Coming in October:  The Staff Notes

Every institution must keep up with the times or risk becoming 
irrelevant.  At Staff Notes, weÕve focused much of our energy over the past 
year or so in keeping up with the electronic revolution in communication.  
For instance, we

--  began placing each weekÕs text on the UCAR/NCAR Gopher server
--  began sending each weekÕs text in an e-mail format that now goes to 
more than 500 internal and external subscribers
--  dropped the print run by several hundred, thanks to less demand 
for paper copies both internally and externally
--  issued our first edition on the World Wide Web (WWW), accessible 
by Mosaic, on 17 March.

Most of you have given us a clear thumbs-up on these developments.  
You especially enjoyed the special Mosaic issue, and a number of you have 
asked when weÕll use the Web on a regular basis.  NSF also is encouraging 
UCAR to use electronic communication as much as possible.  We want to 
continue moving toward electronic modes; at the same time, we are 
sensitive to the fact that not everyone has electronic access, and readers 
who do may prefer not to read long sections of text on a computer screen.

We have taken all the above into consideration and--in the interest of 
using print and electronics to their respective advantages--put together the 
biggest change in Staff Notes since it began weekly publication in 1966.  
Beginning on 13 October, Staff Notes will split into two publications:

This Week at UCAR, an electronic update that will include brief 
announcements, visitors, calendar, and job openings, to be published each 
Thursday in e-mail, Gopher, and WWW/Mosaic formats.

Staff Notes Monthly, a document with the science features, staff 
profiles, and photographs that now appear weekly, to be published each 
month (starting in mid- to late November) in print, e-mail, Gopher, and 
WWW/Mosaic formats.

This revamping will have a number of advantages for readers and for 
UCAR:

--  Savings in distribution time, printing costs, and paper.  Only those 
staff who have no means of accessing e-mail will receive a hard copy of 
This Week at UCAR.
--  Multimedia possibilities.  Color photos, sound bites, and video clips 
will appear with the Mosaic version of Staff Notes Monthly.
--  New features.  We plan to enhance our science and personnel 
coverage in Staff Notes Monthly.  YouÕll find briefs on a greater variety of 
topics, photos of new staff, and other new elements.

A change of this magnitude doesnÕt come easily.  We have spent 
months planning the details of our new internal media.  Still, itÕs unlikely 
that we have covered every base.  On page 2 are some questions and 
answers to help clarify for you how we plan to operate beginning in 
October.  Please let us know if you have other concerns; should enough of 
these arise, weÕll print further Q&As.  News tips and suggestions for new 
features are also welcome.  Most importantly, donÕt forget to pass along 
(using whatever medium you like) your opinion of our new products.  --
BH