Notes of CPAC Meeting Austin, Texas February 10-12, 1998 Table of Contents Attendees Guests Discussion of Proposed CPAC Goals for 1998 NWIS Update Texas Computing Environment, Web Activities, and Mirror Site System World Wide Web Issues (Water) Telecom and Remote Access Issues Proposed Policy on Publication of Digital Data Sets Issues Raised During Town Meeting Charting and Statistics Business Analysis Re: Data Servers Annual Data Report Publication Issues Junk (outside the organization) Email Peak Flow File and Basin Characteristics Status Software Library Futcom3 CPAC Charter Review CPAC Chair Action Items Attendees--Bales, Hollway, Lumb, Scott, des Fontaine, Schultz, McEwen, Oberg, Fulford, Goodwin, Miller, Carswell, Stiltner, and Schneider Guests -- Kuniansky, Lanfear, Slack ========================================================================= Discussion of Proposed CPAC goals for 1998 The presentation of CPAC accomplishments in 1997 to WRD Senior Staff in January was well received. McHendrie and Bales told the Senior Staff that CPAC should be more proactive and set goals for 1998. A preliminary set of potential goals was presented and supported by Senior Staff. During the Senior Staff discussion some additional goals were added. After discussion of the potential goals and addition of some new ones by CPAC members, a vote was taken on 13 goals potential. Following are the potential goals and results of the prioritization. POTENTIAL GOAL MEAN RANK 1. Develop policy on supported hardware and software 3.86 1 2. policy/plans on Web development issues (data and others) 5.71 4 3. Policy of serving data in emergencies 3.93 2 4. Policy on GIS platform support 6.25 5 5. Phase-out plans for Data General 7.21 6 6. Policy/plans on INGRESS vs Oracle (or other) data bases 7.93 8 7. Resolve statistics/charting issue 5.14 3 8. Recommend "desktop" for notebook computers used for 8.07 9 fieldwork 9. Future directions of HASS 8.07 9 10. AIS as common financial desk top 11.14 13 11. Tracking NWIS 8.07 9 12. Publications 8.21 12 13. Computing strategic view/plan 7.64 7 The decision was made to move forward on the top 5 ranked potential goals and the 7th ranked potential goal. The goals were "wordsmithed" and finalized March 11. A leader was assigned for each of the 1998 goals. The 6th ranked potential goal was not included because it is a subset of the Futcom3 committee work. CPAC Goals for 1998 1. Develop policy on how the Division will select and support our corporate hardware and software. (Gloria Stiltner) 2. Develop policy and plans on serving real-time data in a reliable manner. (Scott McEwen) 3. Select statistics and charting software and recommend support policy. (Tom Wood) 4. Develop policy in support of Web application development. (Kevin Oberg) 5. Develop policy on selection and support of GIS hardware and software. (Mark Negri) 6. Develop a computer-oriented strategic view consistent with WRD's Strategic Plan. (CPAC Chair/Carswell) The following process will be used to address each of selected goals. o Assign a leader for each priority goal. o The leader will have the responsibility of writing a concise charge for their assigned goal. o Once the charge for a priority goal has been finalized with concurrence by CPAC, the leader will submit a suggested list of names to serve on a group to accomplish the charge. Final selection of the group will be made by CPAC. o The group will establish the timelines for completion of their assigned charge. o Each group leader will be expected to report on progress at each CPAC meeting. ACTION--Verne Schneider will provide information to CPAC members on what was developed in our strategic planning effort a few years ago. We should all review the information and be prepared to discuss at the next meeting regarding where we were in the strategic planning process and how we should move forward from there. ========================================================================= NWIS Update--Alan Lumb The Senior Staff principals have been helpful in establishing a development philosophy--incremental (large and small) development from the DG conversion to future states, using a continuous 3-year planning period. Continued success will be assured by active stakeholder involvement, improved project management and appropriate mix of resources. A Configuration Management Group will be formed to set priorities among user groups, make resources recommendations, and shepard NWIS systems. Of note is NWIS staffing adjustments from 53 FTE in 1992 to 26 FTE (Reston 60%, District 40%) in 1997. The 1998 strategy and plans include: o Requirements analysis, prioritize, and schedule --position ourselves for effective use of new or different resources o Release of NWIS_2_1 o Enhancements for NWIS_3_1 o Evaluate a port to the SUN (Coop Program funded) o Web development for NWIS data --"Primary means of access" to serve NWIS data --Short-term plans for QW data on Web o Systems engineering --Reverse engineer what we have as the base --Refine target system based on high-level requirements --Design migration path for hardware and software o New applications development--Water Use --Chose because easiest system --Requirements will be validated by mid-February --Design has already started --Separate the application from data server -Applications client - Windows NT/95 -Data server - INGRES/DGUX -VisualBasic>ODBC>INGRES -Possibly reports COTS What are plans for outside review of NWIS? A full time contractor is working with the project. Next fiscal year we will have an outside review by an independent person/group with annual followup reviews. This is fairly standard in the industry. ACTION--Alan Lumb will report back to CPAC in August regarding the who/what/etc. plans for outside review of the NWIS project. Are we creating false expectations (i.e., NWIS-II all over again) with the user group requirements process? We are constraining the requirements by iterating among full user requirements, priority requirements, and resources available. Who is in charge of overall design of new NWIS system? A contractor will be doing the high level design. We will be migrating toward that architecture. There are no longer plans for a "big bang" to a new system. Why pick VisualBasic for Water Use Application? We are already using VisualBasic in the Division--GENSYN, FEQ. We have a contractor on board to assist. VisualBasic is much easier to use for application development and has more tools. We will be visiting with the contractor in next couple of weeks to standardize. We are also looking at JAVA++. Why not use Web browser/client rather than tying ourselves to NT for Water Use application development? Web tools would be limiting as compared to tools available on the NT. The Web is well suited for retrieval, but for updating and processing we have to deal with security, etc. VisualBasic is not a dead end solution. The field is basically in the dark regarding NWIS enhancements and directions. Can clear, concise information be provided to the field? ACTION--CPAC recommends that the Office of Information-NWIS (Alan Lumb lead) send out more frequent concise summaries of NWIS plans, directions, and progress. Citations can be provided or URL's imbedded in the summary of where to access the more detailed information if wanted. Also need to include District and Regional Discipline Specialists and Data Chiefs on NWIS communications. ACTION--CPAC recommends that the Office of Information (Alan Lumb lead) prepare a memo for Lew Wade or Bob Hirsch to send out with NWIS_2_1 release that states concisely what is in the release and where information can be found on release NWIS_3_1 plans, continuous improvement activities, and new architecture. NWIS REMOTE CLIENT--Applications should be run locally; only data is transmitted. ACTION--Alan Lumb will have the development team estimate the level of effort required to implement a remote NWIS client configuration and submit this issue to the Configuration Management Board. Alan should report back progress at next meeting and get email to the field. CPAC would like to be able to follow this process. NEW PARADIGM--Coordinated communication to the field. When Open Ingres emails are sent to the field, related information for AIS and DIS needs to be included so that each SA does not have to put the various pieces together from separate documents. ========================================================================= Texas Computing Environment, Web Activities, and Mirror Site System Computing Environment The computing environment for Texas District is extremely complex due to the number of offices (6) and the hardware and software required to meet data and interpretive program activities. Hardware includes 10 DG servers, 5 Wincenter servers, 1 NT4.0 server, 40 DG workstations, 4 SGI, 98 XTERMS, and 33 PC's. Supporting the remote offices that have no local computer support is challenging. The computer staff is planning migration to NT4.0 network and integration of SGI Arc/INFO servers into the networks in Austin and San Antonio. Archival of PR1ME files to CD ROM is nearing completion. NOTE--Archival of projects information beyond that on the computer is a major issue especially for those projects where project chief/staff is no longer with the District. A nNebraska District process action team prepared a report on this subject. Web Activities On-line hydrologic data bases have been a boom activity for the District. Examples of on-line information include: --Texas surface water data base --Texas peak discharge data base --South-central Texas water quality data base --List of non-USGS sources of hydrologic data on the Internet --Current hydrologic conditions --Daily streamflow assessment for Texas --Daily streamload data --Ground water level data --Mirror site for current hydrologic conditions --1996 Annual Data Report The District keeps the most recent 2 weeks of unit values