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About CENDI — Highlights from FY 2003

During FY 2003, CENDI provided coordination and leadership for information exchange on important scientific and technical information (STI) policy issues; promoted the development of improved STI systems through the productive interrelationship of content and technology; and promoted an understanding of STI and STI management and the value of both to the R&D enterprise. The Government Printing Office and the National Archives and Records Administration became new CENDI members. The major areas of work during 2003 were:

• Public Domain Directory (Science.gov)
• Digital Archiving, Preservation, and Permanent Access
• Federal Policy & Legislation
• Business Continuation and Disaster Recovery Planning
• Technologies of Interest to CENDI Members

Public Domain Directory of Government STI Resources (Science.gov)

Science.gov, the Firstgov portal to government science information, was publicly launched on December 5, 2002. A formal technical introduction to the scientific community was held at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in February 2003.

The press campaign announcing Science.gov's launch was very effective, resulting in over 45 reviews and announcements about the portal. Presentations were made at a number of conferences, including meetings of the Special Libraries Association and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Webmasters.

The Science.gov alliance grew by four members during this period. Both the U.S. Forest Service and the National Institute for Standards and Technology joined the Alliance directly, while the Government Printing Office and the National Archives and Records Administration became members via their CENDI membership.

The amount of authoritative information accessible from Science.gov increased. The National Technical Information Service database of government scientific and technical reports was added to the deep web search capability, and more than 90 web sites were added to the Science.gov catalog.

Six months after launch, the Alliance reviewed Science.gov for product enhancements. At the close of FY 2003, work was under way on Science.gov 2.0.

Digital Archiving, Preservation and Permanent Access

In conjunction with the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI), CENDI sponsored a report on operational digital archiving and preservation systems in science. The report is due to be released in early 2004.

Involvement in Federal STI Policy

The following key policy issues were monitored and discussed within the STI context:

• Public domain in science and technology data and information
• World Summit on the Information Society
• Data quality guidelines
• Copyright and database protection
• Homeland Security policies and activities, in particular discussions with the Office of Management and Budget about the management of “Sensitive Homeland Security Information”
• Distribution markings
• E-government legislation and initiatives, including nominating members to the E-government Interagency Committee
• Monitoring Title 44 and GPO’s development of the Federal Depository Library Program in an electronic environment
• Review of the National Science Foundation’s report on the future of science cyber infrastructure and the implications for STI management

Business Continuation and Disaster Recovery Planning

CENDI co-sponsored a symposium on Business Continuation and Disaster Recovery with the Federal Library and Information Center Committee. Speakers included representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the librarian from the U.S. Customs’ Service Office at the World Trade Center.

Technologies of Interest to CENDI Members

A workshop for CENDI staff members focused on XML's use as an end-to-end technology for the acquisition, management, and dissemination of STI. Standards and e-government initiatives in XML were reviewed.

CENDI's workshop on persistent identifiers focused on the use of these schemes for managing federal government information. As a result of that meeting, the Persistent Identifiers Task Group was formed. Members are currently writing a white paper on the importance of persistent identification as a key component in a federal information infrastructure.

CENDI held a special extended technical session with representatives from Google. At that meeting, attendees discussed the impact of Google-like technologies on CENDI agency products and services.

CENDI members also shared information about the following technologies:

• Collaboration tools
• Authentication and PKI technologies
• Standards for interoperability in GIS (geographic information systems)
• Metadata registries