01:01:42 PM Avagene Moore:Welcome to the Virtual Forum and today's Round Table discussion! ... 01:01:54 PM Avagene Moore:We are pleased to introduce our special speaker today and thank her for rescheduling with us. We had a little difficulty a couple of weeks ago but we are trying again today. ... 01:02:27 PM Avagene Moore:Dorothy Tao is currently the acting manager of the Information Service for the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER).... 01:02:46 PM Avagene Moore:previously the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER)). ... 01:02:55 PM Avagene Moore:She is the editor of the MCEER Information Service News, which provides news of projects and publications in the earthquake engineering/natural hazards mitigation community. ... 01:03:10 PM Avagene Moore:Prior to this, Dorothy was the Information Specialist at NCEER for six years, providing reference service to users, writing articles and guides to earthquake information topics, and engaging in outreach. ... 01:03:25 PM Avagene Moore:Dorothy is especially interested in applying new technologies to enhance earthquake information transfer, and was responsible for launching E-News, a customized electronic service that alerts users to earthquake information from the News, based on the user's self-defined interest profile. ... 01:03:37 PM Avagene Moore:She currently serves as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Earthquake Information Provider's Group (EqIP), which endeavors to encourage collaboration and discourage duplication of effort among its members. ... 01:04:16 PM Avagene Moore:Dorothy has been involved in the EqIP effort since its inception in 1996 ... 01:04:29 PM Avagene Moore:Might add that EqIP met in Amhearst NY last week. Dorothy may wish to share something about that meeting as she informs us today about this effort. ... 01:04:38 PM Avagene Moore:Dorothy, thank you for joining us today to tell us about MCEER and EqIP. I now turn the floor to you. 01:04:59 PM Dorothy Tao:Avagene, thank you for inviting me to participate in the EIIP Forum. Today I wanted to introduce you to the MCEER (Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research) Information Service and also to an important endeavor that we've been involved in called the Earthquake Information Provider's Group (EqIP).... which held its second biennial meeting in last week Buffalo on October 4-6, 1998.. 01:06:15 PM Dorothy Tao:First, about the MCEER Information Service .... As part of the technology transfer effort of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering, (formerly NCEER) and established in 1986, the Information Service mission is to provide a fast and efficient mechanism for transferring earthquake engineering and natural hazard mitigation information to: researchers, practicing engineers, planners, emergency preparedness officials, students at all levels, a 01:06:57 PM Dorothy Tao:and the concerned lay public.... We use both traditional methods and new technologies to transfer information.... 01:07:32 PM Dorothy Tao:For example, we have acquired a very large and comprehensive collection of literature in earthquake engineering and natural hazard information, that encompasses the socioeconomic aspects of earthquake mitigation as well. The collection includes books, journals, conference proceedings, technical reports, videos, slides, CD-ROM, maps, codes, brochures, and other ephemeral materials such as unpublished papers. We loan these materials to users both nationall 01:08:11 PM Dorothy Tao:both nationally and internationally... 01:08:43 PM Dorothy Tao:We provide reference service to engineers, academics, emergency managers, government officials, and the interested lay public. Most users contact us by e-mail and telephone. We perform manual and computerized literature searches to answer their questions... In the last week we have responded to questions, such as what type of damage might be expected from a 5.2 earthquake? Can you send me a list of materials on fragility curves and damage of reinforced 01:09:14 PM Dorothy Tao:Can you send me a list of materials on fragility curves and damage of reinforced concrete? I live in Southeastern Michigan and thought I felt an earthquake early Friday morning. How can I verify this? To answer such questions, we mail written materials... we perform and mail (either