The User Services Area of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Joyce K. Reynolds, October 1993 When the IETF was first established, it did not immediately create a distinct User Services Area. As of 1991, this area has grown to take its place with other Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) areas as the importance of a user services forum has increased globally. This area provides an international forum for people interested in all levels of user services, to identify and initiate projects designed to improve the quality of the information available to users of the Internet. One continuing goal of the User Services Area is to coordinate the development of user information services by clearly and concisely providing documentation information and distribution for the Internet community. FYI (For Your Information) RFCs (Request for Comments) are introductory and overview documents for network users. Their purpose is to make available general information, rather than the protocol specifications or standards that is typical of other RFCs. FYIs are allied to the RFC series of notes, but provides information about who does what on the Internet. The FYI RFC series has proved a success since its initiation, and its goal is to continue to do so. A current list of FYI RFCs are listed at the end of this document. The actual projects of the User Services Area are handled by the creation of Working Groups. There are currently ten working groups in this area. Four new FYI RFCs have been published (FYIs 21, 20, 19, and FYI 2). See the "Internet Documentation for USERS (not Wizards!)" section, page 6 of this report. Since the Amsterdam IETF, we have the following draft documents in process the User Services Area: Internet-Drafts: draft-ietf-isn-faq-01.txt draft-ietf-ids-pilots-00.txt draft-ietf-iafa-howftp-00.txt draft-ietf-ids-x500-survey-02.txt draft-ietf-iiir-html-01.txt, ps draft-ietf-nisi-nics-00.txt Reynolds [Page 1] IETF User Services Area October 1993 Other draft postings: FYI 4, RFC 1325, "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions", has been updated and is now under review. You may anonymous FTP it from: naic.nasa.gov as files/fyi4-june93.txt. The following working groups in the User Services Area have had the following adjustments since the last IETF in Amsterdam: Trainmat (Training Materials WG) Ellen Hoffman (Merit) has stepped aside from co-chair of this group due to time constraints. Jill Foster will continue to chair this group. ISN (Internet School Networking WG) John Clement and Connie Stout have stepped aside as co-chairs. Jennifer Sellers (NASA) who led the ISN session in Amsterdam, has come on board as new co-chair to work with Art St. George, who will continue as co-chair. IIIR (Integration of Internet Information Resources WG) Kevin Gamiel (CNIDR) has come on board as new co-chair with current chair, Chris Weider. IETF User Services Area Working Groups Internet Anonymous FTP Archives (IAFA). IAFA is chartered to define a set of recommended standard procedures for the access and administration of anonymous ftp archive sites on the Internet. Integration of Internet Information Resources (IIIR). IIIR is chartered to facilitate interoperability between Internet Information Services, and to develop, specify, and align protocols designed to integrate the plethora of Internet information services (WAIS, archie, Prospero, etc.) into a single "virtually unified information service". Reynolds [Page 2] IETF User Services Area October 1993 Integrated Directory Services (IDS). The IDS Working Group is chartered to facilitate the integration and interoperability of current and future directory services into a unified directory service. This work will unite directory services based on a heterogeneous set of directory services protocols (X.500, WHOIS++, etc.). In addition to specifying technical requirements for the integration, the IDS Group will also contribute to the administrative and maintenance issues of directory service offerings by publishing guidelines on directory data integrity, maintenance, security, and privacy and legal issues for users and administrators of directories. Internet School Networking (ISN). ISN is chartered to facilitate the connection of the United States' K-12 (Kindergarten-12th Grade) schools, public and private, to promote school networking in general. Networked Information Retrieval (NIR). NIR is chartered to increase the useful base of information about networked information retrieval tools, their developers, interested organizations, and other activities that relate to the production, dissemination, and support of NIR tools. NIR is a cooperative effort of the IETF, RARE, and CNI. Network Information Services Infrastructure (NISI). NISI is exploring the requirements for common, shared Internet-wide network information services. The goal is to develop an understanding for what is required to implement an information services "infrastructure" for the Internet. Network Training Materials (TRAINMAT). The Network Training Materials Working Group is chartered to enable the research community to make better use of the networked services. Towards this end, the Working Group will work to provide a comprehensive package of "mix and match" training materials for the broad