Executive Committee Members Present: K. Baberschke, B. Bunker, D. Crozier, K. Garg, S. Heald, T. Murata, T. Ohta, D. Sayers, E. Stern.
Observing: J. Budnick
The meeting was called to order by Ed Stern at 7:00 pm.
Subcommittee updates and ensuing discussions:
World-Wide Web access to both the database and the IXS "Home Page" has been available for some time at "http://xafsdb.iit.edu/database" and "http://xafsdb.iit.edu/IXS." The two together are averaging over 1,000 "hits" per week.
Except for Farrel Lytle's lifetime data (~800MB), little data has been deposited. Several software packages for analysis on different hardware platforms are available; we hope to add data collection packages soon. Although theoretical codes are not available on the database, links to the appropriate Web sites are available.
The McMaster x-ray data is now available on the database, accessed either through a form or a periodic-table interface. The available information includes x-ray energy levels and absorption coefficients at any x-ray energy.
A "job board" is now available for open positions to be posted. Those looking for a postdoctoral research associate, for example, may fill out a simple on-line form to announce the position.
It is possible to offer a "list server" to allow an automated e-mail bulletin board to the XAFS community. This could be used for either bulk mail to all members, or to initiate discussion groups in different areas. This is not currently implemented, but Bunker was interested in the Committee's level of interest.
Discussion: The focus of the database seems to be changing from its original mission of providing "standard" data for analysis to being the major vehicle of the IXS for information distribution. The idea of establishing the list server was approved and will be investigated by Bunker. It was pointed out that the Photon Factory regularly distributes information to its users through a list server and we just need to get anything that we would like distributed to them.
Not much progress since last meeting. Earlier efforts started a curriculum for an XAFS short course, but the project has not been concluded.
Discussion: Many local groups already have their own educational programs, such as the Hercules program at Grenoble and efforts at Daresbury, SSRL, Japan, etc. Baberschke mentioned that Filipponi is starting something in Italy as well. Morrison should contact him, also. Murata also mentioned a UN school which will be held in Japan at which he will give a tutorial on XAS. This will probably be held on a regular basis.
One mission of this subcommittee might be to work with these local groups and help coordinate the different efforts. It was also pointed out that if a standardized curriculum did exist, groups starting their own programs would probably use the IXS materials as a starting point, even if they modified it somewhat.
It was recommended that this committee get outlines and materials from other courses and develop an outline and reference list for the proposed IXS course.
Koningsberger (through e-mail) suggests that we make the criteria for published papers more flexible, acknowledging that short papers and multi-technique papers do not have the space to address all the earlier requirements.
Discussion: The original mandate of this subcommittee included running tests of different beamlines and analysis techniques. Unfortunately, little has happened in this regard in the last four years. Some on the committee also maintained that the quality of papers has not really improved much, despite the efforts of this committee. One suggestion was that contributors to XAFS9 receive a short list of guidelines for their manuscripts for the conference. It was agreed that the referee requirements were too general and needed to be redone and simplified and that a description of how to handle error estimates be provided.
It was also pointed out that a main work of this group was to have been the tests of beam lines and data analysis and that a plan needed to be developed to begin working in these areas.
Since Berlin, there has been no real effort to advertise and increase the IXS membership, and the total number of members has remained somewhat above 500. The lack of a recruitment effort was due in part to waiting to see that communication mechanisms were established to the membership and that more tangible results of the IXS could be shown. At the Grenoble meeting, there will be a more concentrated effort to recruit members.
Discussion: BB pointed out that it would be straightforward to allow electronic registration for new users through the IXS www site. It was also noted that if the IXS kept higher visibility, there would automatically be more interest in the Society. Examples suggested included a regular Society update in Synchrotron Radiation News, and a periodic newsletter. The latter is only feasible with a reliable revenue stream, however.
The membership committee was also asked to make a recommendation regarding the desirability of charging dues and will do so at the Grenoble meeting.
It was reported that the meeting was on track although budget was tight. At the time of this meeting the abstract deadline had just passed and no estimate of the size of the meeting was available. (Note: It has just been reported that more than 620 abstracts were received and based on historical projections the number of attendees is estimated to be around 480.) Baberschke did report a concern about the lack of coordination between the IXS EC and the meeting organizers. Some discussion of our role in the meeting and its historical mandate was held. The consensus was that our general role was consistent with what had developed and been approved at Kobe and Berlin but that we needed to do a better job in keeping contact with the meeting organizers.
Stern approached the directors of NSLS, SSRL, Photon Factory and others, soliciting interest in the IXS. Evidently, our credibility plummeted when it was revealed that members paid no membership fee. At present, the facilities have no interest in providing funds for the IXS or, apparently, any other scientific society. James Penner-Hahn (through e-mail) has suggested that we look to the newly-established International EPR Society as a model for funding. In this society, each member contributes $US25/year if from a developed country, and there is a sliding scale for developing countries or countries with difficulty obtaining hard currency. To avoid currency conversion fees, each region (e.g. Europe, Japan, etc.) collects locally for the society. This society produces a regular newsletter which is evidently full of information useful to those in the community.
The issue of a contribution from the XAFS Conference dues was raised. It had been approved at Berlin but there was not coordination with the XAFS IX organizers and since their budget is extremely tight it is not expected that funds would be available. It was agreed to make it clear to the organizers of XAFS X that this will be expected to be part of the registration fee. It was suggested that Goulon be contacted about this issue in case there is some flexibility.
Discussion: The committee seemed to feel that eventually we will have to ask for some membership fee, probably on the order of $US25/year. It was also felt that the IXS has to provide more tangible benefits for users before this is feasible.
Relationship between the IXS and International Union of Crystallography:
Jim Penner-Hahn has corresponded with Philip Coppens, current president of the IUCr. There are evidently several levels of participation, ranging from the rather loose "Scientific Associate" to the closely-coupled Commission of the IUCr. In the EC meeting, it was felt that we are not ready for Commission status, but it is worthwhile to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of Scientific Associate. This must be investigated quickly however since any decision would have to be made at the Seattle IUCr meeting in early August and that would have to be presented to them 8 weeks before then. It was suggested that Stern and Penner-Hahn get a recommendation to the EC soon so that we can act upon it by e-mail.
IXS Elections and Nominating Committee:
A discussion was held on the nominating and election procedures. Sayers explained the procedures developed last time and what we must do this time. The positions open for election are the Vice Chair and four or five of the nine EC positions. It was decided that four positions would be up for election this time for election to a full term and then five positions would be up for election at XAFS X. The positions were grouped geographically and then decided by a coin toss. The positions which will be up for election are those currently held by Koningsberger, Hitchcock, Murata, and Natoli.
According to the by-laws, the Vice Chair will head a nominating committee consisting of seven members (including the Vice Chair) no more than thr