e-mail or postal) searches, and we refer users to other sources. For example, we referred the Michigan user to the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, CO.... 01:09:44 PM Dorothy Tao: As I mentioned, we provide document delivery (photocopies) by mail and we loan books and technical reports through interlibrary loan.... 01:10:11 PM Dorothy Tao:We also have created the QUAKELINE database of earthquake engineering/natural hazard mitigation literature that contains over 32,000 records. QUAKELINE is available for FREE searching on the MCEER Web site at http://mceer.buffalo.edu. QUAKELINE is also available on a CD-ROM, Earthquakes and the Built Environment Index (EBEI) that we produced in collaboration with UC/Berkeley. All the materials in QUAKELINE are in our library collection. Users can obta 01:10:37 PM Dorothy Tao: Users can obtain them either through loan or photocopy from the Information Service... 01:11:11 PM Dorothy Tao:In addition as Avagene mentioned, we publish a newsletter for the earthquake engineering and earthquake hazard community called the MCEER Information Service News. The newsletter is mailed to over 550 subscribers worldwide and is also freely available in its entirety on the MCEER Web site http://mceer.buffalo.edu... 01:11:53 PM Dorothy Tao:Because the newsletter is in HTML, users can link to organizations and persons featured in the news, so in a sense it is like a network. For example, in this month's issue, I announced a FEMA CD-ROM, which contains preparedness materials especially for educators. I have included the project director's, Ray Swisher's e-mail, and anyone reading the "News" online can immediately contact Ray and request a copy. Because we aim to reach a multidisciplinary us 01:12:31 PM Dorothy Tao: E-News notifies users by e-mail when each issue of our newsletter is on the Web and creates a customized web version of the newsletter based on a user profile that each user/subscriber has defined.... I have been told that E-News is called "Intelligent Push" technology... 01:13:36 PM Dorothy Tao:The MCEER web site contains a comprehensive list of upcoming earthquake engineering/natural hazards meetings, reviews of new publications, guides to International Seismic Codes and strong motion records, guides to FEMA earthquake engineering publications, links to other organization and much more... 01:14:57 PM Dorothy Tao:On our web site, we have also created a frequently-asked question (FAQ's) section for secondary teachers and students in New York State. This FAQ answers questions that are commonly asked, such as, are there earthquakes in New York State? How do earthquakes affect buildings? The FAQ also describes and illustrates advanced earthquake engineering techniques like base isolation and active dampers. The FAQ is located at http://www.mceer.buffalo.edu. We a 01:15:25 PM Dorothy Tao:We are in the process of animating the FAQ and making it interactive for students and teachers. 01:16:35 PM Amy Sebring:(Punctuation will produce an error .... use http://www.mceer.buffalo.edu ) 01:16:54 PM Avagene Moore:(Thanks, Amy.) 01:16:59 PM Dorothy Tao:I am having a little difficulty but am almost to EqIP. Bear with me. 01:17:15 PM Avagene Moore:No problem, Dorothy. You are doing fine. 01:18:40 PM Dorothy Tao:I don't seem to able to copy from my notebook. 01:19:03 PM Dorothy Tao:I'll keep trying. 01:19:11 PM Avagene Moore:Can you type in what you wish to tell us about EqIP? 01:19:43 PM Avagene Moore:Sometimes the pasting feature works after you have input on the keyboard. I find that works. 01:20:23 PM Avagene Moore:Bear with us, folks. 01:20:50 PM Dorothy Tao: Yes, I can. it will just take a little longer. I was just going to say, as you mentioned, Avagene, that the EqIP group was first initiated in 1996. 01:21:23 PM Dorothy Tao:The group just held its second biennial meeting in Buffalo on October 4-6, 1998... 01:22:18 PM Dorothy Tao:The purpose of EqIP is to: facilitate access to earthquake information by collaboration of efforts, minimizing duplication, and providing a forum for earthquake information providers to exchange information and ideas... 01:24:21 PM Dorothy Tao:EqIP also has a web site, EQNET, at http://www.eqnet.org that is intended as a tool to promote the mission of EqIP. EQNET is working toward providing a single gateway to earthquake information. While it is still a work in progress, EQNET provides both subject and alphabetical lists so that users can link to the best sources of information... 