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International Earth Science Information
Here is a project that many indigenous peoples worldwide can contribute to,
and also benefit from; to help protect Mother Earth.
Glenn
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What is the CIESIN Kiosk?
CIESIN's Human Dimensions Kiosk provides electronic access to
unpublished scholarly papers and less accessible reports on
the human dimensions of global environmental change research.
The CIESIN Kiosk is currently accessible on four platforms.
They are anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol) at
ftp.ciesin.org/kiosk; electronic mail, Gopher. at
gopher.ciesin.org/Kiosk; and from the WorldWideWeb (WWW) by
typing the URL address: http://WWW.ciesin.org/kiosk/home.html
What is CIESIN?
The Consortium for International Earth Science Information
Network (CIESIN, pronounced as season ) is a private, non-
profit corporation created that serves scientific, policy-
making, educational, and public access data and information
needs. It addresses urgent international concerns,
including: 1) global environmental change and sustainable
development issues and 2) the need to promote more efficient
access, dissemination, and use of scientific data and
information.
CIESIN's mission is to provide access to and enhance the use
of information worldwide, advancing understanding of human
interactions in the environment and serving the needs of
science and public and private decisionmaking. To achieve
this mission, CIESIN is developing an international alliance
of academic, governmental, multilateral, public, and private
organizations interested in understanding global, regional,
and local environmental change. In accordance with its
mission, CIESIN archives and disseminates data relevant to
understanding human interactions with the environment.
CIESIN services support interdisciplinary research and
applications in key areas including global environmental
change and sustainable development.
CIESIN is implementing infrastructure and data development
programs with the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program
(SERDP), the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Sustainable
Development Network (SDN). CIESIN developed and is operating
the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), as
part of the NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information
System (EOSDIS), and operates the U.S. Global Change Research
Information Office (GCRIO) for the Executive Office of the
President. In addition, CIESIN has organized and maintains
access to an expanding Information Cooperative, a distributed
global network of data centers and other institutions to
provide its users access to relevant data located worldwide.
What is SEDAC?
Operating as a major component of CIESIN, the Socioeconomic
Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) is one of nine data
centers in the Earth Observing System Data and Information
System (EOSDIS) that supports NASA's Mission to Planet Earth
program. While the other eight EOSDIS data centers are
responsible for archiving natural science data, SEDAC's focus
is on human dimensions of global environmental change.
With the aim of translating scientific data and information
into tangible benefits to the American people, SEDAC will
serve as a two-way information gateway between the
socioeconomic and Earth science data and information domains.
This will be accomplished in two ways: through the
development of new policy-oriented information products that
synthesize Earth science and socioeconomic data; and by
providing the resulting operational data and information
services to the public.
More about CIESIN's Data
CIESIN is developing global-scale, time-series, and baseline
data and information on the human dimensions of global
environmental change. Data identification and acquisition
efforts are focused in these areas: land and fresh water
resources; industry and energy; agriculture and food
security; population dynamics; economic activity; human
attitudes, preferences, and behavior; policy and
institutions; human and environmental Health; other
supporting data sets and regional data collections
More about the CIESIN Kiosk
The CIESIN Kiosk is an interactive electronic forum to
facilitate information sharing on the human dimensions of
global environmental change. The Kiosk encompasses two types
of materials: 1) unpublished scholarly papers; and (2) an
electronic bookshelf. The acceleration of research in the
field of human interactions in global environmental change,
the growing number of less accessible working papers, the
relatively slow pace of peer review, constraints in
publication and dissemination can result in a significant
time lag before these materials are available to others doing
similar work. The CIESIN Kiosk addresses these issues head-
on. It is intended to promote the timely exchange of current
information on human dimensions of global change among
researchers and policy makers, both within and across
disciplinary boundaries. CIESIN's role, in short, is to
provide the infrastructure for sharing materials that
otherwise might be difficult to locate and access.
Unpublished Scholarly Papers
To better understand human interactions in global
environmental change, both researchers and policy makers need
a faster means to circulate scholarly papers and reports and
to promote interdisciplinary interaction and discussion.
Using the model of on-line dissemination of research papers
developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory for the physics
community (http://www.chem.brown.edu/chem-ph.html), the
CIESIN Kiosk provides a service for rapid dissemination of
research. The unpublished scholarly papers section of the
Kiosk, encompasses three types of materials:
*% Unpublished scholarly papers for which feedback or
comment from scientific
%* colleagues is desirable;
%* Preliminary working papers;
%* Background information or data.
Through the Kiosk, researchers can make their unpublished
research materials available to others in the community.
Copyright holders retain copyright.
Electronic Bookshelf
The CIESIN Electronic Bookshelf provides a unique set of
information resources to the human dimensions community not
readily available through other means. The electronic
bookshelf provides access to reports, working papers, and
other background information from the Human Dimensions of
Global Environmental Change Programme (HDP) of the
International Social Science Council, the SysTem for
Analysis, Research, and Training (START), United Nations
Environmental Program (UNEP), International Institute for
Environment and Development (IIED), and the Canadian Global
Change Program (CGCP). The CIESIN Kiosk provides the
infrastructure for sharing these materials that might
otherwise be difficult to locate and access.
