Office
Camille Duke
manager@caves.org
NSS Bookstore Manager
Jim Hall
623 Larry Pl
Madison AL 35758
73505.1632@compuserve.com
Combined report:
The last couple of weeks in January and the month of February have been wild. The office under went some major changes. New computers, new network, new office staff, and new software. It is wonderful to see so much progress but it has been wild. And we still have a number of things to complete. The installation, testing, and bookstore inventory kept the office shut down most of the first week of February.
There were days were I could hardly see that I had a desk— much less see the wood on the desk!
But we survived the installation of the new computers and Novell Network. Phil Winkler was in town for the installation. After everything was set up, he fine tuned the network and checked the databases. After a few modifications, everything is up and running. I still have not gotten use to being able to have two databases opened at the same time. I keep shutting one down before I open up another program. Both the NSSTrak and Ledgermaster database can be used at the same time on both work stations. Since the installation we have been able to keep the United States Postal Service web page opened while doing address changes and memberships. This means that we can enter the person’s address correctly by USPS standards with the last 4 digits of the zip code. The printer and mailer for the American Caving Accidents sent me a long list of people’s addresses that they could not CAS certify. I am in the process of getting those corrected and making sure that every address is to USPS standards.
Avis VanSwearingen will start on February 24th as the new NSS Secretary. We are looking forward to having her on the staff. Her enthusiasm and knowledge about the caving world will definitely be an asset to the office. Avis has worked with us during a number of out of town events especially the 1997 convention in Missouri. It might be a little tough on us during the 1998 convention as Avis is in charge of registration for the convention, but we will manage. Beth Francis left on the 3rd of February to take a new job that allowed her more time for school. Bill has done an excellent job filling in between Beth’s last day and Avis’ first. With his help, I have not gotten behind on memberships or book orders.
The top priorities for the office are:
Membership Manual—we are going to be working hard to get all the addresses in the proper case and to USPS standards. Lois and I kept records of what would help make this year’s manual a lot easier so hopefully it will be easier. I have also agreed to help proof the manual this year.
Avis’ training— we will be getting Avis trained on the two databases and also on the accounting so she can easily fill in for me while I am on my honeymoon.
Ledgermaster— this has been a bear but now that we have the ability to run the two databases on the same workstation, we are ready to move on to the final stages. There are a lot of things about closing the end of month, periods, and year that Dave Irving and I have to learn. Then we will start training Paul Stevens and other officers.
I am looking forward to this next year. 1998 is already off to an excellent start. It is hard to believe that two months of 98 are already gone! I do not foresee any problems that can not easily be resolved.
Archivist
J. Reynolds Duncan Jr.
153 Atria Dr
Toney AL 35773
jrdandlld@aol.com
We are finally on-line and can communicate via e-mail. We will be on the road for a while and may be incomunicado for long periods of timež we are in our motor home for the tip of Baja, Mexico and then we will work our way up to Alaska. We will be gone ~ six months (back home in July).
Progress: Continued with the review and sorting of the material while sketching out the outline of a database structure. Some of the material is very straight forward and can be easily categorized. Other material (mainly correspondence) is more difficult because the subject is just one of the items addressedž other subjects, frequently more interesting, are also covered. To locate these discussions (e.g. early discussions of the restructuring of the NSS) through a database search, pointers (keywords?) would be needed because the main subject would have no relationship to these additional discussions.
Plans: After the sorting is completed and the basic structure and pointers are developed, proceed with the data entry.
Problems: I am still looking for three or four filing cabinets to store the Archives material that is still in boxes and piled on the shelves.
Association Management Software Committee
Phil Winkler
816 Washington St
Wilmington DE 19801-1510
72426.1153@compuserve.com
Progress: A Novell Intranetware 4.11 file server and two new Win95 workstations were installed in the NSS Office the first week of February, 1998. All office applications were transferred from the old file server and are functioning correctly. This addition should increase the stability of computer operations considerably. Our membership program and our accounting/bookstore program can be run and referenced simultaneously providing increased productivity for the office staff.
I visited the office during the installation to assist with fine tuning for databases and made some changes to the databases which were needed to improve the accuracy and functionality of both systems.
During the visit I setup a donated, Pentium/150 PC for use as a dedicated communications server for remote access to our systems. The comm server is currently running pcAnywhere/DOS 5.0 for performance and security reasons. Windows31 does not permit being a host without being logged into the Novell network. This is an unacceptable security risk. Further, while Win95 does permit logging into Novell, I have not found any Windows-based remote access software that supports remote printing under Windows. This means that callers would not easily be able to print from LedgerMaster to their local printer and I don't think this is satisfactory for the EC at this time. CarbonCopy32 for Win95 is being evaluated for its remote printing capabilities.
With the current system there are three levels of security:
1. pcAnywhere requires a password and, perhaps, a remote callback phone number.
2. Once past pcAnywhere the caller is asked for a Novell username and password to log onto the network.
3. Once logged into Novell both NSSTrak and LedgerMaster require usernames and passwords.
There are currently only two authorized users; me and Les Cardwell for LedgerMaster support. We anticipate that additional callers will be the Treasurer, Finance Chairman, and perhaps others from the Executive Committee. The EC will decide on authorized callers. The EC should decide whether additional callers will use the system on their phone charges or be called back to place the phone charges on the NSS. Currently, we are using remote callback. This effectively permits me or Les to provide support from wherever we are in the country—even a hotel room.
Performance during a remote access session is best at night. This is largely due to the condition of phone lines in the southeast. Most phone lines are multiplexed in the south which works well for voice transmission, but severely limits the speed of data transmission during high traffic periods. There is nothing we can do about this.
Plans: Camille and I plan to prepare documents describing both NSSTrak and LedgerMaster for use by the EC. It is anticipated that these documents will assist the EC in determining how they will use the systems, what information they will want to see, etc.
I plan to be in Huntsville for the Board Meeting and to answer any questions about the system.
We have a way to incorporate direct sending and receiving of renewal notices to those members with an email address who desire this method of notification. Over 25% of our members currently have email addresses (2,500). This will result in a large reduction in postal costs as well as reducing processing time to print and stuff into envelopes all these notices.
The emailed notification will be similar to that mailed today and members will make corrections to the notice, if any, and email it back to the office along with payment via credit card, if desired. The office will routinely receive renewals and automatically update the necessary records and files in the membership database.
Cost of the MessageEase product is about $1,000, but it should pay for itself quite quickly.
OVP Comments: I propose renaming this committee as the Office Automation Committee. The Executive Committee will need to study MessageEase and come to a decision.
Audio-Visual Aids Committee
Colin Gatland (slide shows)
1151 Crestwood Hills Dr
Vandalia OH 45377-2714
PitDropper@aol.com
Progress: Well I have the master slide shows in my possession. I have been in contact with the NSS office and am receiving monthly reports as to what slide shows are going where, etc. I am getting a better handle as to what exactly I have inherited, regarding the master slide shows. Using vendors I regularly use in my photography business will allow the NSS to save some money on supply costs. Also my labs here can turnaround dupe slides in two days and ship right to the NSS office. I have spoken to JV about doing a slide show about the SCCI and also to Bruce Smith about one on the Vertical Section.
Plans: Well my plans for this year are firstly to find out if my budget was approved. If so then I would like to start updating some of the slide shows. They are way outdated on some of the graphics and look rather "tacky" compared to what can be done nowadays with simple computer graphics. New slide carousels are needed and new shipping cartons are really wanted by the NSS office staff. Tracking down "lost" scripts and slide show masters needs to be addressed. There are a few more people that I would like to contact regarding possible slide shows, Lou Simpson and the Blackhouse Mountain Project is one of them.
Problems: Well the major problems that I have encountered are scripts that have disappeared from the master slide show. Sets of master slide shows disappearing from the scripts. There are more than one show that has vanished completely. The NSS office requested some additional copies of a show called "Walluka Springs" as it is a popular show. Well there’s not a trace of that show anywhere, however I believe that I do have the script. Also apparently several slide shows that were in the pipeline got caught up in the UPS strike and to this day are still lost. This represents a sizable cost to redupe, buy carousels and slide carousel shipping boxes. Also I was perplexed when I showed a slide show on Scott Hollow at a recent Grotto meeting, loosely devoted to West Virginia caving. The slides and the script were miles apart, I can't imagine why, but for instance the references to the conduit entrance came at slide 14 in the script, however the slide order had the conduit entrance at slide 50. Not to nit pick but, this can confuse and breakdown the flow of the slide show. Other than that no other problems have been encountered yet.
It will take a bit to totally figure everything out, but I am looking forward to it.
Dave Socky (video)
6572 Woodbrook Dr SW
Roanoke VA 24018-5402
sockydr@sprynet.com
Started an inventory of the master video tapes in my possession. This inventory will eventually encompass all tapes in Alex Sprouls’ and Paul Stevens’ possession. Data is being stored in a simple Microsoft Access database so it is accessible for other uses.
Started a catalogue database of the video section’s hardware in order to better control and maintain the NSS investment in equipment.
I produced two new videos which will be in the NSS AV Library after the NSS Convention or sooner. The first one is named Burns Cave #2, which is about 15 minutes long. It is a documentary type video about the cave. The other is called We’re Cavers and We’re Rescuers which is 9 minutes. It is a humorous MTV style music video. Both will also be entered in the Video Salon at this years convention.
I replaced a total of 5 lost/misplaced videos for the NSS Office, while Alex Sproul replaced 7. This took place during January 1998 and was at the request of the NSS Office.
I sent the following videos:
V202 Impact of FCRP...
V203 Caving in the West
V615 Vulcanospeleology...
V618 Lava Tubes in El Malpais
V745 Lost Waterfall
Alex sent the following videos:
V401 Descent into Darkness
V630 The Caves of SE Alaska
V711 The Macocha Abyss Mystery
V723 Timpanogos Cave, UT/Lehman Caves, NV
V749 The Most Dangerous Science
V926 Korean Caving Documentary
V731 Kaumana Lava Tube, HI
In taking inventory of video tapes that I store, I have found a number of tapes to be moldy. Most are for the "canned" music which the NSS purchased a number of years ago. I will be looking into replacing the canned music which we can use for producing videos. Some of our other tapes may be damaged, which brings to light the need to start looking into better methods of archiving our videos. More investigation. Digital tape is probably the easiest and most economical method, but this will take some investment money.
I have been receiving feedback forms (about 1 per month) from cavers who are renting video programs. I will use these for reports and in deciding which shows to keep in Library and which to remove.
Cave Files Committee
Richard Blenz
8070 W Eller Rd
Bloomington IN 47403
rblenz@ucs.indiana.edu
Nothing has changed since the last report except that I have installed a telephone in the file room so I can reply to phone calls for data. Many times people want data and I have none or little in the files and can respond to them with little fuss. I also bought a file cabinet for the files which I have paid for as a donation to the NSS.
I don't have many requests for material but I get data from newsletters every day. It takes about five years to fill a new cabinet. The next time will be a shorter period because Bill Halliday filled a cabinet with Hawaii data, so the new cabinet will not ease storage for very long.
No new plans other than keep going.
Internal Organizations Committee
Evelyn Bradshaw
10826 Leavells Rd
Fredericksburg VA 22047-1261
ebradshw@interserf.net
This is the time when I undoubtedly "earn" that Service award. My thanks go to Gary Bush who, despite extra family developments and his own busy schedule, found time to update the computer program that when filled out at the grotto level can in a few minutes be transferred to the master I/O files and later given to the Members Manual Editor for the I/O directory. I also am very grateful for the efficient cooperation of Gary and Camille to produce for me a mid-January database of the membership. Gary also improved the program that is used to transfer local data to the master files so that an immediate comparison can be made of each grotto's officers' NSS numbers against the full NSS database and the results printed out.
Despite starting even earlier (the end of September) to work with the grottos on a plan to expedite their cooperation in a timely fashion, cavers are still today, a week before the stated deadline, communicating with me stating that they have not received any report material. This is material that was put into the mail the day after Thanksgiving. There is no way it would not have arrived in January at the latest. To overcome this tendency to procrastinate is a challenge to me.
I do plan to have a grotto roundtable at the 1998 convention and a major topic for discussion will be this issue of communications. I expect that Camille and other Society workers will be there. They can explain how things work at the office and learn what the problems are at the grotto end. To solve the report delays may mean an extension of a system already working successfully with several grottos: namely, using a different mailing address from the official one listed in the directory for items such as the annual report that requires attention, as well as making more use of e-mail. (Ugh! Seventeen today in one clip!)
Internal organizations also need to be reminded frequently that they need to notify promptly either the office or the I/O Committee when their official mailing address and/or that of any of their key leaders changes, whether due to a move or a replacement. That 50-cent USPS charge for address change notices adds up rapidly.
Interest continues to be expressed in starting new grottos and several promising applications are expected to come in soon. The following were chartered since June 4, 1997:
#413, St. Joseph Valley Grotto, Valley Head, Alabama
#415, Nicholas County Cavers Association, Craigsville West
Virginia
#416, The Clock Tower Grotto, Rome, Georgia
#417, Ohio Cavers and Climbers, Harlem Springs, Ohio
No further affinity groups have surfaced and we have asked the two that completed applications at the spring 1997 Board meeting to verify their current mailing address and that they still have at least ten NSS members in their group.
