From iaufwg-request Thu Aug 4 13:40:05 1994 X-VM-Summary-Format: "%n %*%a %-17.17F %-3.3m %2d %4l/%-5c %I\"%s\"\n" X-VM-Labels: nil X-VM-VHeader: ("Resent-" "From:" "Sender:" "To:" "Apparently-To:" "Cc:" "Subject:" "Date:") nil X-VM-Bookmark: 3 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["4886" "Thu" " 4" "August" "1994" "19:39:53" "+0200" "Preben Grosbol" "pgrosbol@eso.org" nil "119" "Restructuring of IAU, FITS WG under Comm.5" "^From:" nil nil "8" nil nil (number " " mark " Preben Grosbol Aug 4 119/4886 " thread-indent "\"Restructuring of IAU, FITS WG under Comm.5\"\n") nil] nil) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA01374; Thu, 4 Aug 94 13:40:05 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <9408041739.AA03677@ns2.hq.eso.org> From: Preben Grosbol Sender: iaufwg-request@fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: iaufwg@fits.CV.NRAO.EDU, hauck@scsun.unige.ch Subject: Restructuring of IAU, FITS WG under Comm.5 Date: Thu, 04 Aug 1994 19:39:53 +0200 Dear Colleagues, In the context of the restructuring of the Union, Don Wells and I feel that it would be more appropriate to have the FITS Working Group associated directly to the Executive Committee considering the special status of the Working Group. We would like hear if you would support this proposal as stated in a draft e-mail (appended) addressed to the General Secretary. If there is general support I would add the names of the supporters and submit it. It would have to be sent at least one week before the General Assembly. Thus, please, respond before Monday August 8. Best regards Preben Grosbol - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To-: bergeron@iap.fr Cc-: hauck@scsun.unige.ch, iaufwg@fits.cv.nrao.edu Subject-: Restructuring of IAU, FITS WG under Comm.5 -------- General Secretary Dr. J.Bergeron, International Astronomical Union, 98bis, bd Arago, F-74014 Paris, FRANCE. Dear General Secretary, With reference to my e-mail of April 13, 1993, on the restructuring of IAU (see below), I would like to propose to associate the FITS Working Group, now under Commission 5, directly to the Executive Committee. The main arguments are: 1) The FITS format is used world wide for transport and archiving of astronomical data. To ensure full readability of data over a time scale of many decades, long term stability and compatibility of the format are essential. Thus, it is important that the IAU is in full control of the definition of the FITS format. 2) The review process of any change must be tightly controlled. The FITS Working Group has already implemented official review and voting procedures. It currently consists of 16 voting members representing major data astronomical organizations, however, membership should be monitored to ensure fair representation (e.g. by the EC). 3) The long term commitment and special requirements for membership are not consistent with the general outline for Working Groups under Commissions. Dissemination of data in the astronomical community is of extreme importance to ensure that data can be shared and analyzed also by countries with less direct access to major observing facilities. This objective can be achieved only by ensuring stability and compatibility of the FITS interchange format. Thus, I recommend that the FITS Working Group be placed directly under the IAU Executive Committee. Best regards, Preben Grosbol Chairman, IAU FITS WG Cc: Dr. B. Hauck, Comm. 5, FITS Working Group This proposal is supported by: P.Grosbol, ESO D.Wells, NRAO .... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > To: "BERNARD HAUCK, UNI LAUSANNE" > Cc: pgrosbol, dwells@nrao.edu, iau@friap51.bitnet > Subject: IAU restructuring, FITS WG under Comm.5 > Date: Tue, 13 Apr 93 13:47:23 +0200 > From: pgrosbol@ns2 > > Garching, April 13, 1993 > > Dear Dr. Hauck, > In reply to your e-mail of March 17 and the circular letter of > March 11 from J. Bergeron both concerning the restructuring of > the IAU Commissions and Working Groups, I would like to draw > you attention to a number of special issues regarding the FITS > Working Group under Commission 5: > a) The Working Group on FITS has the special long term task > to maintain the FITS standard and to review, approve and > maintain future extensions to FITS (ref. resolution B2 > of the 20th General Assembly). > b) This long term commitment is very important since the FITS > standard is not only used as an interchange standard but > also for archiving astronomical data (e.g. at VLA, HST, > La Palma, ESO). > c) The