on-line. Note--A major issue associated with serving data on the Web is the QA/QC that must be is place for serving the data. Procedures are being worked on in the District for QA/QC of data being served. As part of this preparation, the District is making a big effort to provide analysis tools to assist in the review and QA/QC of real-time hydrologic data being served via the Internet. Mirror Site System A "mirror site" is one that can serve the real-time data during periods when the host District computer is down. The mirror site for Texas was initially established in Reston on the PR1ME, but now resides in Pennsylvania on a DG 530. A Texas District Cooperator attended this session to provide a cooperator's point of view. Following are salient points from the discussion. --The District Home page is very busy --There are 2 classes of users 1) "engineer" type who wants to get to the data and rapidly download it; and 2) the public who want a lot of graphics capability, and ability to do comparisons and contrasts such as wet/dry periods. --There is not an easy way to get spreadsheet information to put into GIS, etc. The question is do we serve the data in this easy to use manner or is it the user's responsibility? --The State has a program to get the DLG and other coverages on-line so others can build their own maps. What is the USGS doing along this line? --It take a long time to get rating curves plotted at the cooperators' offices. This may be merely a line speed problem. --Texas has a statewide water congress for discussing meta data and data exchange for developing products. --The State is now pointing those who request information to the on-line USGS information rather than published printed information. NOTE--Do we need to look at the archiving data issue? NOTE--The Division has not looked at or attempted to quantify the costs of serving data--strong QA/QC processes in place-- as it is being done in the Texas District. NOTE--Need to make sure that the NWIS Users Groups address these issues. Also need to address local and remote redundancy requirements for ensuring service of real-time data. ========================================================================= World Wide Web Issues (Water) Spider Meeting--January 1998 Usage--4 million hits (2/3 of which are at District level) in January and still expanding. Recommendations--1) Retain distributed system, but assist weaker sites; and 2) centralized on-line publication. Distributed Web Sites o Common identity, but can modify to meet local needs o Training needed o At this time, some sites are perceived as weaker in content and management than others. Need to provide help to the weaker sites. ===================================== Centralized on-line publications archive Critical issue is preserving the scientific record. Requirements for Publications Archive include --Standard HTML (subset of SGML) --Preparation instructions must be clear --Must be easy to submit and update. Will be tied to RTS for updates. --Must provide tools for checking HTML web links. Document under 1 directory structure. External references must be fully documentable. Conversion will be at the District and the system is voluntary. Only numbered series reports will be archived. Concern was expressed that we might be locking ourselves into something that we couldn't change. ACTION--Office of Information (Greg Allord lead) will report back on status of electronic publishing policies at the May CPAC meeting. NOTE--Everyone should get their questions on electronic publishing issue to Greg Allord as soon as possible. NOTE--Concern was expressed that the system should not have the same update and data loss problems as experienced with the WATSTORE centralized data base. ==================================== Web Issues Information Session A Web developers and users meeting was held in November 1997. The focus of the meeting was on techniques for software development. Agreement was reached on standards, QA/QC must be stored in the data base, and Web applications should be portable and well documented. Minutes from that meeting have been distributed and can be found at: http://www-il.usgs.gov/proj/nwis_web/ A meeting was held in January 1998 primarily attended by the principal developers. Major decisions from that meeting include: --Will Use PERL5 for development. Can still use Python code in the near term, but will have to change ultimately. --Use common architecture --Directory structure for software and data There was agreement from the two workshops the NWIS Web development effort has three parts--retrieval, storage, and dissemination. Significant progress has been made in bringing development team members together and they are now working within a process that is working well. "Montana" rt_www 2.0 system just released. Goal is to get next product--emphasis on serving water quality data--released by the end of FY 98. NOTE--CPAC supports the use of PERL for Web development and