Minutes DOE STI Points

Minutes
DOE STI Points-of-Contact Meeting
November 2, 1999

Welcome - Kathy Carlson, Manager, Nevada Operations Office, opened the meeting and welcomed attendees (see attendee list), who included representatives from Headquarters Programs and Operations Offices.

Meeting Overview - Karen Spence, OSTI's Assistant Manager for Program Integration, provided an overview of the meeting and what the group hoped to accomplish in transitioning to an electronic environment. The goal was to conclude the meeting by noon with the option of participation in a breakout group in the afternoon to discuss details regarding the new direct procurement announcement form as well as future options for the redesign/sponsorship of the Technical Information Monitoring System (TIMS).

Procurement Special Interest Group - Susan Tackett, OSTI, noted the history associated with the formation of the Procurement SIG as a result of interest and issues raised at the Department's Financial Assistance Advisory Council Meeting in April 1999 related to scientific and technical reporting. The Group is being facilitated by OSTI which includes crosscutting Departmental participation. SIG members include program office representatives, contracting and legal staff from the operations offices and Technical Information Officers. The Group will be depending upon the established relationships with the Technical Information Officers as points of contact across the Operations Offices to help facilitate implementation of the SIG's efforts.

Focus areas of the Group include support of the Departmental goal to transition from paper to electronic STI reporting and improving accountability/visibility of STI grant and contract deliverables in accordance with related IG audits.

An overview of the ORO direct procurement process followed highlighting the roles of program managers, contracting officers, and releasing officials as well as the importance of assuring complete sensitivity reviews. When deliverables are submitted to OSTI, they are made widely available via multiple databases.

The digital national library model was discussed as representing OSTI's electronic vision. The transition to an electronic environment requires that each report or deliverable must have a completed announcement form (241.1) with the required data fields completed in order to be a candidate for processing. We need to resolve some ongoing data issues. All required fields on the announcement form must be completed. System dependencies will not allow processing without required information. Delays will result. We frequently get conflicting information. Attachments not intended for public release should be omitted, as attachments will be made available via InfoBridge. Availability of inappropriate information via InfoBridge could reflect negatively on the Operations Offices. Completeness, accuracy, and quality of products are to be ensured by the originator prior to announcement to OSTI.

Action needed by Contracting Officers/Contract Specialists include coordination with procurement request originators to identify contracts and financial assistance instruments which require the delivery of STI products. Also, assure that request grantees and contractors deliver STI in a preferred electronic format as specified in the Guide, Section 6.3 and that all required data is accurate/complete and provided via 241.X form.

OSTI obtains information regarding expected STI deliverables from awarding office's PADS entry and monitors the receipt of specified STI deliverables. Only anticipated deliverables should be indicated. The code input into PADS regarding expected deliverables is important and will result in inability to close out a financial action if not received. OSTI plans to recommend a revision to ITEM 51 - OSTI Deliverable of the IPAR Manual to delete deliverables we do not want to receive (monthlies & quarterlies) and add a couple of additional deliverables we want to receive (conference papers & journals).

Team activities/interests were summarized including status regarding the revision of the DOE F 241.X form; perceived usefulness of and uncertain future of the Technical Information Monitoring System (TIMS); interest in procurement specific STI training, and interest regarding what others are doing related to sensitivity review/release procedures. Especially in this changing environment, with decreased resources and the opportunity for less manual intervention, emphasis was placed on accurate and complete STI submissions the first time so information can flow through automatically.

FE Electronic Transition/Applications - Chuck Roy, FE, Office of Resource Management, shared FE's experience in transitioning to an electronic environment as well as information regarding some of their applications. FE continues to be at the forefront in the Department in the electronic arena, being the only DOE office submitting STI electronically. For further information contact Chuck Roy at (202) 586-8977 or email at charles.roy@hq.doe.gov.

