February 2000 v.22, no.3

From the Chair - Pam Weaver

I want to thank those of you who took the time to complete the PER survey.
If you would like to see the survey data, please visit the PER homepage for
a link to the survey results. A summary is included below.

The PER Board and Committee Chairs are looking at the results and will be
using them for future planning. We will post a summary of our discussion
on the discussion list and the PER website when they are available.

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This is the time of year we're gearing up for the Annual Conference. The
and the web version is scheduled to be ready for your perusal any day now and
the Preliminary Program should be arriving in your mailbox in mid- to late
March. The Preliminary Program will be less detailed than in the past, so
you may want to go to the web to read an expanded abstract of the programs.
An electronic hotel reservation form is also scheduled to be available on
Feb. 15.

PER has some strong programs for your consideration this year:

Monday, June 12.
Start your day with a continental breakfast and session at 7:30 AM on
"Temporary Libraian: When, Why and How to Utilize." Chris Dobson and
Carolyn Ernst, F1 Services, some of our favorite speakers in the past,
return to discuss this topic.

The Conference General Session at 9:00 AM features will be in an
interview format, featuring Terry Gross, National Public Radio, and
David Talbot, SALON Magazine. Following this session, the official
opening of the exhibits will include entertainment from one of
Philadelphia's oldest entertainment groups. Hint -- they have their
own parade every year.
At 1:30 PM, PER is co-sponsoring a session on the National Geologic
Map Database. This topic is one suggested by one of our members.
6:30-10:00 PM is the conference-wide celebration of Inspired Thinkers.
Factiva, a Dow Jones & Reuters Company (and a PER sponsor) invites
you to join them at the Franklin Institute. You must check the box
on your registration form if you plan to attend, but tickets are FREE.

Tuesday, June 13.
We begin again at 7:30 AM with continental breakfast and "The Modern
History of Energy Conservation," presented by PER Secretary Don
Wulfinghoff. Don has given us some insights into his presentation in
an e-mail earlier this week.
Right after breakfast, PER is co-sonsoring a session titles
"Negotiating with Vendors." Again, this is a session suggested by
a PER member, and will focus on negotiations from three perspectives.
The annual PER Business Meeting and Luncheon is at Noon. This is a
good time to network with other PER members and find out what's going
on in the Division. It is a ticketed event, so be sure to mark it
on your registration form.
Tuesday evening PER is a co-sponsor of the All Sciences & Technologies
Reception at the Independence Seaport Museum on Penn's Landing. This
will be a great time to network with colleagues in PER and other
SciTech divisions of SLA. It is a ticketed event, so be sure to
include it on your registration form.

Wednesday, June 14
One more continental breakfast at 7:30 AM, followed by a session on
"Petroleum Industry Information Resources," presented and sponsored
by Engineering Information. This will focus on the Oil & Gas Village,
and will bring us up-to-date on APIEncompass.
At 11:30 AM, after the SLA Business Meeting, PER is co-sponsoring a
session titles "NTIS Update." The session will start with a
presentation from NTIS on its past, present and future, then will
conclude with a discussion moderated by the SLA Government Relations
Director so participants can address their concerns on the future
of NTIS.
PER has set aside 1:00-4:00 PM on Wednesday to emphasize the exhibits.
Please take this time to visit our sponsors and thank them for their
support.

Thursday, June 15
PER is a co-sponsor of a field trip to the Institute for
Scientific Information. If you're interested in this fieldtrip,
you must contact Ann Koopman (Ann.Koopman@mail.tju.edu or 215-503-0441)
to register. There is a limit of 20 people. This field trip is FREE
and includes a FREE lunch, but you have to register.

Back to Table of Contents

Special Libraries Association
Petroleum & Energy Resources Division
2000 Student Stipend Award

Award

The Special Libraries Association Petroleum & Energy Resources Division is offering a Student Stipend award to help cover expenses at the 2000 SLA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA, June 10-15, 2000. The Stipend includes $500 plus student registration to the conference plus free entrance to any PER ticketed events at the 2000 Conference. The conference theme will be "Independence to Interdependence: The Next Phase of the Information Revolution."