recommends that training for PERL be provided by the Division. ACTION--CPAC needs to inform the ACH/Operations and ACH/Information that we recommend PERL training be supported in the Division. Kevin Oberg and Scott McEwen will prepare a draft memo for the May CPAC meeting. ACTION--Need to get the message out in DIS notes about the use of PERL for Web development. Scott McEwen will also help get the word out to WRD Webmasters and site administrators. ACTION--Kevin Oberg should get information out regarding where to access Web code written in WRD that has been accepted as meeting WRD's Web Application Development standards. ACTION--Need to keep all Division employees informed on the Web development status. Need to add "what next" to the NWIS Web Development memo. Kevin Obert has the lead on this action. ================================ Mirror Site Task Force Background--The Southeastern Region had a work group prepare a report on delivery of real-time data during emergency conditions. The National Flood Plan Committee has prepared a draft memo on the need for real-time data serving software. There is a fundamental need to address the issue of reliably serving real-time data. CPAC 1998 goal of "Developing policy and plans on serving real-time data in a reliable manner" will help address this issue. ACTION--Verne, Bill, and Scott M. will prepare a draft charge for addressing CPAC goal #2 to develop policy and plans on serving real-time data in a reliable manner. ACTION--CPAC needs to go on record to the Senior Staff regarding our position that the Division needs to assess and fundamentally change the way we operate our collection and serving of basic hydrologic data. Ultimately need a statement of how well we will serve our real-time data and the process of how we will meet the goal. This should be an agenda item at the May CPAC meeting. ================================ Proposed OI memo on HTML 4.0 CPAC recommends that the memo be finalized and distributed. ================================== Guidelines for Provisional Data Key issue is what is stored in NWIS and associated screening thresholds. Concern is that by screening "outliers" we are not always archiving original data. Flagging of questionable data is being discusses by the Phoenix (QW) Group. ACTION--Janice Fulford will provide a status update on OSW's progress on the policy issue of archiving of all original data at the May CPAC meeting. May yet need a CPAC recommendation if no progress is made in finalizing a policy by OSW. ========================================================================= Telecom and Remote Access Issues--Wakelee Total WRD network (WRDnet) capacity has nearly doubled in the past 18 months. By June all District Offices should be at 256 Kb. More field offices (FOs) are being upgraded to 128 Kb but most are still 56 Kb. More Districts are requesting FO upgrades up 128 Kb but DIS has concerns about actual needs vs cost. Upgrading all FOs to 128 Kb is under consideration but would increase annual recurring cost by about $110K/year. There are plans for testing (PA District) to determine real FO network line requirements. Progress is being made to improve network reliability, improve site LANs, identify DOInet and Internet problems, installing direct connections to State Intranets, and working with other Divisions and the Bureau to share network lines and reduce costs. One DIS thrust is making overall networks more reliable for emergency data relay and emergency conditions www page access. Current network problems as tracked by help team: approximately 30 percent of the problems are with local sites (most power related), less than 20 percent are within WRDnet (within WRD private network; mostly phone company problems), and over 50 percent of network problems are with the DOInet is addressing with network upgrades. DIS promoting direct network connections to State/cooperator Intranets as one way to improve emergency data and project communications. Bureauwide Remote Access - Bureauwide Remote Access Team (RAT) formed to provide common Bureauwide remote access. Goal is to provide remote access dialup services for all USGS employees from home or on travel, as well as access for contractors and cooperators. Goal is to provide the same network access and functions as though they were in the office. A USGS-supported pilot remote access setup is available now for use by all employees, but not cooperators, and does not have 800 number service. Long-term approach will likely be a contractor service or combination of in-house and contractor. The advantage of a Bureauwide approach rather than each District going alone is the Bureau should be able to provide a better supported 7x24 setup and support for a wider variety of remote user requirements while keeping pace with future technology changes with lower recurring and FTE cost. The Bureau RAT and Division are looking into the advantages/disadvantages and costs of an 800 number for