review and approval of new extension require a formal > procedure. The FITS WG has defined two types of members > namely: voting and non-voting. The voting members are selected > to represent the major data producing institutes and perform > the actual review and approval by formal vote before the WG > propose new extensions to the General Assembly for recommendation. > > Thus, the FITS WG should be maintained with its present mandate. > Two options seem possible a) to associate it directly to EC > or b) to the Commission for 'Instrumentation and techniques'. > Due to the nature of the WG as a standards body for FITS, > I would favor the former option. The main problems is in the > statement that WG's are of limited life span. This would not > be the case for the FITS WG since it maintain the FITS standard. > It is not clear to me how this issue could be resolved. > > Best regards, > > Preben Grosbol > Chairman, FITS WG under Comm. 5, > > CC: D. Wells, Vice-chairman of FITS WG, NRAO, > J. Bergeron, General Secretary of IAU. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From iaufwg-request Mon Aug 8 12:58:25 1994 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["2536" "Mon" " 8" "August" "1994" "18:58:06" "+0200" "Preben Grosbol" "pgrosbol@eso.org" nil "82" "IAU General Assembly in Den Haug" "^From:" nil nil "8" nil nil (number " " mark " Preben Grosbol Aug 8 82/2536 " thread-indent "\"IAU General Assembly in Den Haug\"\n") nil] nil) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA06036; Mon, 8 Aug 94 12:58:25 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <9408081658.AA23143@ns2.hq.eso.org> From: Preben Grosbol Sender: iaufwg-request@fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: iaufwg@fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Cc: hauck@scsun.unige.ch Subject: IAU General Assembly in Den Haug Date: Mon, 08 Aug 1994 18:58:06 +0200 Dear Colleagues, The IAU General Assembly starts next week. The schedule for meetings related to Commission 5 is listed below. As you can see two sessions has direct connection to the FITS WG namely, the business session on 18.8 and the FITS session on 23.8. I hope to see many of you at den Haug but to be sure to get all your input please consider the following points to be discussed during the meeting: 1) The status and affiliation of the IAU FITS WG/TG (see e-mail to General Secretary of IAU), 2) New Chairman and Vice-chairman. I have served as chairman of the FITS WG/TG for 12 years and feel it is time to step down. I propose Don Wells and Ernst Raimond as new Chairman and Vice-chairman, respectively, I will leave for den Haug on Aug. 17 at noon and will ensure that all your e-mail comments, I receive before then, will be considered during the GA. Any suggestions are of course also very welcome. The tentative Agenda for FITS WG (TG) meeting on 23.8 is: 1) Chairmans report (P.Grosbol) 2) NOST Standard Definition and User Guide (B.Schlesinger) 3) FITS archive and news groups (D.Wells) 4) Activity for the next triennium Best regards Preben Grosbol Chair, FITS WG - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IAU GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEN HAAG Commission 5 MEETINGS - - - - 18.8 11.00 am Business session (Chair B.Hauck) 1) President report 2) reports from the chairpersons of the present working groups 3) structure of our commission 3) new members 4) new SOC 5) resolutions 6) Activity for the next triennum 7) Information on LISA II - - - - 23.8 11.00 am WG I Astronomical Data (Chair A. Heck) (30 min) - A. Heck - Report on the past triennium and interactions with CODATA - M. Albrecht & D. Egret - An overview of databases and on-line data in astronomy - E. Raimond - TBD TG Data centers and Network (Chair M. Creze) (30 min) TG FITS (Chair P. Grosbol) (30 min) - - - - 23.8 2.00 pm WG II Information Handling (chair A. Heck) (45 min) - A. Heck - Introductory remarks and generalities - C. Christian - The National Information Infrastructure Testbed - D. Wells - AstroWeb and the future of astronomical resources on the web TG Designations (Chair P. Dubois) (45 min) - - - - 23.8 4.00 pm Business session (Chair B. Hauck) (45 min) WG III Libraries (Chair W. Warren/B. Corbin) (45 min) - - - - 24.8 9.00 am JD20 THE STATUS OR ARCHIVING ASTRONOMICAL DATA From iaufwg-request Mon Aug 8 13:35:36 1994 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["4169" "Mon" " 8" "August" "1994" "19:34:50" "+0200" "Preben Grosbol" "pgrosbol@eso.org" nil "103" "Restructuring of IAU, FITS WG under