Network information centers (NICs)
Susan Calcari, Priscilla Huston, Jan Eveleth, Linda J. Hutchison, J. Aguilar Martin · 1993
Toward New Horizons.Isn't that what User Senn'ces is all about?For all of us, the network looms large on our horizon.Today "the network" no longer r#ers to simply our local building netzuork or even our campus network.It now includes the global Internet, complete with all its resources, mysteries and vast potential.Many sites already provide support via the network through a Netzuork Information Center (NIC).NlCs already exist which support local, regional, disciplinary, and/or national and international audiences.What is a NlC?The Network Information Services Infrastructure (NlSl) working group in the User Services area of the lnternet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines a NlC as 'an organization whose goal is to provide informational, administrative, and procedural support, primarily to users of its network and, secondarily, to users of the greater Internet and to other service agencies.I' How do you get a NlC started?What sezvices does a NlC provide?How do you determine the infrastructure for your ozon NlC?What resources -people, software, hardware -are required to establish a NlC? Can a NIC be self-supporting?What NICs already exist?These questions and many others will be addressed.Panel members will represent the (interhzational InterNlC, a regional NlC, a discipline-specific NlC and a campus NlC.Each NIC, regardless of its scope orfocus, faces unique challenges, yet all share common problems and goals.