Project Spotlight...

CENDI, the Federal STI Manager's Group

Homeland security, Science.gov, intrusion detection, digital preservation, searching the deep Web, XML, and the E-Government Act - these are among the topics that CENDI members have been dealing with in 2002. CENDI is the Federal STI Manager's Group (www.dtic.mil/cendi/) and IIa is the Secretariat for the organization.

CENDI is composed of the scientific and technical information managers from the departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, and Interior; the National Libraries of Agriculture, Education, and Medicine; the Environmental Protection Agency; and NASA. IIa President Bonnie Carroll serves as CENDI's Executive Director. Gail Hodge, senior information scientist, is the Secretariat's Technical Operations Manager, Kathryn Johnson serves as CENDI's Administrative Coordinator, and Susanne Dupes is Research Analyst.

At the October 2002 CENDI meeting, Steven Cooper, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Information Integration, White House Office of Homeland Security, advised the group about challenges in disseminating homeland security information. Joining him on the program were Dan Chenok, Chief of the Information Policy and Technology Branch, and Brooke Dickson, Policy Analyst for the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. They discussed sensitive homeland security information in the new environment.

Over the past 12 months, through CENDI, IIa staff have been deeply involved in the development of Science.gov (www.science.gov/), Firstgov's (www.firstgov.com/) science portal. Science.gov is a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results.

Over the years, CENDI working groups have created a number of publications. Two of the most recent are Frequently Asked Questions About Copyright (CENDI/00-3) and License Agreements for Electronic Products and Services: Frequently Asked Questions (CENDI/01-3). Both are available online from the CENDI Web site. Because copyright issues are evolving, the copyright publication is a dynamic document and is frequently updated.

CENDI conducts its projects through Task and Working Groups. Currently projects are under way on the following topics:

Workshops are another tool CENDI uses to explore information management issues. In June, there was a workshop on Intrusion Detection for CENDI Agencies. In December, CENDI is joining with the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) to present a workshop on Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Two workshops are already planned for 2003 dealing with XML and with Handles®.

The STI Manager is a reference collection designed to provide access to high-quality, web-based materials related to managing scientific and technical information, particularly within the U.S. government. The collection of some 380 resources is divided into primary subject areas: U.S. policy, non-U.S. policy, projects and initiatives, STI management economics, standards guidelines, and technologies. It is intended for use by researchers, students, information scientists, policy makers, educators, and members of the public interested in the creation, dissemination, use, and preservation of scientific and technical information world-wide.

Bonnie Carroll, Gail Hodge, Kathryn Johnson, Susanne Dupes, and Joe Henderson are the key staff on this project, with occasional help from June Crowe and others.