Networked Information Retrieval (nir)
-------------------------------------

 Charter
 Last Modified: 04/07/1998

 Current Status: Concluded Working Group

 Chair(s):
     Jill Foster  <Jill.Foster@newcastle.ac.uk>
     Kevin Gamiel  <kevin.gamiel@cnidr.org>

 User Services Area Director(s):
     April Marine  <april.marine@nominum.com>

 User Services Area Advisor:
     April Marine  <april.marine@nominum.com>

 Mailing Lists: 
     General Discussion:nir@mailbase.ac.uk
     To Subscribe:      mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
         In Body:       subscribe nir <first name> <last name>
     Archive:           mailbase.ac.uk:~/pub/nir

Description of Working Group:

As the network has grown, along with it there has been an increase in
the number of software tools and applications to navigate the network
and make use of the many, varied resources which are part of the
network.  Within the past year and a half we have seen a wide spread
adoption of tools such as the Archie servers, the Wide Area Information
Servers (WAIS), the Internet Gopher, and the World Wide Web (WWW).  In
addition to the acceptance of these tools, there are also diverse
efforts to enhance and customize these tools to meet the needs of
particular network communities.

There are many organizations and associations that have recently begun
to focus on the proliferating resources and tools for networked
information retrieval (NIR).  The Networked Information Retrieval 
Working
Group
will be a cooperative effort of three major players in the field of
NIR: IETF, RARE, and the Coalition for Networked Information 
specifically tasked to collect and disseminate information about the
tools and to discuss and encourage cooperative development of current
and future tools.

The NIR Working Group intends to increase the useful base of
information about NIR tools, their developers, interested organizations, 
and other activities that relate to the production, dissemination, and 
support of NIR tools, to produce documentation that will enable user 
services organizations to provide better support for NIR tools, to 
develop materials that will assist the support and training of end users 
and to 
evolve in the future as necessary to meet and anticipate changes in the 
field (i.e., NIR tools, protocols, network topology, etc.).

 Goals and Milestones:

   Done         Review and comment on proposed charter. Discuss 
                applications template and organizational template. 

   SEP 92       Post an Internet-Draft containing the Applications and 
                Organizational Templates. 

   OCT 92       Post an Internet-Draft of the ``Consumer Report'' with 
                introductory material and completed templates. 

   DEC 92       Submit ``Consumer Report'' to the IESG for publication as 
                an Informational RFC. 


 Internet-Drafts:

  No Current Internet-Drafts.

 Request For Comments:

  RFC   Stat Published     Title
------- -- ----------- ------------------------------------
RFC1689 I    AUG 94    A Status Report on Networked Information Retrieval: 
                       Tools and Groups