. Best-business practices promote Departmental missions and goals by using performance-based measures, and they treat information resources and information technology as corporate assets. Collectively, best-business practices form a framework for managing information, information resources, and information technologies. The following sections outline how the Order and Guide can assist in managing three aspects of STI: life-cycle management, electronic file formats, and sensitivity reviews. MANAGING THE LIFE CYCLE OF SCIENTIFIC AND INFORMATION PRODUCTS The basic phases of the information life cycle include planning, creation, publication, dissemination, and preservation of technical information. Included in this definition is the inherent responsibility for, and control or influence over, the process of making information available, beginning with the planning stage and continuing through the preparation, review, dissemination, and final disposition stages. The stages at which most STIP personnel have control and/or influence are the preparation, review, and dissemination activities, with slightly less effect on the final disposition. It is beneficial to all parties when STIP personnel have some role in the planning stages as well. Continual sharing of information among the STIP community concerning business practices relative to the various stages of life-cycle information management is essential to the effectiveness of this effort. Stages of the Life Cycle While life-cycle information management may look different in each organization, some similarities are important to mention. First, there is a beginning, where the initial stage is deciding to do work or deciding to direct others to do work. Usually this involves contract agreements between the Department and the organizations that carry out the plan to complete the work. Interim stages are usually defined by the organization creating the information. These stages might include the following: planning the work; performing the work; capturing the work in information products at various interim stages and after the work is completed; obtaining review and approval of the information product; issuing/publishing/distributing the information product as appropriate; and safely storing/retaining the record copy. The end of the life of STI products is permanent archiving. OSTI serves as the ultimate repository for DOE's STI and manages the collection for long-term retrieval. Whether submitted directly to OSTI or obtained by OSTI after local site public availability has expired, DOE STI R&D reports in the OSTI holdings are scheduled and provided to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Where In the Guide Information Can Be Found Several places in the Guide have information relevant to life-cycle management. General information is provided on the agreed-upon STIP practices and procedures, but the Guide does not attempt to provide all the details necessary for the complete life-cycle management of STI. The following list contains a cross section of the information found in the Guide. - Part II, Section 1.0 reveals that the public can locate information through the DOE Information Bridge. This section also illustrates how OSTI fulfills Departmental mandates for broad public dissemination by administering various agreements with intermediaries for public access to include the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S. Government Printing Office, and international exchange. - Part II, Section 2.0 provides information on the Non-M&O/M&I direct procurement process and requirements. It also mentions the Technical Information Monitoring System (TIMS) tracking tool provided by DOE to aid the DOE Procurement Offices in tracking the receipt of the specified deliverables at OSTI. MANAGING ELECTRONIC FILE FORMATS Many best-business practices are elaborated on in the DOE G 241.1-1. For instance, the recommended attributes of an STI product are provided in Part II, Section 5, as well as more detailed information on how some of this information is derived and where additional information regarding the attribute can be found. Also found in Part II, Section 5, is miscellaneous information to be considered when producing scientific and technical information (STI), such as how to handle company names and logos, copyrighted information, and more. When making the Department's STI available, the producers are required by DOE O 241.1 to generate a metadata-based announcement record, which remains as a link to full-text documents and other electronic information products. Electronic submission of both the announcement record and the full-text document is preferred. The announcement record (metadata) is available as web-based form DOE F 241.1, and a Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) document-type definition (DTD) is provided that can be used to export data directly from an existing bibliographic database. Additional information regarding the announcement record and its submission, as well as the list of DOE STI metadata elements, is located in Part II, Section 6, of the DOE G 241.1-1. As the Department transitions to a decentralized electronic STI management environment, progressive steps are being taken to complete the transition by 2004. The STIP community adopted acceptable electronic formats for documents and other information products. The current acceptable electronic formats are Corel WordPerfect (Versions 5.0 or greater), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), MicroSoft Word (Versions 5.0 or greater), Portable Document Format (PDF) (image), Portable Document Format (PDF) (normal), Postscript, SGML, and TIFF Group 4. More information about the transition can be found in Part II, Section 6, of DOE G 241.1. MANAGING SENSITIVITY REVIEWS Federal laws and directives ensure that the public has access to work performed and information produced by the U.S. Government and its contractors and/or funded by public monies. They also require the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to make its information available, but place limits on the dissemination of scientific and technical information for which the unauthorized release would be detrimental to national interests. For example, DOE O 471.2A, Information Security Program, requires owners of data to determine the sensitivity of information before it is used, processed, or stored on information systems, while the Order and Guide discussed in this module provide information on information life cycle, which includes dissemination. Compliance with these requirements serves the public's right to know and provides public visibility for the work being produced by DOE-Complex sites, contractors, and authors. Both DOE programs and DOE contractors are mandated to ensure that STI, including scientific and technical computer software, is reviewed for sensitivity (including nonproliferation, national security, and export control) and that appropriate announcement and availability restrictions are applied consistent with statutory and/or other Departmental requirements. The appropriate review process to release STI products for announcement varies from site to site, but has basic common features. Each site that originates STI determines which reviews are appropriate for that site in accordance with funding agency policies; DOE guidelines; and other applicable statutes, laws, and regulations. STI products should be reviewed for restrictions on both the announcement and availability of full-text information and information products. Reviews to be performed by the site to determine announcement and availability of STI products may include, but are not limited to, the following categories: 1. Unclassified Unlimited Information (publicly releasable) The Guide reiterates that "unclassified STI products that contain sensitive/limited information require special, unique controls in conformance with applicable statutes, laws, regulations, Executive Orders, international agreements, directives, and Departmental policy. Such markings are to be consistent with the access limitations indicated." STI products intended for external release must be reviewed before release beyond the site, regardless of the method of dissemination (e.g., printed document, Internet, disk copy). This applies equally to mass communications products, scientific and technical computer software, and information products generated under work-for-others agreements, unless specifically excluded in the agreement. The routine exchange of draft or preliminary versions of STI with customers or colleagues working in the particular subject area is not considered external release, provided that the recipient is informed that the information has not been approved for unlimited release and that it is not to be further disseminated until such approval has been obtained. CONCLUSION The information provided in this module is not intended to address all STIP best-business practices, but rather to highlight several common practices. As referred to throughout this module, more detailed information pertaining to STIP best-business practices is available in the DOE O 241.1 and DOE G 241.1-1.
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