Bureauwide remote access. While Districts can have their own 800 numbers for local dialup, studies at two Districts (OK & TX) have shown that using FTS2000 calling cards is significantly cheaper for low usage setups as in a District. However, for a Bureau setup, an 800 number will likely be cheaper for Bureau-given 800 number volume sensitivity. The main problems with an 800 number are how to handle accounting and user chargeback/cost recovery. ========================================================================= Proposed Policy on Publication of Digital Data Sets--Lanfear This policy is needed to end confusion between what is a data set and what is a report, in selecting series and numbering, and how and where to distribute copies. Also will have means to identify products, cite, and provide credit to compilers. Need to recognize the distinction between data sets and reports. The WRD NSDI Clearinghouse Node operates on water.usgs.gov and can be used to archive all GIS data sets produced by WRD. It meets all FGDC data standards and can serve multiple files associated with GIS data sets. Official archive is WATER node. Policy Guidelines Highlights --Must be released by themselves and do not need to be part of a report --Must be archived as part of the scientific record --May be cited in publications --Meta data must be placed in WRD NSDI --Issues remaining -A precise definition of data requiring release, i.e., critical to scientific record; apparent reuse potential --Remaining actions -Review of draft memo -Development of technical implementation procedures -Integration of new policy and procedures into data base training classes -Develop archiving procedures -Form technical advisory team to handle questions Concern was expressed over the cost of implementing this memo as proposed. It is our understanding that Bob Pierce will be taking the lead on this issue while Ken Lanfear is on assignment to the streamflow network work group. ========================================================================= Issues Raised During Town Meeting Question: Will an NWIS process be available to populate STORET? Answer: Yes. Question: Will EPA/USGS have Parameter Code compatibility in the new versions of STORET X and NWIS? Answer: NWIS is actively meeting with EPA on this issue. New STORET does not use parameter code. NOTE--NWIS needs to keep information flowing to the Field on STORET updating status. Question: When will HYDRA be available? Answer: The plan is to include HYDRA in the NWIS_3_1 release. NWIS staff is also evaluating if we can include ice and missing record estimation in that release. Question: What is the current understanding of ESRI trends? Answer: Memo on latest information was sent out to the Field on February 6. In all likelihood, ESRI products will be frozen on UNIX platofrms at Arc 8.x and ArcView 3.1. ESRI does have a nine-person staff developing Java tools for both UNIX and NT, but ESRI is currently non-committal as to the future of their products on UNIX. With this in mind, DIS recommends that any new hardware purchased for the purpose of running the most up-to-date ESRI products be Windows NT. DIS will keep the field apprised on future ESRI trends as soon as information becomes available. Question: What is the status of computer migration in WRD? Answer: DG platforms for now. Futcom3 and DIS office are developing migration scenarios and associated costs. Question: What is NMD doing on this issue? Answer: The Futcom3 Committee will be looking at this technology. Scott McEwen will get back to Randy regarding where to go for advice on this issue in the interim. The District sees the need approaching for large storage requirements and accessing of multiple CD ROMs. They are now starting to use DOQs for watershed projects. ========================================================================= Charting and Statistics--Gloria Stiltner Two proposed strategies were presented for consideration as to how to proceed with the charting and statistics issue (as per 2/6/98 e-mail from Gloria to CPAC): Option 1 - Assume SAS will be the single recommendation for WRD charting and statistical software until proven otherwise. Option 2 - Evaluate 3 alternative packages on an equal level with SAS; maintain SAS support regardless of the outcome. After CPAC discussion, three options resulted for consideration: Option 1 - Put statistics requirements into charting requirements then evaluate SAS. This could be done but SAS will not satisfy the casual user requirements. Option 2 - Only look at Systat and Statistica because S-Plus is too expensive and Minitab does not include good graphics. Option 3 - Go with SAS and pick a minimum statistics package for the casual statistics user. Sense is that SAS is not very user friendly. However, SAS is a key component to many analysis routines used by WRD projects. In addition to SAS, WRD needs a more user friendly package for the "casual" user that requires a much