User Services Area Director(s): o Joyce Reynolds: jkrey@isi.edu Area Summary reported by Joyce Reyolds/ISI Seven working groups and one BOF (Birds of a Feather) in the User Services Area of the IETF met in Washington, D.C.. Directory Information Services (pilot) Infrastructure Working Group (DISI) The DISI Working Group provides a forum to define user requirements in X.500. It is a combined effort of the User Services Area and the OSI Integration Area. The three papers (Advanced Usages Guide, the Pilot Project Catalog, and the revision of RFC 1292/FYI 11) are all nicely on track. Drafts of the first two of those papers have been submitted, and the template for responses to the RFC 1292 revision has been finalized. DISI was originally chartered as a Working Group for X.500 documentation. However, with the introduction of new directory services protocols in the Internet (whois++), DISI decided that there was a role for it in working on specifications for integrating the directory services, and living up to the Directory Information Services Infrastructure title of the group. Consequently, DISI has decided to revise the Charter to reflect the new goals, and Tim Howes of the University of Michigan has agreed to be co-Chair of the revamped DISI in order to bring a sense of balance between X.500 and whois++. Internet Anonymous FTP Archives Working Group (IAFA). The Internet Anonymous FTP Archives Working Group is chartered to define a set of recommended standard procedures for the access and administration of anonymous FTP archive sites on the Internet. The Internet Anonymous FTP Archives Working Group met for what is expected to be the last time. In a discussion of the current User and System Administration draft documents it was decided that a final editing pass was required and that they could then be submitted for Internet-Draft status. The general consensus was that IAFA had completed its mandate and that additional work in information distribution on the network would be better performed in new and existing working groups specifically tasked for the purpose. Internet School Networking Working Group (ISN) 1 The Internet School Networking Working Group is chartered to facilitate the connection of the United States' K-12 (Kindergarten-12th Grade) schools, public and private, to the Internet, and school networking in general. Three topics were discussed: 1. Development of an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list for K-12 questions. 2. Connectivity models for school-or school-district-size organizations. 3. Domain name conventions for K-12 organizations. Results of the meeting were: a temporary group was developed to work with Jennifer Sellers and April Marine to post a first FAQ list; there was agreement that the initial list of candidate connectivity models would be fleshed out and offered for discussion and amplification; and John Clement agreed to work with Ellen Hoffman to post a preliminary list of current K-12 domain names and to request input of further existing domain names. Network Information Services Infrastructure Working Group (NISI) NISI is exploring the requirements for common, shared Internet-wide network information services. The goal is to develop an understanding for what is required to implement an information services ``infrastructure'' for the Internet. Thirty-three people attended the NISI session. The three main items on the agenda were: 1. Status of nic-profiles 2. Net-help 3. Future of NISI. Nic-profiles. Nic-profiles has been made an action item. The near-term goal is to have as many NICs as possible in our db by the March IETF. Three people have volunteered to work with Pat Smith on pro-active outreach to the obtain the nic information. For the record, a mail server is now in place to add/modify/retrieve information. Send to x500test@merit.edu and put ``help'' in the subject field to receive further information. Net-help. Two short summary papers are going to be written. One will summarize the ``content'' side, what will be on the screen, etc. Much of this was discussed at the Boston meeting. The other short paper will describe the envisioned plan for implementation. We plan on working with representatives from another area (probably Applications) to handle this area. 2 The future of NISI. Again, there was a short period of discussion regarding the future of NISI. The general tone is that NISI is needed and will continue as a viable working group. NOC-Tool Catalogue Revisions Working Group (NOCTOOL2) The ``Son of NOCTools'' Working Group is updating and revising their catalog to assist network managers in the selection and acquisition of diagnostic and analytic tools for TCP/IP Internets. NOCTool2 has submitted an Internet-Draft at this IETF for review and forward to the RFC Editor for publication. This Working Group has now come to closure. User Documents Revisions Working Group (USERDOC2) The USERDOC2 Working Group is preparing a revised bibliography of on-line and hard copy documents, reference materials, and training tools addressing general networking information and how to use the Internet. The target audience includes those individuals who provide services to end users and end users themselves. The Working Group session began with a brief overview of the shorter bibliography and with a few minor revisions. The document is currently available within an internet archive file which is available at four sites across the country. We sought volunteers to make this information available at the international level because we are conscious of the fact that the current information is U.S. centric. We also decided that as a Group we would explore the mechanisms of document delivery with the goal of facilitating the transfer of information to the users home host. It was further ascertained that some of the original material within the RFC 1175 was no longer current and other information such as conference proceedings of an applicable nature would be more appropriate at this point. The Working roup will meet again at the next IETF in Columbus, Ohio and will ascertain our future endeavors at that time. Internet User Glossary Working Group (USERGLOS) The USERGLOS Working Group is chartered to create an Internet specific glossary of networking terms and acronyms for the Internet community. USERGLOS met for the final time. Some final editorial adjustments were made to the Internet-Draft. There were also a couple of entries removed and a couple added. Send the edited I-D to the RFC Editor in December. This Working Group has now come to closure. User Services Working Group (USWG) The USWG provides a regular forum for people interested in all user services to identify and initiate projects designed to improve the quality of information available to end-users of the Internet. 3 At this IETF session announcements included working groups coming to closure (DISI (will be revised with a new charter and co-chair), IAFA, NOCTOOL2, and USERGLOS) and new working groups starting up (WNILS, NIR, URI, IIIR). The four new working groups will be a joint effort of the Applications and User Services areas. Editor's Note (md): Please refer to the Applications Area Report for a brief summary of these four working groups. New FYI RFC publications, current user services related Internet-Drafts postings include: 4 Internet-Drafts: o draft-malkin-newcomers-guide-00.txt o draft-ietf-noctool2-debug-tcpip-00.txt o draft-ietf-userdoc2-fyi-novice-01.txt o draft-ietf-userglos-glossary-00.txt FYI RFCs: o FYI 16 ``Connecting to the Internet: What Connecting Institutions Should Anticipate'', (Also RFC 1359), August 1992. o FYI 15 ``Privacy and Accuracy Issues in Network Information Center Databases'', (Also RFC 1355), August 1992. Jill Foster provided an update on RARE ISUS activities. Joyce Reynolds provided reports on RIPE activities, and on NETF activities. Steve Coya led a discussion on the Internet-Draft, ``draft-malkin-newcomers-guide-00.txt'' and requested comments from the USWG. Peter Deutsch led a discussion on a USWG project in development called, ``Internet Quick and Dirty''. It is intended to be a short document on descriptions of each network service with pointers on where to obtain additional information. Gary Malkin requested new volunteers to help update the FAQ for New Internet Users and the FAQ for Experienced Internet Users. FYI16/RFC1359 was discussed, primarily focusing on expanding and updating the document. Training Materials BOF (TRAINMAT) One BOF was held in the User Services area regarding a working group formation on Training Materials. Ideas and thoughts on forming a working group on training materials were discussed, including having the endeavor be a joint effort between RARE & IETF. The BOF attendees decided that a working group should be formed. Jill Foster and Ellen Hoffman will be the co-Chairs of this new group. 5