Eighth National Computer Technology Meeting, 1996

In Reply Refer To:                              May 12, 1995
Mail Stop 445

WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 95.34

Subject:  Eighth National Computer Technology Meeting, 1996

This memorandum is a call for papers and training session outlines 
for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Eighth National Computer 
Technology Meeting (NCTM), sponsored by the Water Resources 
Division (WRD) to be held May 19-24, 1996, at the Marriott Rancho 
Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage, California. USGS personnel will 
present technical papers, training for software and hardware 
currently in use in USGS, and electronic demonstrations on their 
activities in support of the mission and objectives of their 
respective divisions and their various units.  In addition, other 
Department of the Interior (DOI) bureau personnel are invited to 
present topics related to their computer activities.  The 
application of computer technology by our scientists and the 
interaction of our scientists with our computer specialists in 
performing complex scientific studies will be a major focus of NCTM 
'96.  New and innovative presentations of our findings to the 
general public also will be a major focus of the meeting.  
Additionally, the 15th Annual Environmental Systems Research 
Institute Conference (ESRI) will be held the same week at the Palm 
Springs Convention Center.  Arrangements have been made with ESRI 
for NCTM attendees to participate in ESRI Conference activities 
during the week.

Additional information on agenda, meeting registration, hotel 
accommodations, and travel arrangements will be sent at a later 
date.

                         CALL FOR PAPERS

USGS personnel involved with or using computer technology are 
encouraged to submit papers for presentation at the NCTM '96.  
Topics for papers can range from recounting experiences in problem 
solving to working on projects of national scale with a focus on 
innovative ways of presenting data and information to the public.  
Any USGS or other DOI bureau personnel can be a speaker and/or 
author of a presentation; multiple authorship is encouraged.  
Director-approved abstracts will be published in a USGS Open-File 
Report.  All NCTM '96 documents also will be available via the 
World Wide Web at the time of the meeting.  All oral presentations 
based on abstracts will be limited to 15 minutes. Suggested general 
topics are listed below.

Suggested General Topics

1.  Presentation of Data Using Computer Resources
    Use of Web/Internet/Mosaic
    Multimedia
    Computer-Based Training or Outreach
    Reporting of Significant Earth Science Events

2.  Computer Systems Applications
    Programming Supercomputers
    Systems Analysis
    Telecommunications
    UNIX Operating System

3.  Configuration Management
    System Security
    Interoperability

4.  Computer Operations and Management
    System-Tuning Techniques

5.  Data-Base Applications Development and Use

6.  Software Applications
    Electronic Publications
    Processing Geographic Information Systems
    Graphics and Visualization
    Hypertext
    Object-Oriented Applications

Submittal Deadlines for Abstracts

If you would like to submit an abstract for a technical paper or 
demonstration at NCTM '96, please submit a Director-approved 
abstract to the Program Coordinator NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER 20, 
1995.  WRD authors are responsible for obtaining Director's 
approval of their abstracts prior to submittal in November.  
Authors from other USGS divisions should obtain Director's approval 
for their abstracts through their division's appropriate 
procedures; the approval process for these abstracts should be 
coordinated through their respective NCTM '96 Division Coordinator.
Authors of abstracts that are accepted for presentation will be notified
by December 18, 1995.  Authors should note the general topic session for
which their abstract should be considered.  A final review of all abstracts
will be completed by WRD prior to submittal of final camera-ready copy due
February 20, 1996.

Abstract Format

All abstracts must be submitted either in FrameMaker or ASCII 
format.  A FrameMaker template is available via anonymous ftp from 
srvrdpahrb.er.usgs.gov (130.11.81.8).  The file is called 
abstract.tmpl.tar.gz, and it is in the directory /var/ftp/pub/
nctm96.  The template can be used in both FrameMaker version 3.1 
and 4.0.  The file stats are:

-rw-r--r--   1 klshank ftp  11264 May 4 16:19 abstract.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 klshank ftp   3435 May 4 16:19 abstract.tmpl.tar.gz/

sum abstract.tmpl.tar.gz/
1739 7 abstract.tmpl.tar.gz/

Abstract Submittal

Authors should submit their approved abstracts to the Program 
Coordinator via electronic mail (cbabcock@maildaztcn.wr.usgs.gov).  
This mail should include either the ASCII or MIF file or an ftp 
location where the abstract can be picked up.

TRAINING SESSIONS AND SUBMITTAL

Training continues to be a major part of the NCTM meetings.  Many 
of the suggested general topics may or could be offered as training 
sessions also.  Plans are underway to offer a National Water 
Information System-II Ingres Administration Course as well as 
courses in existing or new software packages.  Other divisions are 
encouraged to submit proposals for training sessions.

If you are interested in conducting a training class at NCTM '96, 
please submit the following information:  title, brief description, 
length of time, and an outline to the Training Coordinator via 
email (rah@maildorprn.wr.usgs.gov) by November 20, 1995.

SCHEDULE SUMMARY

Submittal of Abstracts              November 20, 1995
Submittal of Training Outlines      November 20, 1995
Notification of Selected Abstracts  December 18, 1995
Submittal of Camera-Ready Copy      February 20, 1996
NCTM '96                            May 19-24, 1996

NCTM '96 PLANNING COMMITTEE

Meeting Coordinator: Patricia McAlwee,
Distributed Information System (DIS) Program Office,
Reston, Virginia   (703) 648-5609, pmcalwee@wrdmail.er.usgs.gov

Program Coordinator: Colleen Babcock, Arizona District,
Tucson, Arizona   (520) 670-6628,cbabcock@maildaztcn.wr.usgs.gov

Training Coordinator: Richard Hollway, Oregon District,
Portland, Oregon   (503) 251-3238, rah@maildorprn.wr.usgs.gov

Operations Coordinator:  Daphne Chinn, DIS Program Office,
Reston, Virginia   (703) 648-5612, dcchinn@wrdmail.er.usgs.gov

Registration Coordinator:Joyce Solomon, DIS Program Office,
Reston, Virginia   (703) 648-5606, jsolomon@wrdmail.er.usgs.gov

USGS Division Coordinators: Geologic Division:  Carolyn Lumb, 
Reston, Virginia   (703) 648-6643, clumb@usgs.gov

National Mapping Division:  Linda Peng, Reston, Virginia
(703) 648-7025, lpeng@resdgw15.er.usgs.gov

Information Systems Division: Terry Sutton, Reston, Virginia
(703) 648-7067, tsutton@usgs.gov

Administrative Division:  Doris Schmidt, Reston, Virginia
(703) 648-7252, dschmidt@usgs.gov

Please contact any member of the planning committee or your 
Division Coordinator if you have any questions, agenda suggestions, 
or comments.

                                  Verne R. Schneider
                                  Assistant Chief Hydrologist
                                  for Technical Support

Distribution:  A, B, DC, S, FO, PO, DA

Copy to:  Division Chiefs
          NCTM '96 Planning Committee
          Director, Office of Information Resources
            Management, Department of the Interior
          Computer Policy Advisory Committee