01:25:43 PM Dorothy Tao:EqIP had originally been suggested by representatives of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and USGS. Members of the group include the National Information Service in Earthquake Engineering at UC/Berkeley (NISEE)... 01:26:34 PM Dorothy Tao:, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC)... 01:28:21 PM Dorothy Tao:The Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center (NHRAIC) in Boulder, where Dave Butler is, the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) in Golden, Co, the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) in Memphis, and of course, EIIP, NGDC, and a number of others. 01:28:39 PM Dorothy Tao:Let me say a few words about the recent meeting... 01:29:31 PM Dorothy Tao:The Second Biennial Meeting of EqIP brought together over 30 earthquake information providers from across the country for a spirited exchange of ideas and opinions... 01:30:33 PM Dorothy Tao:In adition to sharing update information on their organizations, the agenda featured a user's panel of earthquake information users... 01:31:30 PM Dorothy Tao:The users were a practicing structural engineer, an emergency preparedness expert, an insurance information specialist, and an engineer from the California Seismic Safety Commission. ... 01:32:18 PM Dorothy Tao:These users described the types of information they seek and some of the problems they encounter in seeking it. They made recommendations for improving service. 01:32:27 PM Dorothy Tao:Almost done 01:33:12 PM Dorothy Tao:The said to simplify and speed up online service, provide access to translators who can guide people to the best information... 01:33:41 PM Dorothy Tao:But to sum up... most of the meeting was devoted to strategic planning... 01:34:23 PM Dorothy Tao:The group collaborated on establishing a vision and a mission in an attempt to construct a guiding charter... 01:35:00 PM Dorothy Tao:Jill Andrews (jandrews@terra.usc.edu) of SCEC is the new chair of the EqIP steering committee. 01:35:38 PM Dorothy Tao:SCEC has also set up an EqIP LISTSERV for additional online collaboration.... 01:36:09 PM Dorothy Tao:so the mission, vision, and charter will be ready for the next meeting in JULY 01:36:35 PM Dorothy Tao:So that's provides some background about EqIP and MCEER. I'll be pleased to answer questions... 01:36:44 PM Avagene Moore:Thank you, Dorothy. Before we take questions from the audience ... 01:36:56 PM Avagene Moore:To keep order in our session, please submit a question mark (?) to indicate you have a question for Dorothy. You may compose your question but hold it until you are recognized by the moderator. Once recognized, you may submit your question. First question, please. 01:37:27 PM Isabel McCurdy:? 01:37:32 PM Avagene Moore:Isabel. 01:37:46 PM Russell Coile:? 01:38:22 PM Isabel McCurdy:Any other Canadian invovement, other than the Director? 01:38:38 PM Amy Sebring:? 01:39:57 PM Dorothy Tao:In EqIP, we do not have Canadian participants; however, many individual members collaborate with Canadian Organizations. MCEER, for example works with the Canadian Geological Survey and Canadian Earthquake Engineering Centers.... 01:42:06 PM Dorothy Tao:Are we will chatting 01:42:19 PM Avagene Moore:Russell, your question please. 01:42:26 PM Russell Coile:Will there be a proceedings or any report of the EqIP Oct meeting? 01:42:28 PM Dorothy Tao:Are we still chatting? 01:42:51 PM Dorothy Tao:No, however, there will be minutes .. 01:43:22 PM Avagene Moore:Amy, your question please. 01:43:24 PM Amy Sebring:You mentioned translators, are you a clearinghouse for earthquake information world-wide? 01:45:29 PM Dorothy Tao:By translators, I meant that Information specialists often try to interpret the questions that people ask and provide suitable information for their requests that may be in language that they can understand. In that sense, we help to translate highly technical information for lay users. 01:45:57 PM Avagene Moore:Other questions for Dorothy? Please submit ? 01:45:58 PM Amy Sebring:I see, but do you in fact have a global user base? 01:45:59 PM Dorothy Tao:However, we are a clearinghouse for earthquake information world wide... 01:46:36 PM Dorothy Tao:And with the advent of the web, and our online information request form, we receive many international requests for earthquake information. 