Comm.5 " "^From:" nil nil "8" nil nil (number " " mark " Preben Grosbol Aug 8 103/4169 " thread-indent "\"Restructuring of IAU, FITS WG under Comm.5 \"\n") nil] nil) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA06171; Mon, 8 Aug 94 13:35:36 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <9408081734.AA23374@ns2.hq.eso.org> From: Preben Grosbol Sender: iaufwg-request@fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: bergeron@iap.fr Cc: hauck@scsun.unige.ch, iaufwg@fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: Restructuring of IAU, FITS WG under Comm.5 Date: Mon, 08 Aug 1994 19:34:50 +0200 General Secretary Dr. J.Bergeron, International Astronomical Union, 98bis, bd Arago, F-74014 Paris, FRANCE. Dear General Secretary, With reference to my e-mail of April 13, 1993, on the restructuring of IAU (see below), I would like to propose to associate the FITS Working Group, now under Commission 5, directly to the Executive Committee. The main arguments are: 1) The FITS format is used world wide for transport and archiving of astronomical data. To ensure full readability of data over a time scale of many decades, long term stability and compatibility of the format are essential. Thus, it is important that the IAU is in full control of the definition of the FITS format. 2) The review process of any change must be tightly controlled. The FITS Working Group has already implemented official review and voting procedures. It currently consists of 16 voting members representing major data astronomical organizations, however, membership should be monitored to ensure fair representation (e.g. by the EC). 3) The long term commitment and special requirements for membership are not consistent with the general outline for Working Groups under Commissions. Dissemination of data in the astronomical community is of extreme importance to ensure that data can be shared and analyzed also by countries with less direct access to major observing facilities. This objective can be achieved only by ensuring stability and compatibility of the FITS interchange format. Thus, I recommend that the FITS Working Group be placed directly under the IAU Executive Committee. Best regards, Preben Grosbol Chairman, IAU FITS WG Cc: Dr. B. Hauck, Comm. 5, FITS Working Group This proposal is supported by: P. Grosbol, ESO D. Wells, NRAO E. Raimond, NFRA D. Tody, NORO O. Kanamitsu, Fukuoka, Japan B. Hanisch, STScI E. Griesen, NRAO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > To: "BERNARD HAUCK, UNI LAUSANNE" > Cc: pgrosbol, dwells@nrao.edu, iau@friap51.bitnet > Subject: IAU restructuring, FITS WG under Comm.5 > Date: Tue, 13 Apr 93 13:47:23 +0200 > From: pgrosbol@ns2 > > Garching, April 13, 1993 > > Dear Dr. Hauck, > In reply to your e-mail of March 17 and the circular letter of > March 11 from J. Bergeron both concerning the restructuring of > the IAU Commissions and Working Groups, I would like to draw > you attention to a number of special issues regarding the FITS > Working Group under Commission 5: > a) The Working Group on FITS has the special long term task > to maintain the FITS standard and to review, approve and > maintain future extensions to FITS (ref. resolution B2 > of the 20th General Assembly). > b) This long term commitment is very important since the FITS > standard is not only used as an interchange standard but > also for archiving astronomical data (e.g. at VLA, HST, > La Palma, ESO). > c) The review and approval of new extension require a formal > procedure. The FITS WG has defined two types of members > namely: voting and non-voting. The voting members are selected > to represent the major data producing institutes and perform > the actual review and approval by formal vote before the WG > propose new extensions to the General Assembly for recommendation. > > Thus, the FITS WG should be maintained with its present mandate. > Two options seem possible a) to associate it directly to EC > or b) to the Commission for 'Instrumentation and techniques'. > Due to the nature of the WG as a standards body for FITS, > I would favor the former option. The main problems is in the > statement that WG's are of limited life span. This would not > be the case for the FITS WG since it maintain the FITS standard. > It is not clear to me how this issue could be resolved. > > Best regards, > > Preben Grosbol > Chairman, FITS WG under Comm. 5, > > CC: D. Wells, Vice-chairman of FITS WG, NRAO, > J. Bergeron, General Secretary of IAU. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -