Interlab 2006

24 Oct 2006, 08:00 → 27 Oct 2006, 20:00 US/Central

Fermilab

Jack Schmidt (FNAL), Penelope Constanta (Fermilab)

InterLab is a series of workshops, technical presentations, and discussions focused solely on technical and management issues related to the web-based delivery of scientific information from Department of Energy National Laboratories. Among the topics discussed are website usability and accessibility, web-based collaboration tools, web server administration, and web client and server security, and web standards/best practices.

Wednesday, 25 October

08:15 → 08:45 Workshop Registration

08:45 → 09:00 Welcome

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1826

09:00 → 10:30 Using the New Research-Based Usability Guidelines Book

09:00 Using the New Research-Based Usability Guidelines Book

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1852

10:30 → 10:45 Break

10:45 → 11:45 An Integrated & Open Platform for Collaboration, Content Management & Search: Does Microsoft SharePoint 2007 deliver ?

11:45 → 12:45 Lunch

12:45 → 13:45 1 hour Tour at Fermi

13:45 → 14:30 FNAL Web Based Enterprise Security Information Track

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1854

13:45 FNAL Web Based Enterprise Security Information

The FNAL Computer Security Team presents their efforts to move existing toolsets and data extraction processes to unified access and presentation methods via the web browser.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1854

14:30 → 15:00 Enterprise Project Management

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1855

15:00 → 15:45 Effective Web Content: Writing, Semantic Markup, and Search Optimization

paper - Chervenak http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1879

paper - Lewis http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1880

paper - Osborn http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1881

15:45 → 16:00 Break

16:00 → 17:15 Social Networks, the Semantic Web, and the Future of Online Scientific Collaboration

17:15 → 18:00 Informal Discussions

18:00 → 20:00 Welcome Reception - Sponsored by Autonomy, Inc.

Thursday, 26 October

08:30 → 09:00 The Big Ideas in Web 2.0

08:30 The Big Ideas in Web 2.0

There is indeed a great deal of hype surrounding discussion of what has been called Web 2.0, but there are also some great ideas and concepts. This talk will describe how you can start using these big ideas in your current Web sites now. Examples will include mashups and rich user interfaces.

09:00 → 09:15 e-Labs: Online Student Investigations Using Grid Techniques

09:00 : e-Labs: Online Student Investigations Using Grid Techniques

We describe a website that uses grid computing techniques to support the collaborative learning of high school students doing scientific investigations. Students gather and upload science data to our e-Lab portal or use data provided by scientific collaborations. They explore those data using techniques from the GriPhyN collaboration. These techniques include virtual data transformations, workflows, metadata cataloging and indexing, data product provenance and persistence, as well as job planners for execution locally and on the grid. Students use web browsers and a custom interface that extends the GriPhyN Chiron portal to perform all of these tasks. They share results in the form of online posters and ask each other questions in this asynchronous environment. Students can discover and extend the research of other students, modeling the processes of modern large-scale scientific collaborations. Also, the e-Lab portal provides tools for teachers to guide student work throughout an investigation.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1858

09:15 → 10:15 Building the Next Generation of Web Applications with ASP.NET "Atlas"

09:15 Building the Next Generation of Web Applications with ASP.NET "Atlas"

Tired of postbacks taking precious seconds away from your Web app’s performance? Do users complain about slow-loading pages? Are you wondering what the AJAX buzz is all about? Join us to learn how you can take advantage of ASP.NET 2.0’s new AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) framework – code-named “Atlas”– to build next-generation Web applications. This presentation starts with an overview of the Atlas architecture, along with associated scenarios and discussion of the AJAX programming model. We’ll cover how to use Atlas to both enhance new or existing ASP.NET applications using the familiar server control approach, as well as how to create applications that incorporate AJAX, Web services and rich DHTML-based user experiences.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1859

10:15 → 10:30 Break

10:30 → 11:15 Strategic Project Planning for the Web

10:30 Strategic Project Planning for the Web

Before a single pixel is set to screen, a strategic Web project plan is critical to ensure that all resources are properly aligned to deliver a successful Web project. This presentation will discuss the methodology used by Xeno Media for planning mid- to large- size Web projects and identify key components of strategic project plans.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1860

11:15 → 12:00 Implementing an Open Source Web-Based CRM for Fermilab's Community Envoy Program

11:15 Implementing an Open Source Web-Based CRM for Fermilab's Community Envoy Program