01:46:49 PM Avagene Moore:Other questions, please. 01:46:56 PM ASDargush:From an MCEER perspective, information transllation is augmented by access to a host of technical experts, who are based throughout the world. 01:47:22 PM Avagene Moore:Thank you for the commment. 01:47:59 PM Avagene Moore:Dorothy, I have a question ... 01:48:25 PM Dorothy Tao:yes? 01:48:29 PM Avagene Moore:I am aware of the timeframe for the EqIP deliberations on strategic planning ... 01:48:33 PM bruce c hildebrand:To what extent, or in what ways, do you handle information regarding fresh or current earthquake incidents that may occur right now? 01:48:45 PM Avagene Moore:(Just a moment, Bruce.) 01:49:09 PM Avagene Moore:How important is the Internet and Mail Lists to EqiP for carrying out their work? 01:49:45 PM Jose Musse:? 01:50:37 PM Avagene Moore:Dorothy, please respond to either question. We can track your responses. 01:50:37 PM Dorothy Tao:I would say they are very important. The participants are thousands of miles apart and the Internet provides an excellent means of keeping in touch and exchanging information. 01:51:04 PM Avagene Moore:Good, now respond to Bruce's question please. 01:52:13 PM Dorothy Tao:In answer to Bruce's question, we provide information that we receive on current seismicity from the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) of the USGS in Colorado. 01:52:36 PM Avagene Moore:Jose, your question next. Last question we have time for today. 01:52:41 PM Dorothy Tao:Or we refer questioners to their web site or their hot line.. 01:52:57 PM Avagene Moore:(sorry, Dorothy) 01:53:02 PM Jose Musse:Information is available in spanish? 01:54:39 PM Dorothy Tao:We do have information in the Spanish Language, however, most of our information is in English. If you asked for information in Spanish, I might refer you to one of the Disaster Information Services in South America. 01:54:47 PM Avagene Moore:Our time is about up today for our Round Table discussion. Dorothy, thank you for rescheduling with us today. Very good information .... 01:54:52 PM Kevin Farrell:Jose is in Peru Dorothy. His audience would need references in spanish. 01:55:15 PM Avagene Moore:To our audience, thank you. (Thanks for the note of clarification, Kevin.) 01:55:22 PM Kevin Farrell::-) 01:55:41 PM Avagene Moore:Now to tell you a little bit about what's coming up in the Virtual Forum... 01:55:51 PM Dorothy Tao:Yes, I am not very familiar with the organizations in Latin America, but if he had a specific request, I think I could refer him to someone who could answer his question. 01:55:59 PM Jose Musse:Thanx Kevin 01:56:00 PM Avagene Moore:Tomorrow is October 14, "World Disaster Day" --- the Virtual Form will featured speakers from the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. We will talk about the IDNDR ongoing Virtual Conference and other World Disaster Day activities. Should be interesting! ... 01:56:20 PM Avagene Moore:12:00 Noon Eastern time in the Virtual Forum ... 01:56:49 PM Avagene Moore:Amy, would you like to plug the WEBEX on Nov 5? 01:57:05 PM Amy Sebring:Sorry 01:57:10 PM Amy Sebring:was out of the room 01:57:39 PM Avagene Moore:We are in the process of getting all players confirmed for one thing. 01:57:40 PM Amy Sebring:We will be holding the first ever functional exercise online Nov. 5 01:57:54 PM Amy Sebring:Most of the materials are now posted on ... 01:58:04 PM Amy Sebring:http://www.vfre.com/webex/ 01:58:21 PM Amy Sebring:This will be a hazardous materials exercise and participants are welcome. 01:58:32 PM Avagene Moore:Very welcome! 01:59:05 PM Avagene Moore:Again, thank you, Dorothy. Hope this was pleasurable for you. So glad you were able to stay connected today. 01:59:25 PM Amy Sebring:Thank you for perservering Dorothy!! 01:59:37 PM Amy Sebring: 02:00:03 PM Dorothy Tao:Avagene, many thanks for your kind invitation. I enjoyed meeting all of you. 02:00:07 PM Avagene Moore:If anyone wishes to stay online a few moments, you may do so. Officially, the formal part of our session is over. We can speak informmally now and express our appreciation to Dorothy. 02:00:20 PM Isabel McCurdy:applause, applause, Dorothy! 