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Report of the IUCr SAS Commission for the Triennium 1996-1999
- Subject: Report of the IUCr SAS Commission for the Triennium 1996-1999
- From: "John D. Barnes" <john.barnes@nist.gov>
- Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 05:28:13 -0400
Report of the IUCr SAS Commission for the Triennium 1996-1999 The SAS Commission was chartered at the XVII World Congress of the IUCr. During the three years since its inception this Commission has focused on three things: (1) community building, (2) education, and (3) standardization. A web site (www.nist.gov/sas) has been built to serve as a sort of "community center". The associated listserver (sa_scat@nist.gov) has attracted a fairly steady subscribership of 300+ individuals. The message traffic has been sparse, but many readers have found it to be a valuable resource for getting questions answered and activities publicized. The series of triennial world congresses established in 1965 has long been a core component of the SAS community. 1999 is the occasion for edition XI of these congresses (see http://sas99.bnl.gov/sas99). This will serve as a formal occasion for getting feedback and enhanced participation from the members of the community. On the education front there has been a more or less steady series of workshops and organized sessions at national meetings. The Commission has worked with the American Crystallographic Assn, the Society of Plastics Engineers, and the American Chemical Society in these efforts. These activities are aimed at increasing awareness of SAS methodologies in the broader world of materials science. Dates and titles are available in the Commission's Annual Reports for the relevant years. Getting standardized SAS methodologies accepted into the community will be an uphill struggle for the Commission. The tradition of quantitative characterization of the performance of test methods is weak. Indeed, many users do not understand the concept of a "SAS test method." There is no widespread set of software tools for reducing and visualizing SAS data. There has been very little work devoted to putting data derived from different realizations of SAS experiments onto a common basis. An interlaboratory test program for SAXS measurements in the moderate q range (.1 nm**-1 < q < 3 nm**-1) is in the design stages. We are soliciting suggestions for suitable samples for use in a comparable effort for SANS. We hope that the results from such objective assessments of test method performance will stimulate a desire for more rigorous approaches to these matters. The Commission has taken some tentative steps in the direction of improved standardization by issuing a draft CIF for one-dimensional SAS data. We have been supporting other efforts to develop suitable standards for 2 and 3-dimensional SAS data. The hosts of software tool collections are being encouraged to expand their activities. By increasing the awareness of SAS users, by promulgating appropriate standards, and by facilitating the development of appropriate analytical methods, the IUCr SAS Commission hopes to help our little corner of crystallographic science realize its full potential. The Commission would like to thank Michael Hart and Helmut Fuess for their efforts on our behalf in their roles as liaison to the IUCr Executive Committee. The support of people like Phil Coppens and Bill Duax as we worked to establish the Commission and develop its agenda are also appreciated. Respectfully submitted Dr. John D. Barnes email: john.barnes@nist.gov Natl Inst of Stds and Tech Voice: 301-975-6786 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8544 FAX: 301-975-4977 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 URL: http://www.nist.gov/sas or http://polymers.msel.nist.gov/staff/detail.cfm?SID=110
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