Collaboratories are tool-oriented computing and communication environments that support scientific and engineering remote experimentation and collaboration. Under the High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) initiative sponsored by the Department of Energy, several projects have been initiated with the goal of building and operating testbeds collaboratories. These testbeds have created the awareness that electronic notebooks are an important factor in the success of collaboratories.
An electronic notebook is a medium in which researchers can record aspects of experiments that are remotely conducted on expensive, hard-to-reproduce facilities. It is also a medium for collaborative scientific inquiry or engineering design discussions. A notebook for collaboratories may include these capabilities:
1. Automated and manual entry of parameters used to configure the experimental facilities, including templates for formatted entry. 2. Automated creation of operations and equipment logs. 3. History of parameter changes. 4. Reference and annotation to results files, graphs of output data, and other experiments. 5. Entry of text with descriptions and discussions about the experiments (including entry of scientific characters and symbols). 6. Entry of sketches and drawings used to describe experiments, images captured from samples or processed from output data, sequences of images that can be played as movies, selected video/audio clips of teleconferencing, related computer files, graphic images, and paper reports. 7. Entry of cross-experiments annotations, discussions, and comparison of graphs, images, and sequence of images. 8. Indexing and retrieval methods. 9. Integration with existent data analysis and visualization tools, including the capability for cut and paste graphs, figures, and images. 10. Security of access.
A fundamental characteristic of electronic notebooks is ease of use. Electronic notebooks for collaboratories are inherently shared among collaborating researchers or engineers. However, it is desirable that participants may keep some of their annotations privately, thus it is paramount that it includes privacy mechanisms. Associated aspects are non-tamperability (write-once) of notebooks, and their use as patent records for inventions or as proof of conformance to procedures. Multiple notebooks may be necessary for each collaboration effort, and each researcher or engineer may need to access notebooks of different collaboratories. Tools to coordinate access to multiple notebooks are needed.
Notebooks for remote collaboration require the interoperability and integration of a multitude of technologies, and the use of heterogeneous computer and communication systems. Some of these technologies already exist, whereas others are topics of current research. We seek papers that significantly contribute to:
1. the identification of requirements of electronic notebooks; 2. the design of algorithms or mechanisms that address the various aspects of electronic notebooks, such as the ones listed above; 3. advances in the following technologies, as they apply to electronic notebooks: 1. database management and scientific visualization technologies; 2. distributed computing and integration technologies (including security); 3. telepresence technologies; 4. user interface technologies; 5. network technologies; 4. the design and implementation of electronic notebooks; 5. experience with existent electronic notebooks.
We are particularly interested in submissions that report results substantiated by experiments, simulation, implementation, or mathematical analysis. Papers must be less than 10 double-spaced pages long, have an abstract of 100-150 words, and must contain original material. The final paper will be in IEEE format (guidelines are in the WET ICE homepage), and should not exceed six pages. Each paper will be peer-reviewed by at least three people. Accepted papers will be included in the post-proceedings to be published by the IEEE Computer Society Press. A cover letter should accompany the paper submission, including paper title and each author's name, affiliation, telephone/fax numbers, and e-mail address. The cover letter should also be used to identify any special equipment that will be required during its presentation.
Submission address:
Sonia R. Sachs Attn: WET ICE'96 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory MS 50B-2258, One Cyclotron Rd. Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S. OR electronic submission address:
Important Dates: Full papers due: March 15, 1996 Notification of decisions to author: April 19, 1996 Advance registration: May 17, 1996 Workshop: June 19-21, 1996 Final manuscripts due to IEEE Computer Society Press: June 28, 1996
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please contact sachs@george.lbl.gov if you have any questions regarding the Electronic Notebooks Workshop. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------