JCMT User Documentation - an Update

Since this time last year there has been a gradual shift in emphasis as far as the sources of documentation go, away from the e-mail-based fileserver system (JCMT_INFO) in favour of the World-Wide Web on Internet. Most of the important information an intending or actual observer needs to know can be retrieved from the Web. The URL for the JCMT home page is:

/JCMT/home.html

The histogram shows the number of WWW accesses per month from the beginning of 1995 for JCMT and UKIRT combined. Overlaying the evident trend towards increasing usage of the Web pages, there is a burst of activity in February and, particularly, March, due presumably to the impending application deadlines. Taken separately, access to the JCMT pages considerably exceeds that for the UKIRT page, probably a result of the wider user community. The two items attracting most attention are the User's Guide and SCUBA information.

The interest in our Web pages is encouraging, and I expect this will further erode the effort spent by myself on the fileserver, at the very least for the reason that maintaining two systems takes more time than just one. However, I am mindful that not all of our customers may find the Web convenient for all purposes, and that certain information is more valuable to you than others, so I am interested in your views. If you want to write to me, send me an e-mail at my address below.

One of the major pieces of information accessible from the JCMT home page is to be the Astronomer's Reference Manual (ARM). Generally this is useful if you are actually going to observe with the JCMT. It consists of eight major sections, and at the moment of writing two of these are available on the Web (Parts 5 and 6, on making spectral line observations, and reducing the data, respectively). As I continue to update the ARM, the other sections will appear in this form. Only material available to me electronically is to be included in the Web version.

The complete ARM is available in hardcopy in Hilo, at HP, and at the JCMT. In addition 'roving' (and boldly numbered) copies will be made available on loan to visiting observers at the JCMT, one per observing team, starting August 1 (i.e. with the beginning of semester 95B). The fact that I promised this would happen a year ago shows that this is a bigger undertaking than I estimated.

Your 'roving' copy can be picked up on check-in at the JAC before going to the summit. Roxana Myers in the front office will ask you to sign for it, and you will be responsible for returning it at the conclusion of your run. If you don't want one to take up with you, then just tell Roxana. In view of the amount of work involved in creating and maintaining these copies I am not keen on losing any of them.

However, while your copy is in your possession, I would like to encourage you to write comments in it. In this way I will be able to upgrade the information contained in the ARM as I review your comments during the continuing process of revision.

Henry Matthews, JAC

Information Coordinator