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Re: Towards a new version of the World Database of Crystallographers

  • To: Multiple recipients of list <epc-l@iucr.org>
  • Subject: Re: Towards a new version of the World Database of Crystallographers
  • From: Howard Flack <Howard.Flack@cryst.unige.ch>
  • Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 13:55:16 GMT
Suggested Policy items for WDC
------------------------------

Policy on Addresses:
  - Affiliation addresses are an invariant part of a document and have
no place in WDC.
  - The postal/e-mail/fax address in WDC is the one that the IUCr will
officially use in all correspondence, be it from the journals' editors,
exec sec, commission chairmen, etc. A user has the responsibility to
inform the IUCr when the information changes. 

Policy on "IUCr responsibilites" information:
  - The exec sec is responsible for keeping this information current.
Only the exec sec or a person designated by him may change the "IUCr
responsibilities" information.

Policy on Security:
  - The IUCr 'production' data base is only available for consultation
and modification from within the Chester site. No interaction with the
'production' data base is available from outside the Chester site.
  - The WDC online databases are available for consultation only.

Policy on WDC archive and distribution:
  - WDC is archived and updated within the IUCr 'production' data base
localised in Chester.
  - WDC information is extracted from the IUCr 'production' data base in
a various forms suitable for on-line consultation and printing. The
on-line data bases are made available for consultation from Chester and
some of its mirror sites. The choice of on-line database technologies is
the responsibility of the IUCr Committee on Electronic Publication,
Dissemination and Storage of Information. 
  - The on-line databases are updated at regular intervals decided by
the IUCr Committee on Electronic Publishing, Dissemination and Storage
of Information. The current interval is 7 (14? 21??) days.

Policy on individual rights:
  - A person may request a printed copy of his personal information as
contained in the IUCr 'production' data base. The IUCr will verify the
identity of the requesting person and furnish a copy of the said
information. The IUCr exec sec or a person designated by him is
responsible for the implementation of this procedure.
  - For a person's information to be made publicly available in the
online or printed form of WDC, approval must be received by the IUCr. A
person has the right to refuse permission for the dissemination of his
personal details in WDC.
  - Any person may request to have an entry in WDC. The responsibility
for deciding whether an entry may be included falls to the General,
Regional and National Editors. To be included a person must have some
part of his interest or activity connected with crystallography. The
Editors have the right to request a letter of recommendation from an
established crystallographer who knows the applicant.

Policy on WDC updating:
  - The IUCr recognizes that the prime source of information on an
individual comes from the person concerned. The IUCr will make available
a system which readily and securely allows a person to indicate changes
to the personal record.
  - A person's data as disseminated by WDC must have been approved by
the person concerned.
  - A team of National and Regional Editors has the responsibility of
locating new entries and for a periodic and systematic control of
existing entries.
  - Certains items of an individual's entry may not be changed without
approval of the General, Regional or National Editor. These items are:
surname, first names, date of birth, country of residence, WHAT ELSE?


All policy issues are subject to the approval of the IUCr executive
committee.



 Technical issues:

  For the updating procedure, I see an individual using a web interface
to indicate changes which are transmitted in CIF format. The validity of
the data is assured by one of several procedures (see below). These CIF
validated update files are sent to Chester (the R&D group) where a
procedure allows them to be entered into the 'production' data base as a
batch job run once a week prior to the regeneration of WDC. 
  What does the technical editor's office require? Direct entry of
address and personal information into the production data base or
submission of CIF WDC update files like the others? What about the exec
sec?

  The validation procedure:
  (1) By password to those who request one and already have an entry in
WDC. Passwords are issued by National/Regional Editors through a web
interface with the password generation service running only at Chester.
Very strong syntactical control on the generated CIF so the batch
updating procedure does not crash. The CIF is automatically sent to
Chester and a copy of the update is sent to the National/Regional Editor
and to the person concerned. An emergency procedure allows the latter
two to cancel an update.
  (2) By National/Regional Editors for those without a password or for
new entries. Once satisfied, the CIF is sent to Chester. The
National/Regional editors also deal with those people unable to use the
web interface.

----

 Apart from where you detect disagreement in this document with previous
postings of Yves, Brian and myself, you should assume that I agree with
your expressed opinion.
 
 At the end of this process of e-discussion, I suggest we produce two
(2) documents, one with policy matters and one with technical matters.

-- 
Howard Flack        http://www.unige.ch/crystal/ahdf/Howard.Flack.html
Laboratoire de Cristallographie               Phone:(+41 22) 702 62 49
24 quai Ernest-Ansermet             mailto:Howard.Flack@cryst.unige.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland                   Fax:(+41 22) 781 21 92

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