A number of information sources are available to the user of the JCMT, to help in the preparation of proposals, in the planning and execution of observing, and in subsequent analysis. By definition, documentation is never complete or fully up-to-date. For this reason I welcome and encourage a dynamic interaction with the user community on any aspects of existing material; this can only help to improve our information services. Also, in the fairly near term we will making much more use of electronic media, and there will be a corresponding decrease in the emphasis on the printed page.

At present the main sources of information for the user are:

1. A guide for intending users of the JCMT, titled "The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope; a Guide for the Prospective User". For most purposes this is referred to as the `User Guide'.
2. A manual of detailed information on observing techniques, equipment, and data reduction, called the "Astronomer's Reference Manual". You will not need this until you have been granted time or have data from the JCMT.
3. An e-mail fileserver, containing information on all aspects related to the JCMT, including proposal deadlines, equipment sensitivities, and news items of interest to the observer, potential or actual.
4. The JCMT Newsletter acts as a forum for the transmission of news regarding developments at the JCMT, as well as a source of examples of recent research carried out with the telescope.
5. the JAC and at the JCMT printed copies of manuals concerned with specific data reduction packages (such as SPECX and CLASS), and other major utilities, are provided for detailed information on site.
6. Archival information (such as beam maps - see Goeran Sandell's note in this Newsletter) is beginning to be made available by anonymous FTP from the JAC computer system.
7. A series of single-page `fact sheets' on individual receivers and aspects of the telescope have been prepared, and will be maintained as current as possible.
8. There is also a three-volume Telescope Operator's manual and a collection of `MT' notes, both of which are more technical and detailed in general, but which may on occasion be worth consulting.
9. Other sources of user information, such as the data archive, are outside the scope of this note, and are described elsewhere in this and previous Newsletters.

For the moment, the e-mail fileserver is our most complete information medium. It was described in the August 1993 issue of the JCMT Newsletter. Much of the information contained in it can also be found in printed form. Information can be retrieved from this system by sending short one-line commands by e-mail to it. The simplest way of getting acquainted with this system is to send the one-line message

help

to JCMT_INFO@JACH.HAWAII.EDU. A couple of files will be sent by return e-mail to you, one a `transaction log', which can be discarded, and the other a text file describing the fileserver.

The User's Guide is available in several forms. Printed copies may be obtained through the offices of the partner countries, or from the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hilo, Hawaii. If you send me an e-mail, I will arrange to send you a copy. Also, if you happen to be in Hilo, usually it is possible just to pick one up. The User Guide can also be obtained by e-mail through the fileserver, by sending it the message

send userguide.ps

There are two things to know about the version of the User's Guide you will receive in return. (a) it is in Postscript format (designed for North American paper format), so that you will need to have a compatible printer at your end, and (b) the VMS file size is about 13,000 blocks, so you will need to have a fair amount of disk space free. For the first time, beginning with the 1 August 1994 version, the User Guide comes with all figures embedded in the file. This is the reason for both the size and format of the Guide. Finally, the User's Guide can be browsed on the World-Wide Web by starting at the JAC home page

(http://jach.hawaii.edu/).

For a brief while (until I catch up with it), the version available by this means will be somewhat older than the most recent issue.

A simplified (ASCII) version of the User's Guide can be found in the fileserver; ask for file `receivers.summary'.

The Astronomer's Reference Manual presently comes in eight major sections, and is too large to economically distribute by regular mail. It is presently available only at the JCMT, at Hale Pohaku, and in Hilo. I am currently overhauling all of the sections with a view to making a new base version. This version should be ready for use by 1 September 1994. It is then my intention to provide `roving' numbered copies which will be loaned to visiting observing teams for the duration of their stay in Hawaii, as well as `static' copies, which will be based at each of the sites. This base version will be made available on the fileserver (as separate parts) as soon as time permits, and subsequently on the World-Wide Web. The latter is the ultimate goal, but since it involves an enormous amount of work, it cannot take place overnight. A sensible estimate of the date for this is 1 April 1995. In the meantime, I want to encourage all visiting observers (and local staff) to scribble comments, corrections, and additions on the `roving' copies; as such remarks are returned to me I will use them to improve the manual, with the intention to fully update the set once every six months approximately.

The Astronomer's Manual consists of sections describing (1) the logistics of coming to Hawaii to observe with the JCMT, (2) a quick-start set of procedures for observing, and fundamental concepts, (3) continuum photometry (mostly, but not exclusively, with UKT14), (4) continuum map-making and data reduction, (5) spectral line instrumentation and observing techniques, (6) spectral line data reduction, (7) utilities and facilities available to the user, and (8) the JAC computer network, VMS, and other basic aspects. There are separate manuals detailing the data reduction packages and utilities offered to the user, but these tend to be indigestible for the infrequent or first-time user, and for this reason short `cookbook' descriptions are being included as part of the relevant sections of the Astronomer's Manual.

The Telescope Operator's Manual is primarily for the benefit of the TO's, naturally, and as such it contains operational procedures ranging from safety issues through detailed instructions on the secondary mirror unit to an introduction to SPECX. However, there is intentional overlap between these volumes and the Astronomer's Reference Manual; it is in our interest, and yours, that the TO's can be helpful in the observing process itself as well as in its execution. As a group the TO's have the responsibility to see that their manuals are up-to-date and effective; areas where they feel improvements are necessary (most at present) are communicated to myself and Chris Purton (as their supervisor) for further action. For the moment there is no move to provide electronic versions of the TO's manuals; however, I will be considering this question next year once we have made significant progress with the material to be placed on the World-Wide Web.

Finally, we have a large number of other sources of information which exist separately from the above manuals and computer files. In addition to the self-contained manuals on data reduction and so forth, there are many engineering, hardware, and software documents of greater or lesser utility to the user and to local staff. We are beginning to work on ways to rationalize these within the overall scheme of documentation, with the primary goal being that of effectively meeting the various needs of the JCMT observing community and the local staff.

Henry Matthews, JAC

Information Coordinator

HEM@JACH.HAWAII.EDU