Kiosk Features
% Since the inception of the CIESIN Kiosk in Spring 1994,
twenty unpublished scholarly papers have been made available
electronically. These papers are not easily available through
any other means, and they provide recent data and information
on human dimensions of global environmental change.
% * The unpublished scholarly papers were collected from
researchers and policy makers representing a broad spectrum
of social science disciplines, including anthropology,
economics, geography, political science, and sociology as
well as agriculture and food security, economics, human
health, population, land use, political and social
institutions.
% * The unpublished scholarly papers are based on
environmental research conducted in various countries such as
Brazil, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, The Netherlands,
Nigeria, Rwanda, United Kingdom, and United States.
% * The unpublished papers can be searched via general index,
subject index, and also by entering keywords.
% * The comments section of the Kiosk enables readers to
provide input and comments to the authors.
% The CIESIN Kiosk is currently accessible through four
platforms. They are FTP (File Transfer Protocol), electronic
mail, gopher, and WorldWideWeb.
% The electronic bookshelf, another component of the Kiosk,
is a collection of less accessible global change documents
and these documents could be accessed through a global change
program index. The currently available global change program
indexes are HDP, USGCP, CGCP, START, IIED, UNCED, and UNEP.
% Efforts are taken on a continuous basis to solicit high
quality papers from human dimensions researchers from all
over the world.
% This unique service for information sharing on human
dimensions of global environmental change is also publicized
through relevant newsletters and Internet resources.
Accessing the Kiosk
The CIESIN Kiosk materials, which are primarily textual in
nature, can be accessed via the Internet through File
Transfer Protocol (FTP), gopher and the WorldWideWeb.
Electronic mail access will be available to users of services
such as Omnet, Compuserve, FidoNet, and Bitnet.
WorldWideWeb:
(1) After entering into WorldWideWeb, open URL and type the
URL address as:
http://WWW.ciesin.org/kiosk/home.html
(2) To view the papers, click on the General Index and
Subject Index
(3) The papers can be viewed by clicking the corresponding
code numbers.
(4) To view the document in the electronic bookshelf, click
on the Organizational Index
FTP:
The specific commands used are the same for FTP and
electronic mail. FTP commands are entered interactively, and
mail commands are sent in the body of a message. Step-by-
step instructions are included here along with an example for
both methods of connection.
If your computer has FTP:
(1) FTP to ftp.ciesin.org
(2) When prompted for a login, enter: anonymous
(3) When prompted for a password, enter your e-mail address,
such as:
foobar@ciesin.org
(4) Change directories to access the CIESIN Kiosk using the
command:
cd kiosk
(5) Type: get kiosk-FAQ.txt |more for instructions
regarding accessing,
copyrights, and submissions
(6) The papers can be found in the publications sub-
directory. In order to get
the kiosk index file:
(a) change directory by typing cd
/kiosk/publications
(b) type get index.txt
(7) To retrieve a particular paper, type get <file name>
For example, to view the paper number one, type get
94-0001.txt |more
(8) If you are done, type quit.
E-mail:
If your computer does not have FTP:
(1) Send an e-mail message to: mailftp@ciesin.org
(2) In the body of the message, include the following
commands:
reply to <your e-mail address>
open ftp.ciesin.org
cd kiosk
(3) To retrieve a particular paper, type get <file name>
For example, to view the paper number one, type get 94-
0001.txt |more
(4) Type get kiosk-FAQ.txt for further instructions regarding
accessing,
copyrights, and submissions.
(5) Type quit after the last command
Gopher:
(1) Access the CIESIN Gopher at: gopher.ciesin.org
(2) Select Kiosk
(3) To view the kiosk papers, select the title
(4) The papers can also be searched using keywords under the
menu Kiosk
keyword search. Select the Kiosk keyword search menu
and enter any
keyword.
Submitting Papers
Submissions to the CIESIN Kiosk can be made either by FTPing
files into the Kiosk
submissions subdirectory or by mailing a disk with the files
on it to the CIESIN Kiosk Coordinator.
FTP Instructions:
(1) FTP to ftp.ciesin.org
(2) When prompted, enter anonymous for user name
(3) When prompted, enter your e-mail address for password
(4) Change directory by typing: cd /kiosk/submissions
(5) Copy file to CIESIN Kiosk using the command: put
<filename>
(6) Send an e-mail message to kiosk@ciesin.org with a
completed copy of the form
RcontributorsU information.S
Postal Instructions:
Send either a 3.5" or 5.25" Macintosh or DOS formatted floppy
disk with a completed copy of the form Rcontributors
information:S
CIESIN Kiosk Coordinator
CIESIN
2250 Pierce Rd.
University Center, MI 48710
USA
If you have questions about the CIESIN Kiosk, please send e-
mail to kiosk@ciesin.org or contact CIESIN User Services
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time at:
CIESIN User Services and Training
Phone: (517) 797-2727
FAX: (517) 797-2622
E-mail Address: ciesin.info@ciesin.org
CIESIN User Services will answer your questions about CIESIN.
August 9, 1994
Source: NETHAPP - Net Happenings List