----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Posted on behalf of my colleagues at SEDAC & CIESIN: We are pleased to announce the beta release of a World Wide Web Interface to the CIESIN Gateway system. We invite you to visit the Gateway site at WWW URL: http://wwwgateway.ciesin.org We welcome you to examine the system and use the built in feedback mechanism provided, as often as needed, to inform us of suggestions, likes and dislikes, and problems encountered. The interface provides all the documentation you will need to exercise its capabilities. You only need access to a WWW browser which supports forms and tables. We recommend Netscape v1.1N or later, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or Mosaic 2.O or later (PC only). If you have any questions concerning the use of the system, please contact CIESIN user services at 1-517-797-2727, or send an email query to: [log in to unmask] The CIESIN Gateway provides you information about data bases useful for the study of global change, sustainable development, and human interactions in the environment. Gateway links you to the NASA Global Change Master Diretory, the NOAA Environmental Directory, the CIESIN Information Cooperative, and other useful directories. We hope that you will find this search tool helpful in discovering data and information resources available world wide. Please feel free to cross-post this message to other relevant mailing lists and newsgroups. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Background Information -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The World Wide Web interface to the CIESIN Gateway has been developed by the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) which is operated by CIESIN for NASA's Mission to Planet Earth Program. SEDAC is one of nine Earth Observation System data centers. SEDAC's mission is to develop and deliver information products and services that integrate social and natural science data in ways useful for decision making. CIESIN has also been designated as World Data Center-A for Human Interactions in the Environment by the International Council of Scientific Unions. The CIESIN Gateway is a metadata search system which enables users to identify data bases, information systems, and other resources pertinent to the study of global environmental change, human interactions in the environment, and sustainable development. Thousands of entries of socioeconomic and natural science resources are available. Gateway retrieves resource locators that have been registered at various sites throughout the Internet. These include the Global Change Master Directory which is maintained by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) directory, the SEDAC human dimensions directory, the CIESIN Information Cooperative, and others. The CIESIN Gateway was the winner of the 1995 Computerworld-Smithsonian Award for Innovative Technology in Environment, Energy & Agriculture. To date, access to the CIESIN Gateway has been through downloadable client software that is available on-line at http://www.ciesin.org/gateway/gw-home.html. Direct access to the CIESIN Gateway using the World Wide Web is being developed in phases. This first phase patterns the interface after familiar WWW search engines such as InfoSeek and Lycos. Gateway users request information through free-text searches. We feel that this simple and familiar interface will enable the broadest number of users to take advantage of the information available. Later phases will introduce more sophisticated capabilities similar to those available in the Gateway client. If you have any questions concerning CIESIN or Gateway, please contact CIESIN User Services at 1-517-797-2727 or send your email query to: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] Regards, Bob Chen, SEDAC Program Manager and SEDAC Gateway Team Members ------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Zimmerman Research Scientist, Environmental Research Institute of Michigan Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) 4251 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 Phone: 313/741-4657 | Fax: 313/663-6622 e-mail: [log in to unmask] | WWW URL: http://sedac.ciesin.org/ ********************************************************************** SARD-NEWS ********************************************************************** SARD-NEWS* _ Socioeconomic Biophysical _ SARD-FORUM INFORMATION Nation | NATION-SOC | NATION-BIO |"*" indicates source list Community | COMMUNITY-SOC | COMMUNITY-BIO | Please respond to: Farm |_ FARM-SOC | FARM-BIO _| [log in to unmask] **********************************************************************