lower learning curve than SAS. Jim Slack and Scott McEwen have independently polled users and have come to the same conclusion as above. After further discussion, Option 2 was modified and approved. Decision is to evaluate SAS Graph, Systat, Statistica, and Microcalc for graphics requirements. In late April the DIS Office will begin addressing the issues we currently have with charting and statistics needs and some new issues related to potential increase of SAS cost and an issue related to disspla. Our current version of disspla is not Yr2K compliant. We need to look at putting disspla under maintenance if we propose to make NWIS available for the SUN. ========================================================================= Business Analysis Re: Data Servers--Gloria Stiltner Before an analysis can be done we need to describe the pros and cons of the potential future computer environments for WRD. This is now being done and will be part of the Futcom 3 report. The cost analysis can be completed after that. To date, tasks that have been started or completed are: (1) identify the number of SUNs in WRD; (2) ask SUN for a cost estimate if we centralized the maintenance on the SUNs; (3) work with SUN and a District Office that wants to do a trade-in; and (4) get a loaner for testing. ACTION--Gloria Stiltner will present a status report on business analysis issues associated with the potential future computer environments for WRD at the May CPAC meeting. ========================================================================= Annual Data Report Publication Issues The Publications Unit in OI will take on the issue of the various forms-- status quo, electronic release in present form, data available for on demand retrieval, etc., and the associated advantages/disadvantages of each option. ACTION--Greg Allord will report back on progress and plans regarding Annual Data Report publication issues at the May CPAC meeting. ========================================================================= Junk (outside the organization) Email Much of the outside junk email we receive is from "spamming." If you get something you consider illegal, see you supervisor. The FBI may want to see what you received. If over an on-line service, the service will most likely want to talk to you. It is difficult to determine who is spamming because it is easy to fake a sender ID. Options for anti-spamming --Don't post your email address in public news groups --Filter out by domain, but this is risky and not recommended Note--See "Protecting against SPAM" on the Western Region Internal Home Page for information on this issue: http://mprcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/uo/comp ========================================================================= Peak Flow File and Basin Characteristics Status Some sites have their peaks information on the Web and others do not. What happened? Where are those that are missing? The Peak Flow File will be included in NWIS_2_1 release. Basin Characteristics--CDs have been made and will be distributed to the Districts soon. ========================================================================= Software Library A shared software repository (library) is proposed for the WRD. It is believed that a shared library would reduce the costs of developing, maintaining, and porting software. In 1994 the Software Issues Team (SIT) chartered a Process Action Team to make recommendations on sharing software within WRD. They completed their report in December 1994. A copy of their report was provided to CPAC members attending this meeting. A discussion followed and a decision was made to pursue this issue. ACTION--CPAC members should read the 1994 SIT "Sharing software within WRD" report and be prepared to discuss at next meeting. Also come prepared to provide anecdotal problems and duplication of effort examples. We need to make a decision at the May meeting on the form and content of a presentation on this issue to the July WRD Senior Staff meeting. ========================================================================= Futcom3 Goal of Futcom3 is to update the Futcom2 report. Basic plan is to look at the "ideal" WRD District now and project out 3 years considering anticipated major events--new hardware, software, etc. Will be considering four levels of offices--$, $$, $$$, $$$$ ranging from financially struggling to "rich." The Futcom3 Committee has contacted NWIS to get input. For report purposes regarding NWIS, Futcom3 should use Brady's AIS chapter in Futcom2 as a model. The first draft of Futcom3 report should be available to CPAC around the first part of March. ========================================================================= CPAC Charter Review Delay review of the charter until a future meeting. In the interim, send any comments on the charter to the Chair. Membership was discussed and the Office of Information suggested some changes due to the recent reorganization of the Offices of Technical Support and Water Information. The following membership changes were accepted. The Office of Information will have 3 permanent members--NWIS Chief, DIS Chief, and a Senior Leadership member and 3 ex officio members-- HASS, Reports, and Web Chiefs. Ex officio members will attend meeting depending on issues to be discussed and are non-voting members. The Chief Hydrologist has recommended we consider adding an outside member such as someone from the National Mapping Division (NMD). ACTION--Verne Schneider will invite someone from NMD to our next meeting to brief us on the status of computing in NMD. ========================================================================= CPAC Chair Jerad Bales announce he would be leaving the USGS within the next few weeks and thus we would need to select a new chair. After discussion and review of the charter, Jerad designated Carl Goodwin as Acting Chair. A new chair will be elected at the May meeting. ================================================= ACTION ITEMS ACTION--Verne Schneider will provide information to CPAC members on what was developed in our strategic planning effort a few years ago. We should all review the information and be prepared to discuss at the next meeting regarding where we were in the strategic planning process and how we should move forward from there. ACTION--Alan Lumb will report back to CPAC in August regarding the who/what/etc. plans for outside review of the NWIS project. ACTION--CPAC recommends that the Office of Information-NWIS (Alan Lumb lead) send out more frequent concise summaries of NWIS plans, directions, and progress. Citations can be provided or URL's imbedded in the summary of where to access the more detailed information if wanted. Also need to include District and Regional Discipline Specialists and Data Chiefs on NWIS communications. ACTION--CPAC recommends that the Office of Information (Alan Lumb lead) prepare a memo for Lew Wade or Bob Hirsch to send out with NWIS_2_1 release that states concisely what is in the release and where information can be found on release NWIS_3_1 plans, continuous improvement activities, and new architecture. ACTION--Alan Lumb will have the development team estimate the level of effort required to implement a remote NWIS client configuration and submit this issue to the Configuration Management Board. Alan should report back progress at next meeting and get email to the field. CPAC would like to be able to follow this process. ACTION--Office of Information (Greg Allord lead) will report back on status of electronic publishing policies at the May CPAC meeting. ACTION--CPAC needs to inform the ACH/Operations and ACH/Information that we recommend PERL training be supported in the Division. Kevin Oberg and Scott McEwen will prepare a draft memo for the May CPAC meeting. ACTION--Need to get the message out in DIS notes about the use of PERL for Web development. Scott McEwen will also help get the word out to WRD Webmasters and site administrators. ACTION--Kevin Oberg should get information out regarding where to access Web code written in WRD that has been accepted as meeting WRD's Web Application Development standards. ACTION--Need to keep all Division employees informed on the Web development status. Need to add "what next" to the NWIS Web Development memo. Kevin Oberg has the lead on this action. ACTION--Verne, Bill, and Scott M. will prepare a draft charge for addressing CPAC goal #2 to develop policy and plans on serving real-time data in a reliable manner. ACTION--CPAC needs to go on record to the Senior Staff regarding our position that the Division needs to assess and fundamentally change the way we operate our collection and serving of basic hydrologic data. Ultimately need a statement of how well we will serve our real-time data and the process of how we will meet the goal. This should be an agenda item at the May CPAC meeting. ACTION--Janice Fulford will provide a status update on OSW's progress on the policy issue of archiving of all original data at the May CPAC meeting. May yet need a CPAC recommendation if no progress is made in finalizing a policy by the OSW. ACTION--Gloria Stiltner will present a status report on business analysis issues associated with the potential future computer environments for WRD at the May CPAC meeting. ACTION--Greg Allord will report back on progress and plans regarding Annual Data Report publication issues at the May CPAC meeting. ACTION--CPAC members should read the 1994 SIT "Sharing software within WRD" report and be prepared to discuss at next meeting. Also come prepared to provide anecdotal problems and duplication of effort examples. We need to make a decision at the May meeting on the form and content of a presentation on this issue to the July WRD Senior Staff meeting. ACTION--Verne Schneider will invite someone from NMD to our next meeting to brief us on the status of computing in NMD. ------- End of Forwarded Message