Eligibility

All Applicants must be currently enrolled in an accredited graduate level library or information science program and be interested in a career in petroleum or energy librarianship.

The 2000 Philadelphia conference must be the first SLA conference attended.

It is MANDATORY that applicants be members of SLA by March 15, 2000 to be eligible. Students can access an SLA Membership Application form at: http://www.sla.org/membership/infomember.html and mail it to the address indicated on that form.

The recipient may not accept a travel award for the 2000 conference from any other SLA Division or Chapter.

Application Procedures

Prepare a written statement of approximately 500 words on the following topic:

Why the Petroleum & Energy Resources Division should send me to the 2000 SLA Conference?

Note: Essays listing what you will do at the conference will not be considered. Rather, the essay must incorporate the conference theme and demonstrate the anticipated benefits.

Include a letter of recommendation from either a faculty advisor or the SLA Student Group Faculty advisor.

Submit the above documents, along with your address, telephone number and email address (if applicable), postmarked no later than March 15, 2000 to:

Elizabeth Black
16 South Park Place
New Orleans, LA 70124
(504) 488-5138
libbyblack@yahoo.com

Post Award Requirements

Recipient will write a brief article (approximately 500 words) in the Fall 2000 issue of the PER Bulletin on their conference experience.

Notification

All applicants will receive notification of award status by early April 1999.

Winners MUST attend the PER Division's Annual Business Meeting on June 13, 2000, in Philadelphia, to receive their checks.

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1999 PER Member Survey

1. Networking!
The most re-occurring theme was networking. The
desire to have more opportunities to network with colleagues
virtually and in-person was stated as a response to almost
every open-ended question.

2. Better dissemination of information.
Communication is a key factor in the effective
running of an organization. There were too many
comments requesting services that are already available.
The members are not aware of the many services that
are already available or how to access them. For instance,
the Bulletin is completely electronic and the paper edition has
been completely phased out, but most comments related to the
Bulletin highlighted the fact that this is not common knowledge
within the Division.

3. DPER Disscussion list is not well known.
The DPER Discussion List is not known to be the primary
method of disseminating current information about the
Division. Many requests were made to disseminate information
to the entire Division via e-mail. This is currently being done
via the DPER Discussion List. This highlights the fact that only
about one third of the Division is utilizing the Discussion List.

4. Members' concerns were largely similar.
The statistical difference between the concerns expressed by
Energy, Petroleum, and Utility sectors of the Division were
generally insignificant. Where differences exist, they will be
highlight in the specific summaries.

5. Low survey response rate.
A total of 312 questionnaires were distributed to the Members
of the Division. A total of 83 questionnaires were completed.
This is a return rate of 27%. Therefore, 73% of the Division did
not voice an opinion on the status or direction of the Division.

To see the full survey results, visit the PER Website at www.sla.org/division/dper/survey.htm

Back to Table of Contents

Two Information Specialist Positions Available

McKinsey & Company, Inc.
Electric Power/Natural Gas Practice & Petroleum Practice

These positions are exceptional opportunities to join a well-respected group of research and information professionals who support consulting teams throughout the world. Specifically, you will be supporting McKinsey's growing and dynamic energy sector with either the Electric Power/Natural Gas Practice or the Petroleum Practice. A highly service-oriented attitude is essential in our fast-paced and challenging environment.

As an Information Specialist, you will help consultants refine information requests and identify potential data sources. You will access the full spectrum of general and industry-specific sources (print, on-line databases, Internet, trade associations, etc.) to gather relevant facts. You will also leverage the Firm's internal knowledge base, including resident experts. Creativity and curiosity are important skills to apply during the data gathering process. You will synthesize and present your findings to consultants using summary memos, spreadsheets and charts. You will also help to expand and maintain our practice collections, which includes books, journals, subject files, key contacts and proprietary documents.

Qualifications

 At least 2 years of business experience

 Advanced degree in library science, business, or economics (preferred)

 Knowledge of either the electric power/natural gas industries or the petroleum industry (preferred)

 Proficiency with spreadsheets and on-line databases

 Strong analytical, organization, and communications skills

 Proven ability to work effectively as part of a team

We are an equal opportunity employer offering excellent salary and benefits. For immediate consideration, forward your resume to:

Electric Power/Natural Gas Practice
Information Specialist

Carolyn Loos
Information Coordinator
McKinsey & Co., Inc
909 Fannin, Suite 3500
Houston, TX 77010
Fax: (713) 751-4652
Email: carolyn_loos@mckinsey.com

Petroleum Practice
Information Specialist

Parker Ladwig
Research Analyst
McKinsey & Co., Inc.
909 Fannin, Suite 3500
Houston, TX 77010
Fax: (713) 751-4652
Email: parker_ladwig@mckinsey.com

Calling All PER Division Members

The Nominating Committee for the upcoming PER 2000 - 2001 election requests your assistance in locating candidates for the positions of Chair Elect (July 2000-June 2001, Chair July 2001 - June 2002) and Treasurer (July 2000 - June 2002).

We all have something to offer the Division membership. It's not too late to share your time and expertise by running for one of the Division offices. If you know someone you would like to nominate or if you would like to nominate yourself contact one of the committee members listed below. Feel free to contact past or present officers for the real scoop on the responsibilities and rewarding challenges.

Nancy Bourque 519-339-2617
email: nancy.m.bourque@esso.com
Anne Krum 713-245-7044
email: krum@shellus.com

Julie Lemerond 713-431-4408
email: julie.k.lemerond@exxon.sprint.com

Internet Corner

Who Are You? - Authentication and Remote Access By Ann Coppin

Who are you? What do you want? Are you authorized for what you want? Physical location used to be a primary sieve for access to information resources. When a customer walks into a library and uses a service, a library card or employee identification is assumed or seen by library staff. Usually print materials are not restricted beyond the criteria for gaining physical access to the library. When a database is on a CD-ROM in a library or mounted on an organization's mainframe and people are located with physical access to the resource, access procedures relate to that organization's internal procedures. What happens when physical access based upon location is not enough? Telecommuting, distance education, virtual collaboration on projects require remote access to information resources. Past paradigm's of ILL concentrated upon a library organization as the intermediary. Verification of the patron was part of the library's procedures in a physical location. Now circumstances are encouraging development of direct loans (at the lending location) or customer electronic initiation of ILL requests. Sharing information resources in a cooperative, networked environment creates more potential points of access from more organizations. In a mobile, urban environment, I, as a library user, have a collection of library cards for libraries that are miles apart. Different libraries provide access to different materials. Physical location is no longer a key "membership" requirement from a user perspective for access to a resource; convenient access at the time the information is needed may be more important. Thus, how is the individual verified as being someone who can use an information resource? Conversely, how will the individual keep track of which identity to use for which resource?

Authentication is the terminology being used for the process where a network user establishes an identity. Some techniques that may be used are passwords, smart cards, digital certificates, and IP source address. IDs and passwords are common in the electronic world. However, when the password is assigned to the organization rather than the individual user, there is either lack of access by a potentially legitimate user who does not know the ID or password, or there is potential for it to fall into the hands of non acceptable users. A developing drawback is the number of IDs and passwords an individual required to remember - which goes with what resource? With IP source filtering the electronic resource operator accepts as legitimate any access from the specified IP address. This does not take in to account legitimate users who may need or wish to access the electronic resource from another IP address. A smart card is a plastic card with an integrated circuit chip containing information. When used for authentication it requires a reader for the card. Currently most users will not have card readers where they are remotely accessing a database. A digital certificate requires an individual to be registered with a Certificate Authority which then issues the certificate. The individual either needs to use the computer upon which the certificate resides or must somehow carry the certificate information for use on other computers. A recipient needs to be expecting a digital certificate and be able to use it. Not all digital certificates use the x.509 standard for digital certificates since it is still a recommendation and not an adopted standard.