We are cooperating with a request from Lois Lyles to review the textual material in the front of the Members Manual that involves Internal Organizations. The entire committee and the Regions and Sections (each of which is briefly described) have been asked for input.
From David Taylor, Survey Coordinator, I learned that an Indiana Cave Survey is now chartered as an NSS Internal Organization, and an application is also in the works for the Illinois Cave Survey.
As many of you have probably heard, for it was widely publicized by some enthusiastic and energetic young cavers, the Arts and Letters Special Section was chartered recently.
A couple of potential problem areas might be mentioned:
One is that the computer program that so greatly expedites preparation of the grotto part of the I/O directory and which was designed with my computer capability in mind and made workable on most IBM-compatible machines apparently does not convert to Lois Lyles' equipment without causing work for her doing some stripping out and realigning that she would like to avoid if we can figure out how to do this. Templates were introduced this year for telephone numbers, but we were already manually taking care of that except for a few that may have slipped through accidentally. Any suggestions?
Internet Committee
Joshua Abdulla
2744 Town Dr
Carmel, IN 46032-9749
jabdulla@caves.org
Web Usage Update (October 14 - February 22):
Plans for the IC:
In late 1997, the NSS made a commitment to the IC and the membership as a whole to create a world class Internet site. This site, which has been tentatively scheduled for unveiling on April 1, 1998, will be a backbone information network for all NSS Internal Organizations. What this means is that the NSS will be able to provide web space and e-mail accounts for any NSS I/O, publication, and committee. There will be a minimal usage charge to cover administrative fees (currently set at $12.00/year for 5 megs of web space on the NSS server).
The following I/Os are currently signed on to use the new NSS server:
In addition to the ability to serve as a host for NSS organizational web pages, other improvements for the web site include SSL Encryption for secure transactions (which will increase on-line bookstore usage and on-line membership application submission) and a shopping cart program.
Because the NSS web site has grown tremendously in the past 4 years and I am no longer able to do the job by myself. The following support personnel exist:
Help is needed in the following areas:
Headquarters Facilities Committee
Greg Freese
763 Telephone Tower Rd
Laceys Spring AL 35754
gfreese@bmtc.mindspring.com
no report
NSS Library Committee
Jon Smith
jsmith@usm.k12.wi.us
Tom, all I have to report is that Jim's been doing a little data entry, not much.
I'm on leave this year in Milwaukee and can do very little. I'll know in a few weeks whether I'm returning to Mississippi next year or not (probably not). If not, we'll need a new library chairman.
Budget: We'll need $600 to stay members of Solinet (which is important, and which we need to do every year, no matter who's Lib Comm Chair), and, say, $800 for continued data entry.
If I'm back down South, we may need more, as we'll get more entered.
Speleo-Museum Committee
Craig Hindman
7600 Pindell School Rd
Fulton MD 20759
tiderman@erols.com
Progress: Activity has been slow. No new collections have been submitted. No requests.
Plans: If there is money in the budget, photo documentation of the Museum will commence
Problems: None
Photo Archives Committee
Karen Kastning
PO Box 1048
Radford VA 24141-0048
kkastnin@runet.edu
Plans: No change here. Long-range plans continue to be to establish a detailed database for the photo archives (starting with recent materials and working my way backwards). If we ever get a research library, we'll have the beginnings, anyway of a photo archives for research.
Progress: Have started importing material into FilemakerPro; it's slow, but I'm sure I'll get faster at it.
In early October, I met with Al & Peg Mueller to take notes on a set of slides that they had donated to the PA in 1994. The slides were from the 1940s and 1950s, mostly concerning the C-3 Expedition to Mammoth Cave, but also some were of early NSS members at early NSS conventions. Since our meeting I transcribed a tape recording of our conversation (concerning who's in what photo, where and what they were doing, etc.
I have been pricing some scanners and ZIP drives; within the next couple of weeks, I'll purchase what I can within my budget (probably only the ZIP drive and some ZIP disks).
Problems: Nothing special at this time; however, since I did not have information in time, I could not put in a request for scanners in for this year's budget. I've been doing a lot of talking to computer people, but could not find one scanner that does everything I need. I have narrowed it down to two that compliment each other. I'm going to have to do a write up about these scanners and send that in separately. Meanwhile I'm using the one at work, but access to it is limited and awkward for the bulk of the work.