Sensitivity Review/Release Procedures - Based on interest expressed from the Group and realizing that procedures vary from office to office, Janine Ford, Technical Information Officer, NVO, and Carl Robertson, Technical Information Officer, ID, shared the sensitivity/review procedures they have successfully implemented. For further information contact Janine Ford at
(702) 295-1239 or email at ford@nv.doe.gov and Carl Robertson at (208) 526-0271 or email at robertcr@inel.gov.

Evaluating R&D Performance - Kathy Waldrop, OSTI noted that the Operations Offices need to take a stronger leadership role in the Scientific and Technical Information Program (STIP). Since the Technical Information Officer (TIO) is responsible for bringing the Operations Office's position to the STIP table, several different ways for the TIOs to improve their organization's STI Program were presented. The TIOs were challenged to take a more pro-active role in STIP activities by participating in National Library discussions, Strategic and Institutional Planning, Business Reviews and Lab Appraisals, and transitioning the Direct Procurement process to an electronic one. They were also challenged to create a team of STI POCs within their particular Operations Office to address various STIP activities.

S&T Lab Appraisals - Larry Adcock, ALO, discussed specifics regarding the S&T lab appraisal process implemented by Albuquerque Operations Office. For further information contact Larry Adcock at (505) 845-5456 or email at ladcock@doeal.gov.

Department of Energy Distributed Information Resource (DOEDIR) - Karen Spence reviewed the purpose and past efforts of the R&D Visibility Working Group to define a Distributed Information Resource. The history involved EnergyFiles and the distributed search capability that served as a foundation for a virtual library with one-stop shopping, prompting OSTI's vision of a National Library of Energy Science and Technology. After sharing the idea at the May 1998 InForum meeting, many questions remain about resource requirements, working relationships, users, and content. The DOE R&D Visibility Working Group was formed to address these issues. At the November 1998 STIP Meeting, a subgroup (members: Dennis Hall, LBNL; Kathy Macal, ANL; Lois Holmes, PNNL; Beth Perry, Amarillo; Barbara Ashdown, ORNL) was tasked to investigate further. This group prepared the Analysis of Users, Benefits, Content, and other information reported at the May 1999 STIP meeting. In the last few weeks, two things have occurred: (1) the subgroup compiled the May information into the draft concept paper provided here, and (2) at the PubSCIENCE Ribbon cutting, Dr. Martha Krebs endorsed the concept, stating that "with this exceptional suite of electronic products to guide us into the new millennium, the concept of a national library of energy science and technology could become a key initiative in the realization of the Secretary's vision of a Department of Energy working for the American people." The concept paper will be discussed in detail at the subsequent (11/3-4/99) Scientific and Technical Information Program (STIP) Meeting. This group was invited to participate in that forum as well.

Meeting Wrap-up and Summary - Karen Spence took the lead in summarizing highlights of the meeting and received consensus from the group regarding value in having meetings of this type in the future to discuss common interests. She invited participants to participate in the optional beak-out group in the afternoon to discuss the proposed new direct procurement announcement form and future of the Technical Information Monitoring System (TIMS).

Break-Out Group - The afternoon break-out session included an overview of the proposed new direct procurement announcement form 241.3. Issues need to be resolved and procedures developed regarding access to the future web application of the form as well as transmittal of classified/sensitive STI information from the Operations Offices. The Procurement SIG will take the lead to follow-up on identified issues.

Additionally, the future of the Technical Information Monitoring System (TIMS) was discussed. The future is uncertain regarding OSTI's ability to continue to maintain and operate the application which is used to monitor the technical information contract deliverables required for R&D contracts and grants awarded by DOE. The operations offices represented at the meeting confirmed the need for continuation of the system which they access to gain information needed for managing the contract deliverable process to obtain clearance for contract closeout. However, they did not think it was feasible to obtain monetary support from their respective operations offices to fund continuation of the system. OSTI committed to follow up regarding options including other possible corporate sponsors/funding sources.