academic community which will: 1) enable user support staff to train users to use the networked services and 2) provide users with self-paced learning material. In the first instance, it will not deal with operational training. This Working Group is the IETF component of a joint RARE/IETF group working on Network Training Materials. User Documentation (USERDOC2). UserDoc2 is preparing a revised bibliography of on-line and hard copy documents/reference materials/ training tools addressing general networking information and how to use the Internet. (Target audience: those individuals who provide services to end users and end users themselves.) Reynolds [Page 3] IETF User Services Area October 1993 Universal Resource Identifiers (URI). URI is chartered to define a set of standards for the encoding of system independent Resource Location and Identification information for the use of Internet information services. User Services (USWG). The User Services Working Group provides a regular forum for people interested in all user services to identify and initiate projects designed to improve the quality of information available to end-users of the Internet. Whois and Network Information Lookup Service (WNILS). The purpose of WNILS is to expand and define the standard for WHOIS services, to resolve issues associated with the variations in access, and to promote a consistent and predictable service across the network. Reynolds [Page 4] IETF User Services Area October 1993 +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | WG Chair(s) Mailing List | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | IAFA Peter Deutsch iafa@bunyip.com | | Alan Emtage | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | IDS Tim Howes ids@merit.edu | | Chris Weider | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | IIIR Kevin Gamiel iiir@merit.edu | | Chris Weider | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | ISN Art St. George isn-wg@unmvma.unm.edu | | Jennifer Sellers | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | NIR George Brett nir@mailbase.ac.uk | | Jill Foster | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | NISI April Marine nisi@merit.edu | | Pat Smith | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | TRAINMAT Jill Foster us-wg@nic.near.net | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | URI Alan Emtage uri@bunyip.com | | Jim Fullton | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | USERDOC2 Ellen Hoffman userdoc@merit.edu | | Lenore Jackson | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | USWG Joyce K. Reynolds us-wg@nic.near.net | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | WNILS Joan C. Gargano ietf-wnils@ucdavis.edu | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ Reynolds [Page 5] IETF User Services Area October 1993 Internet Documentation for USERS (not Wizards!) The FYI RFC Series FYI 21 "A Survey of Advanced Usages of X.500", (Also RFC 1491), July 1993. FYI 20 "FYI on "What is the Internet?", (Also RFC 1462), May 1993. FYI 19 "FYI on Introducing the Internet-- A Short Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking Readings", (Also RFC 1463), May 1993. FYI 18 "Internet Users' Glossary", (Also RFC 1392), January 1993. FYI 17 "The Tao of IETF - A Guide for New Attendees of the Internet Engineering Task Force, (Also RFC 1539), October 1993. FYI 16 "Connecting to the Internet: What Connecting Institutions Should Anticipate", (Also RFC 1359), August 1992. FYI 15 "Privacy and Accuracy Issues in Network Information Center Databases", (Also RFC 1355), August 1992. FYI 14 "Technical Overview of Directory Services Using the X.500 Protocol", (Also RFC 1309), March 1992. FYI 13 "Executive Introduction to Directory Services Using the X.500 Protocol", (Also RFC 1308), March 1992. FYI 12 "Building a Network Information Services Infrastructure", (Also RFC 1302), February 1992. FYI 11 "A Catalog of Available X.500 Implementations", (Also RFC 1292), January 1992. FYI 10 "There's Gold in them thar Networks! or Searching for Treasure in all the Wrong Places", (Also RFC 1402), January 1993. FYI 9 "Who's Who in the Internet: Biographies of IAB, IESG and IRSG Members", (Also RFC 1336), May 1992. Reynolds [Page 6] IETF User Services Area October 1993 FYI 8 "Site Security Handbook", (Also RFC 1244), July 1991. FYI 7 "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly Asked "Experienced Internet User" Questions", (Also RFC 1207), February 1991. FYI 6 "FYI on the X Window System", (Also RFC 1198), January 1991. FYI 5 "Choosing a Name for Your Computer", (Also RFC 1178), August 1990. FYI 4 "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions", (Also RFC 1325), May 1992. FYI 3 "FYI on Where to Start: A Bibliography of Internetworking Information", (Also RFC 1175), August 1990. FYI 2 "FYI on a Network Management Tool Catalog: Tools for Monitoring and Debugging TCP/IP Internets and Interconnected Devices", (Also RFC 1470), June 1993. FYI 1 "F.Y.I. on F.Y.I.: Introduction to the F.Y.I. Notes", (Also RFC 1150), March 1990. Details on obtaining FYI RFCs via FTP or EMAIL may be obtained by sending an EMAIL message to "rfc-info@ISI.EDU" with the message body "help: ways_to_get_rfcs". For example: To: rfc-info@ISI.EDU Subject: getting rfcs help: ways_to_get_rfcs Reynolds [Page 7]