In the 1980's, when the Department of Energy proposed Fermilab as a possible site for the Superconducting Super Collider, a local citizens group spearheaded community opposition to the project. "Fermilab is no longer a good neighbor," proclaimed a full-page newspaper advertisement sponsored by CATCH, or Citizens Against the Collider Here. Fermilab doesn't want to make the same mistake twice. That's one reason why Fermilab has instituted a Community Envoy Program. The main goal of the program, however, is to create and maintain meaningful relationships with people in the surrounding communities. Designed as a program that matches up employees with key stakeholders, such as mayors and school superintendents, the envoys will provide information about the lab, receive meaningful feedback and become the stakeholders' personal connections to Fermilab. In order to track progress, communication and feedback for this program, Xeno Media implemented and customized an open source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product, SugarCRM. This presentation will discuss the selection process, features, challenges and overall suitability of the model for "constituent" rather than "customer" relationship management.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1861

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 14:00 1 hour Tour at Fermi informal Discussion

14:00 → 14:15 Evolution of "The Interaction Point" to online "SLAC Today"

14:00 Evolution of "The Interaction Point" to online "SLAC Today"

The Interaction Point (TIP) began as a monthly publication in 1990 and then a bi-weekly newspaper from September 2002 to February 2006, when it ceased publication. Devoted to site-specific news for all employees, it was replaced in 2006 by the daily online newsletter SLAC Today. Starting in February 2006, SLAC Today is emailed to all SLAC employees and users every weekday. This talk will discuss the process of generating the daily newsletter including some of the lessons learned, staff reactions, and staffing issues.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1865

14:00 → 14:15 The multi-laboratory project management - The Global Project Tracking System

14:00 The multi-laboratory project management - The Global Project Tracking System

The Global Project Tracking System (GPTS) manages research and development projects and allows coordination of data processing and resource flow. The aim of the GPTS is to integrate into one database information about all types of projects at the JGI and deliver an extensive set of web reports and management tools to a variety of users. The system coordinates work of the scientists processing DNA across the national laboratories by enabling them to track the stages of their research. The GPTS also gives access to the information about the work flow to external reviewers as well as collaborators who initiated the sequencing project. The system allows for systematic tracking high level information hence project bottlenecks can be discovered and the efficiency of the workflow can be enhanced. The GPTS can also be used for tracking software development projects. The flexible design we have adopted addresses the complex and quickly changing requirements at the JGI. The goal is achieved by meta-definition of projects (sequencing, software development, and proposals) and their attributes (genome size, contact information, status). This enables users to create new types of data without modifying the application code. Moreover, UI specificity supports different kind of users thus each of them can modify the predefined set of queries and reports according to their requirements. To support a wide variety of on-site and off-site users, a reusable security module was developed to provide flexible access management. The GPTS is a three tier solution with database in the back-end, application server and two types of clients (Java Swing client launched thru Web Start, and JavaServer Faces web client). Moreover, using SOAP protocol provided a platform to integrate the GPTS with other systems at the JGI and other laboratories. The system will ultimately allow us to scale up to a very large number of concurrent projects run at reduced cost. Therefore it will enable a significant increase of the JGI’s sequencing capability.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1862

14:15 → 14:45 Using the Internet to Facilitate Citizen Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

14:15 Using the Internet to Facilitate Citizen Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

Argonne National Laboratory's Environmental Science Division (EVS) has utilized both the World Wide Web and e-mail to foster public participation in environmental decision-making since 1996. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires that Federal agencies involve public stakeholders in the development of environmental impact statements (EISs). Public involvement programs for EIS projects have traditionally relied primarily on public meetings and paper-based mailings to disseminate EIS information and documents to public stakeholders, and to obtain comments and information from stakeholders concerning the scope and content of the EIS. Paper- and meeting-based public involvement programs are relatively expensive, and are often limited to stakeholders located near meeting locations. Internet-based public involvement programs utilize Web sites for near-zero unit cost for distribution of EIS documents and information, regardless of stakeholder location. Web-based commenting facilitates efficient electronic processing of public comments, while e-mail can be used effectively to notify interested stakeholders of important project news and events. This presentation will discuss the major components of EVS's Internet-based public involvement programs and their application to several major EIS projects. EVS's experience has shown that Internet-based public involvement applications are particularly effective for EISs that concern projects of regional or national scope and/or interest.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1865

14:15 → 14:45 What's All This I Hear About Information "Architecture?"

14:15 What's All This I Hear About Information "Architecture?"

An overview of information architecture (IA), some issues related to the IA process, and some practical tips for improving site navigation.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1863

14:45 → 15:15 Scientific Program Management System

14:45 Scientific Program Management System

Scientific Program Management System (SPMS) is an event organization management tool, developed by JACoW collaboration, geared towards the generation proceedings (paper and/or electronic). SPMS contains modules for editing, refereeing, program committee and registration. It is fully customizable for virtually any conference. SPMS imposes strict data control by maintaining a central repository of profiles (people, institutions and affiliations).

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1867

14:45 → 15:15 Web Application Security: The New Threat?

14:45 Web Application Security: The New Threat?

Since the operating system is becoming more difficult to exploit, hackers are now focusing on the applications and custom scripts offered by web hosts to compromise a system. This session will demonstrate a few of the common attacks and how they can be defeated.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1864

15:15 → 15:30 Break

15:30 → 16:00 The Drilling Waste Management Information System: An Interactive Web-Based Tool for Access to Technological, Environmental, and Regulatory Information on Drilling Waste Management

15:30 The Drilling Waste Management Information System: An Interactive Web-Based Tool for Access to Technological, Environmental, and Regulatory Information on Drilling Waste Management

Argonne National Laboratory's Environmental Science Division developed the Drilling Waste Management Information System (DWMIS) (http://web.ead.anl.gov/dwm) to provide a unique Web-based resource for technical and regulatory information on practices for managing oil and gas drilling muds and cuttings, including current practices, state and federal regulations, and guidelines for optimal management practices. Visitors can use these resources to learn about industry standard practices, determine which regulatory requirements must be met, and select optimal management strategies for their location and circumstances. The site consists of three modules. The Technology Description Module provides basic information about practices currently employed by industry to manage drilling wastes. The Regulatory Module identifies and summarizes state and federal regulations or guidelines that form the regulatory context for drilling waste management. The interactive Technology Identification Module requires users to answer a series of questions about their drilling project. The replies lead users through a decision tree, resulting in a suggested subset of waste-management options that would make the most sense for a given well location or environmental setting. The Web site was developed under DOE's Natural Gas and Oil Technology Partnership program, which supports joint national laboratory and industry research projects, and funded by the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1868

15:30 → 16:00 Using the AlphaFLow workflow system with Oracle - CANCELED

16:00 → 16:15 DocDB - A Document Repository

16:00 DocDB

DocDB is a collaborative open source document repository used by the Fermilab Computing Division and various experiments and collaborations at Fermilab. It supports versioning and the use of keywords and has various sort and search features.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1869

16:00 → 18:00 Informal Discussions

16:15 → 16:45 Indico a Meeting/Lecture/Conference tool

16:15 Indico a Meeting/Lecture/Conference tool

Indico (Integrated Digital Conference)is a web application to schedule and organize conferences, from single talks to complex meetings with sessions and contributions. Developed at CERN, Fermilab is quickly embracing this tool for organizing meetings, small conferences and workshops. We will give an overview of features and share our experiences.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1870

16:45 → 18:00 Informal Discussion

18:00 → 19:00 Cocktails followed by Banquet dinner at the Chez Leon restaurant

Friday, 27 October

08:30 → 09:15 How to Deploy a Centralized Web Portal for Accessing Business, Communications, and Back-Office Applications

08:30 How to Deploy a Centralized Web Portal for Accessing Business, Communications, and Back-Office Applications

Chartered in 1946 as the country’s first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest research centers. Argonne has about 3000 employees, including more than 1000 scientists and engineers, of whom more than half hold doctorate degrees. Argonne’s annual operating budget of nearly $500 million supports nearly 200 research projects, ranging from studies of the atomic nucleus to research on global climate change. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies as well as other organizations. Based in Argonne, Illinois, the laboratory is operated by the University of Chicago. Like most private and public research facilities, Argonne must maintain a wide range of applications for users working both locally and remotely. With its wealth of scientific expertise, the laboratory must also support a variety of internal and external Web portals that deliver backoffice, administrative, and communications services to the lab’s eclectic array of subject-matter experts. Argonne National Laboratory deployed Sun Java Enterprise System portal and related services in 2004 to support its users and manage its operations. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the architecture, installation, and configuration of the portal server, access manager for single sign-on, web server, directory server, and related components in a highly-available, load- balanced configuration. The portal environment is now used by Argonne's roughly 3,000 employees.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1875

08:30 → 09:15 Ruby on Rails - The New Gem of Web Development

08:30 Ruby on Rails - The New Gem of Web Development

Ruby on Rails is a web application framework written in Ruby, a dynamically typed programming language. The amazing productivity claims of Rails is the current buzz in the web development community. If your job is to create or manage web applications that capture and manipulate relational database from a web-based user interface, then Ruby on Rails may be the solution you’ve been looking for to make your web development life easier. In this presentation: Get an introduction to Ruby on Rails Find out what’s behind the hype See it in action by building a fully functional application in minutes

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1871

09:15 → 09:30 Central Web Services at Fermilab

09:15 Central Web Services at Fermilab

An overview of central webservices at FNAL. The talk will cover our hardware and software configurations and automated tools for managing the service. In addition, we will also discuss the impact of additional security requirements imposed by the Lab Security Team. We expect these requirements will encourage managers of "oneof" web servers to make use of the central services.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1876

