NETF - USER SUPPORT WG
			======================

			Chair Rolf Nordhagen
			Secretary Marko Kaittola

Minutes from initial meeting Gothenburg October 31 1990

Participants:

Matti Aarnio	Matti.Aarnio funet.fi
Marko Kaittola	Marko.Kaittola funet.fi
Matti Rendahl	matti bion.kth.se
Jan Engvald	Jan.Engvald ldc.le.se
Anders Gillner	adw sunic.se
Harri Salminen	Harri.Salminen funet.fi
Rolf Nordhagen	Rolf.Nordhagen use.uio.no
Harald Eikrem	Harald.Eikrem elab-runit.sintef.no



		CHARTER (modest)

1) Co-operate between user support workers in Nordic
   networking groups
2) Information exchange
3) Identify common problems and interest ideas
4) Identify and potentially develop user support services

		Major issues identified

- Most groups coping with identical challenges
- User support crucial to NEW users
- The information amount available too vast for
  users to have any hope of general access
- Comparison with user support by librarians


		Local efforts and projects

KTH has made E-mail manual for end-users. Written by a group of users,
not technical people. They also have an on-line information data-base.

The User support group at the Univ. of Oslo comp. service produces a 
series of handbooks (ABC's) on major system, incl Networks and 
communication service, Network file-systems (NFS) etc.  PortaCom is
used as a major support tool, both for questions and distribution of
information. In the general network-oriented "conference"-sections
 there is around 10 questions per day.

In Finland Usenet News, PortaCom and mailing lists have been connected
together. These services are used by sosiologists among others. The
sosiologists have written manuals by themselves, with the help of one
active person.

On some US campuses they have created Campus Wide information systems.
They may include all kinds of information, not only computer oriented.
In Oslo a similar system is planned in connection with creating an X.500
based catalogue. Similar systems exist in Finland, Otax in HUT and
Info in Univ. of Turku. (Telnet otax.hut.fi, username info.) The HUT
system is run by the student union.



		Identified problems and tasks

Common problem seems to be network users emerging with knowledge 
limited to PC and Mac, and without experience with more complicated 
environments.

Information is available, but must be better structured and maintained.
Ease of locating information to make it easily found should have 
high priority.

Systems are too ambitious for new users (that is: too much information
needed to use services).

More advanced users saturate information channels, naive users
have difficulties in getting more elemtal support.

Few technical advisers can can both understand a problem and also
give answers understood by less competent users.

Both for informing their naive users, and for handling newly 
connected system, also system adminstrators are in need of support 
and information, preferrably from the same source as general user 
support.

		Ideas for improvement

For file transfer, Anonymous FTP is available. But:
  - it is not sufficiently easy to use naive users
  - it is hard to know where to find data?

Collaborative work on help systems, with a common set of keywords
for user documents, might be useful. Each site can add local 
additions.

Common (that is: not tailored to suit local systems) documents could
be distributed by NORDUNET. 

Network "library" (index) system
    - NFS-net has internet recources quide
    - user interface is again a problem
    - all information should be on-line

"Doctor" program to answer naive users asking simple questions
would help. Use teleconferencing.

EARN spesific info is very much needed.

The following ideas for possible projects were brought up:


User support information (idea menu)

- Keyword base (Help system)
- Ease of access
- Keyword content
- Protocol for access
- Automation of procedures
- Information updating 
- Distributed approach
- Bulletin/Menu approach
- Conferencing
- Local versus Networkwide Information server
- Connection to Directory and general Information systems

Support for support (idea menu)

- New system manager support
- Identify and instruct on network requirements (mailers etc.)
- Network configuration
- Starter package ?
- Configuring standard setup
- Network behaviour (technical!)
- (Network Support Inspector?)

		Identified tasks:

(1) Establishing Mail list of Nordic participants
(2) Creation of information base on user support activities and projects
(3) Describe ongoing Nordic activities, available software
(4) Input ideas and identify potential cooperative User support projects
	(a) Short term, low resource
	(b) Long term and higher resource
(5) Nordic (cooperative) support of support workers



		Allocation of tasks (short time):

Index of information on information
- Matti A. will take care of collecting information on nic.funet.fi

E-mail list
- Matti R. will establish list
- more peoples interested on user support should be added to list
- ideas should be circulated inside our group

Support for new system managers
- Matti R. will write something about this
- how to configure e.g. Sendmail and Bind
- a generic starter kit should be produced
- local, almost working versions should be submitted, if existing


		Future possibilities

Common, universal documentation to be developed as a joint project
between Nordic Groups.


Edit:16.11.90/RN