Current efforts in library authentication software focuses upon either remote database access or patron initiated interlibrary loan requests. Software for direct loans to patrons using different libraries in a cooperative network is being developed. The software for remote electronic access may be part of the software creating a virtual catalog or it may be separate. The current three software approaches are:

 Use standard patron record protocol, i.e. SIP2 which is a development based upon the 3M self charging protocol. It allows access at different levels and interactively queries a person's home library for current status.

 Use digital certificates which may place the emphasis upon registering a computer and not a person. Certificates also reflect the status of the requestor at the time of registration and not at the current time.

 Use XML programming for access through the Internet.

Articles

http://www.cni.org/projects/authentication/authentication-wp.html
Lynch, Clifford, ed. "A White Paper on Authentication and Access Management Issues in Cross-organizational Use of Networked Information Resources," Coalition for Networked Information, Revised Discussion Draft of April 14, 1998.

http://www.dlib.org/dlib/february98/arms/02arms.html
Arms, William Yeo. "Implementing Policies for Access Management" D-Lib Magazine, February 1998.

Changed URLs

Librarians Index to the Internet (http://lii.org/)
The section for new reviews is now called "New This Week."

Sites of Interest

Webopedia (http://www.pcwebopaedia.com/)
An online dictionary and search engine for computer and Internet technology. Clear definitions with links to related terms. I liked the definition of digital certificate and the easy links to find out about x.509, etc.

Whatis?Com (http://whatis.com/)
An online dictionary and search engine for information technology, especially about the Internet and computers. It also hyperlinks cross-references between definition-topics and to other sites for further information.

Security Technologies (http://www.ibm.com/security/technologies/index.html)
This site includes information about the x.509 certificate and public key infrastructure.

Federal Electronic Commerce Program Office (http://www.ec.fed.gov/)
This site focuses on the various topics related to e-commerce with the federal government. It includes information about smart cards.

Energy R&D, Global Trends in Policy and Investment (http://energytrends.pnl.gov/)
The research presented at this site was done by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Crosscutting Analyses" look at similarities and differences in energy research and development investment trends across countries. In-depth reports look at trends in the European Union and eighth industrialized countries including the United States.

Middle East Information Network (http://www.mideastinfo.com)
The Middle East Information Network is an American non-profit company based in Boston, MA. Provides links to sites under headings of offer information about news, countries, education, business, religion, a library and a variety of others.

U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/)
Information about Census 2000, create maps from the TIGER database, use American FactFinder to select data tabulations and maps from the data sets available from the latest Economic Census, locate U.S. geographic locations in the Gazetteer, etc.

EconData.Net (http://econdata.net/)
Guide to regional economic data on the Web with over 400 annotated links to socioeconomic data sources arranged by subject and provider of data. Also lists its ten best sites for finding regional economic data. The site is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration.

Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics (MathWorld) (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/)
MathWorld is a convenient, comprehensive, and interactive mathematics encyclopedia intended for students, educators, math enthusiasts, and researchers. Articles on topics contain links to related articles and references.

National Transportation Library (http://ntl.bts.gov/)
The NTL provides online access to documents and databases covering all aspects of transportation in the United States. Search or browse this collection for full-text materials on transportation topics covering aviation, maritime, pedestrians, bicycles, freight, traffic control, highways, railways, public transportation, intelligent transportation systems, safety, laws & regulations, and more.

TRIS Online (http://tris.amti.com/search.cfm)
The TRIS (Transportation Research Information Services) database is produced and maintained by the Transportation Research Board at the National Academy of Sciences. It is the world's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic resource for transportation information and contains almost 500,000 records.