09:15 → 10:00 Open-process web design through WIKI

09:15 Open-process web design through WIKI

An open-to-the-Lab WIKI site is being used at Argonne National Laboratory to allow lab-wide participation in the re-design of the Argonne's intranet. A radical departure from the central design and top-to-bottom dissemination of the organizational web standards, this open process seeks involvement of all interested parties from many separate divisions and departments almost at the grass-roots level. Every step of the process is reflected in the project WIKI site; the system's inherent de-centralization and democratic contribution principles are a perfect match for the project's philosophy. In this presentation we will cover: * Project goals, principles and current state * WIKI implementation and content architecture * Site demonstration * Community participation & interest level * Our initial experience

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1872

09:30 → 10:00 Informal Discussions

10:00 → 10:15 Break

10:15 → 10:30 CSS Positioning vs. HTML Tables: Help!

10:15 CSS Positioning vs. HTML Tables: Help!

The World Wide Web Consortium created a very useful tool when they developed cascading style sheets (CSS) for use with HTML pages. No more hours spent changing background colors throughout my entire website, no more switching fonts from Times New Roman to Arial – and taking practically all day to do it. With CSS, it takes just one change to one page, and my site is modified and gorgeous. CSS had made my life as a web designer so much easier. Or has it? CSS are fine for simple presentation items, but when it comes to positioning elements on a web page, CSS fails. I have spent hours designing sites, trying to get a block of text to stay where I put it. On my computer, through Internet Explorer, the positioning is almost perfect. If I open the same page in Firefox or Netscape, the design breaks. I’ll then change the design and try again. But so often, I give up, break the rules and plop my elements in a table, frustrated and bewildered. In this presentation, I will compare and contrast CSS positioning with HTML tables. I will look for answers and welcome input on how to solve my dilemma.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1873

10:15 → 11:00 Python Tools for Web Development

10:15 Python Tools for Web Development

Trac from Edgewall.org and Django Web framework make a great platform for building scalable, MAINTAINABLE web applications. http://trac.edgewall.org http://djangoproject.com Trac, used in project management, fosters collaboration between team members and keeps everyone on the same page. Django is a Python-based web application framework that takes the drugery out of web development. Django's tagline is "The Web Framework for Perfectionists with Deadlines" This presentation includes: Quick hands-on summary of Trac functionality Tutorial on quickly deploying Django's slick admin interface and corresponding public application.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1877

10:30 → 11:15 Changing the (Inter) Face of PNNL

10:30 Changing the (Inter) Face of PNNL

During FY06 we set out to significantly redesign the PNNL public website, our most visible and accessible marketing tool, and to improve current processes for updating the site’s homepage with new content. This presentation will cover our process beginning with initial requirements, the techniques and technologies we employed to solve these problems, and the end results, lessons learned, and our path forward into FY07 and beyond. We will also be discussing how we have engineered the site to be forward-compatible, and to move in the direction of incremental changes over time instead of undertaking high-cost and high-risk website overhauls.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1874

11:00 → 11:45 Informal Discussions

11:15 → 11:45 Informal Discussions

11:45 → 12:00 Closing Remarks

11:45 Closing Remarks

Closing Remarks

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1878

12:00 → 13:30 Lunch

13:30 → 15:30 Tour at Fermi

17:00 → 20:00 testing

17:00 Welcome

Welcome from Interlab 06

Speaker: Mark Kaletka (Fermilab)

Paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1826

17:15 An Integrated & Open Platform for Collaboration, Content Management & Search: Does Microsoft SharePoint 2007 deliver ?

Background note: We will present not only the inherent value proposition of Collaboration/ECM/Search on the MS Platform (i.e. SharePoint), but also how that can co-exist and interop in a heterogeneous environment.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1853

18:15 Enterprise Project Management

Microsoft Enterprise Project Management Leveraging many of the best practices proven at The DOE’s Bonneville Power Authority during their deployment of Microsoft Project, explore where Microsoft Enterprise Project Management solution brings value to an organization for managing resources, prioritizing a portfolio of projects, build templates to deliver on regulatory mandates, milestones and capture key deliverables. Through the use of people, process and tools, the EPM solution can address many of the current project management challenges that the DOE Labs currently face.

paper http://cd-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=1855

18:45 Effective Web Content: Writing, Semantic Markup, and Search Optimization

A collaborative presentation in 3 parts. We will cover: * Specific tips on writing for the Web * Basic search optimization techniques that authors can use to improve search results for their Web pages * The advantages of semantic document markup, and its impact on search engine optimization.