Network Information System Advisory Committee NISAC Activities Report Briefing to the LTER IM Committee 26-Jul-2010 Wade Sheldon NISAC Co-Chair

Network Information System Advisory Committee Briefing Outline Current Committee Membership Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 NISAC Activities Current Priorities NISAC Feedback on IMC Activities Discussion IMC Representative Rotation, Terms, Timing Other Issues

Network Information System Advisory Committee Current Committee Membership Current members (IMC reps in bold) Will Pockman (SEV) Co-Chair Wade Sheldon (GCE) Co-Chair Karen Baker (CCE/PAL) Barbara Bond (AND) James Brunt (LNO) Chuck Hopkinson (PIE) John Porter (VCR) Mark Servilla (LNO) Ex-Officio John Vande Castle (LNO) Kristin Vanderbilt (SEV) Bob Waide (LNO) Libe Washburn (SBC) 2010 Rotations John Briggs (KNZ) – withdrew, not replaced Wade Sheldon, Kristin Vanderbilt, John Porter

Network Information System Advisory Committee Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 Activities Nov-Jan 2010: Review of LNO Operational Plan Identified six areas of concern Approach to NIS development unidirectional and insular NIS development isolated from LTER science activities Importance of standardization not emphasized Utility of NIS for LTER site operations not emphasized Minimal level of site support and service Software development approach/timelines too long EB + NISAC + IM-Exec reps met with LNO and external review team in Jan 2010 Changes to OP in response to review Communication plan Earlier releases of NIS software with incremental additions Tiger Teams for community engagement during development

Network Information System Advisory Committee Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 Activities Jan-Feb 2010: Review of LNO NIS progress EB set formal review metrics for LNO in mid-2009 NISAC asked to review progress on seven NIS mile-stones No major issues identified, but somewhat pro- forma because tasks dictated by OP, LNO CA NISAC asked EB for opportunity to review future metrics beforehand (granted)

Network Information System Advisory Committee Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 Activities Mar 2010: NISAC Spring Meeting Reviewed 2010 NIS milestones for Jan 2011 review of LNO progress by EB/NISAC Briefings and discussion of IMC working groups Unit registry, Controlled keyword vocabulary, Web Services Discussion of final OP Communication plans to engage IM and domain scientists in PASTA development Utilization, planning, recruitment strategies for Tiger Teams (incl. feedback on NIS website text) Discussion of CI Implementation Plan Updated plan to reflect recent developments (OP) Discussed final document needs, plans

Network Information System Advisory Committee Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 Activities Mar 2010: NISAC Spring Meeting (cont.) Reviewed committee membership policies Recommend increasing to 6 domain science reps with 3-4 year terms, approval by EB/SC)  Harder to schedule  Represent broader constituency  Need more time to get up to speed on CI concepts Recommend 4 IMC reps with 2 year terms, with automatic extension to 4 years for IMC Co-chair Recommend 3 LNO reps (ED, CIO, NIS) with indefinite terms Reviewed potential COI issues Recommend greater transparency regarding discussions, votes with potential COI Deal with COI by abstaining from votes or not participating in discussions (ala NSF panels, as did during NISAC OP review)

Network Information System Advisory Committee Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 Activities Apr-May 2010: Science Council Discussed need to return to domain science reps to represent NISAC at SC Recognize Mark Harmon had more impact when promoting tiered trajectory and EML than IMs Barbara Bond selected to co-present NIS report (with James Brunt, Mark Servilla) Put out call to get involved, join Tiger Teams NISAC working with LNO to “wordsmith” CI announcements, briefings for domain scientists (e.g. recent Tiger Team recruitment )

Network Information System Advisory Committee Current Priorities Wrapping up CI Implementation Plan Wrinkles: Most ideas now incorporated into ongoing concerns (OP, IMC planning, legacy data/data synthesis prospectus) ISSE on uncertain ground at NSF (i.e. latest panels???) Will focus on short document to continue to serve as road-map (Wade Sheldon) Continuing to help craft OP communication plan, identify/recruit Tiger Teams Major role for NISAC in evaluation OP progress

Network Information System Advisory Committee NISAC Feedback on IMC Activities Unit registry (Karen Baker et al.) Support continued development, integration into PASTA to support conversions Controlled keyword vocabulary (John Porter) Recommend moving forward with candidate list of 640 words (endorse IM-Exec’s recommendation as product to EB) Recommend periodic (but not too frequent) review by working group incl. domain scientists, and auditing of search metrics Recommend shifting attention to controlled attribute vocab. Web services working group (Wade Sheldon et al.) Recommend immediate support from LNO as part of database/web redesigns currently planned View as critical for network CI implementation Recommend IMC request resources as product-oriented working group ChemDB (Don Henshaw) Effort currently funded independently Long-term strategy to generate metadata, integrate with PASTA, ongoing support should be considered Good case-study for NIS products resulting from efforts outside LNO NIS

Network Information System Advisory Committee Discussion IMC Representation on NISAC How should IMC co-chair be selected? Most committees select on chairs from elected members NISAC tentatively proposing to have IMC select co-chair NISAC IMC Rep Terms 2 year terms proposed to allow more rotation (vs 3-4 for domain scientists) But many projects longer-term, argues for 3-4 year terms Need to balance Timing of IMC meeting vs NISAC meeting NISAC meets in March prior to SC, but IMC meets in Fall – only newest IMC rep sure to be on committee long enough to be co- chair, but least experienced Should IMC elect NISAC reps in Feb/Mar, or elect in fall but start terms in Feb/Mar, or ? Other Issues (feedback to NISAC)