EPA's Indoor Air Quality Home Page (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/)
Information on common sources and health effects of indoor air pollution in homes, schools, and offices. This site is searchable and has links to hotlines and publications by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

National Allergy Bureau: Pollen/Spore Counts (http://www.aaaai.org/nab/pollen.stm)
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology provides this site with counts for pollen and spore produced by trees, weeds, grasses, and molds for select cities in the United States.

Oncolink (http://cancer.med.upenn.edu/)
The University of Pennsylvania provides this comprehensive resources for dealing with cancer, including a cancer FAQ and advice for coping.

WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/)
Healtheon/WebMD is the Internet healthcare company connecting physicians and consumers to each other and to the entire healthcare community. The Consumer section has a number of interesting features.

Mary Minow's Map To Library Law (http://www.librarylaw.com/)
Comprehensive site with links to articles and other sites on court cases, compilations and specific issues of interest to libraries.

The Damn Good Resume (http://www.damngood.com/)
Yana Parker, the author of the popular books on resumes, has created this site with information about resumes and job searching.

WorkSearch (http://www.garywill.com/worksearch/)
Information about resume writing, cover letters, interviewing, etc. Includes links to other sites. Maintained by Gary Will.

In Honor of Valentine's Day

It's Candy Time (http://www.candyusa.org/)
Web site from the National Confectioners Association and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. Recipes, history, info and more.

The Story of Chocolate (http://www.candyusa.org/chocstry.html)

See's Candies, Inc. (http://www.sees.com/)
Manufacturer and retailer of boxed chocolates since 1921.  

Member News

PER Member Richard N. Fletcher's consulting firm, Energy Futures Research Associates, has been acquired by Zeus Development Corporation of Houston. Zeus specializes in energy publishing, energy consulting and energy e-commerce and is also the host of two premier energy/IT conferences, Interactive Energy (www.interactiveenergy.com) and E-Commerce Oil & Gas 2000 (www.energycommerce.com). Richard becomes a Managing Director of Zeus and will continue to consult in the areas of futures research, knowledge management and competitive intelligence as well as develop new conferences for Zeus. Richard will continue to live and work in Dallas and commute to Houston frequently.

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Donald Wulfinghoff, who is currently serving as the Secretary of the Petroleum & Energy Resources Division, is the author of the newly released ENERGY EFFICIENCY MANUAL. The publisher is Energy Institute Press. The ISBN is 0965792676. It has been warmly reviewed by Publishers Weekly and Booklist. The Web site at www.ENERGYBOOKS.com, provides details about the book, and allows viewers to see extensive excerpts.

Don spent 20 years writing the 1,536-page book to fill the need for a fundamental reference and how-to guide in the emerging field of energy conservation. Professionally, Don is a consultant and educator in energy efficiency, working in the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.

Members attending the next SLA Annual Conference in Philadelphia will have the opportunity to hear Don's presentation, "The Modern History of Energy Conservation," which is sponsored by PER.

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Zeus Development Corporation is hosting a three-day conference in Houston, March 15-17, called "eCommerce: Oil & Gas - Realities and Lessons Learned." The conference will feature speakers and case studies from Enron, BP Amoco, Shell, Andersen Consulting, Ernst & Young, Landmark Graphics, SAP and others. For more information, go to the webiste www.zeusdevelopment.com or call 1-888-478-3282.

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The SPE Oil Database is now available at an institutional rate. Users must access it using an ID and password (no IP authentication at this time).

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Members may be interested in the article "Dial-a-Mess" by Seth Lubova which appeared in the January 24, 2000 issue of Forbes Magazine. The article discusses the current situation at Dialog Corp. in the era of Internet access to data. On the Web at www.forbes.com/forbes/00/0124/6502068a.htm.

Send comments, corrections, and submissions to PER Bulletin editor Linda Musser
105 Deike Building, University Park PA, 16802; Lrm4@psu.edu.