02:00:24 PM Avagene Moore:You did a great job for us, Dorothy. 02:00:29 PM Jose Musse:<<<<<<<<>>>>> 02:00:43 PM Jose Musse:<<<<<<<>>>>><<>>>>>> 02:00:55 PM Russell Coile:Thanks for all the info! 02:01:10 PM Avagene Moore:Our commendations for your courage as a pioneer on the Net! 02:01:15 PM Ann Willis:Good presentation, Dorothy. Technology is great when it works. 02:01:26 PM David Butler:Thanks D - talk to you soon. 02:01:53 PM ASDargush:NIce job; great to participate - thanks! 02:01:56 PM bruce c hildebrand:We've fixed things up here quite a bit, in terms of my connection. So, I was able to enjoy and participate more this time. Thank you, Dorothy, for your useful information. I'll look forward to the complete transcript! 02:01:56 PM Amy Sebring:Dorothy, is serious research continuing into prediction of events? 02:02:01 PM Avagene Moore:Good point, Ann. We all have bad Internet days occasionally. 02:02:04 PM Dorothy Tao:Thanks to all of you. Ann, thanks for telling me about intelligent push!!! 02:03:17 PM Ann Willis:Thank you, for the database search. 02:03:48 PM Kevin Farrell: Good job Dorothy! 02:04:17 PM Dorothy Tao:I really am not the one to answer that question. I would say that research is now focusing on the probabilities of earthquakes, rather than prediction. If Andrea is still here, perhaps she could comment.. 02:04:59 PM ASDargush:That is correct. US scientific community believes this is the most cost-effective approach at this time. 02:05:18 PM Avagene Moore:Glad to have you here today, Andrea. 02:05:34 PM ASDargush:Thanks for the notice! 02:05:55 PM Avagene Moore:You are welcome! Bruneau, is this your first time here also? 02:06:26 PM bruneau:First time, as an observer at this time, for a few minutes... 02:06:56 PM Avagene Moore:Great! We hope you will come back. Never know who will be here or what we will talk about. 02:07:32 PM Ann Willis:Dorothy, you must have a large staff to keep up with all the information available. 02:07:58 PM Avagene Moore:One of our speakers for tomorrow is supposed to join us shortly. Helena Molin from Puerto Rica. 02:08:24 PM Dorothy Tao:Actually, we have a relatively small staff that works very hard. 02:08:57 PM Russell Coile:Jose - no! 02:09:48 PM Dorothy Tao:We concentrate on earthquake engineering and the socioeconomic/psychological impacts of earthquakes and other disasters. And we try to focus on disseminating information that our users need, such as new publications, new meetings, etc. 02:09:55 PM Amy Sebring:Thanks everyone. I have to get back to work at my real job. Don't even have time for lunch today. Bye all. 02:10:51 PM Russell Coile:Amy - look at http://www.shore.net/~globalw/ungp/ for prediction research 02:10:51 PM Dorothy Tao:Isabel ? 02:11:05 PM Isabel McCurdy:Any future plans to incorporate other countries / 02:13:01 PM Rick Tobin:Russell, you sure you type the URL ok? It comes up with an error when I click on it. 02:13:13 PM David Butler:Adios also - have to go . . . have good days all. 02:13:20 PM Dorothy Tao:We have been asked to assist several other countries in setting up earthquake information services. And I am attending a meeting in Costa Rica on a global disaster information network. As usual, resources are limited, but we are exploring possibilities. As I said, we receive numerous international requests. 02:14:43 PM Dorothy Tao:We would like to network with other countries. Such an effort must have resources, however. 02:15:22 PM ASDargush:The logistics of this networking is also more complex than one would imagine and can be timeconsuming to establish. 02:16:05 PM Russell Coile:Rick - I will try to get the correct URL for you. What is your e-mail? 02:17:16 PM Isabel McCurdy:Russell, email me and I'll ensure that the correct URL is placed in the transcript. 02:17:22 PM Dorothy Tao:This highlights one of the issues that the Internet brings up -- the broadening of the user base, the increase in requests. 02:18:20 PM Dorothy Tao:Avagene, I think it's time for me to sign off. Many thanks again, for inviting me. 02:18:36 PM Isabel McCurdy:Dorothy, what is the most FAQ? 02:18:47 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks to you, Dorothy. You gave a lot of extra time to us. I appreciate it. Note: The following URL was subsequently provided by Russell Coile for current information regarding earthquake prediction: http://www.globalwatch.org/ungp/