<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Folks,<br><br>Thanks very much to
those of you who have responded to the survey regarding Databits, the
feedback is helpful and insightful. If you have not had a chance, please
try to address the survey this week - it will not take more than five to
ten minutes of your time.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">link to survey: <a href="https://forms.gle/XgEBGdT2vKGPQ3mX8" target="_blank">https://forms.gle/XgEBGdT2vKGPQ3mX8</a></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br>Thanks and regards,<br>IM Exex and Databits editors</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Aug 28, 2019 at 4:52 PM Stevan Earl <<a href="mailto:stevan.earl@asu.edu">stevan.earl@asu.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" id="gmail-m_59986040625059020gmail-docs-internal-guid-0f241689-7fff-e72e-343c-2d6668bde06d"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear LTER Information Manager,</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Recall we had decided at our 2019 IMC meeting in Tacoma that we would finish a discussion concerning the future of Databits, and settle on a direction during our September water cooler (please see below for context). In anticipation of that discussion, IM Exec and the Databits editors-elect would like to get additional feedback from you to help frame the conversation, and to provide IMC members unable to attend the water cooler opportunity to provide input. With those goals in mind, we ask that you please address this short survey (link below). The survey is anonymous, and should take no more than a few minutes of your time. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please respond to the survey no later than the end of the business day Wednesday, September 4th.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Under consideration is a proposal to change the current format of Databits, a collection of articles and stories related to LTER information management collected in PDF form approximately annually, to blog posts hosted on the LNO website. These blog posts could be tagged with a category for Databits such that it would work similarly to the tags used for each of the core themes (e.g., </span><a href="https://lternet.edu/research-themes/primary-production/" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">primary production</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">); stories could run in their own stream as a sidebar on the IM page and also mixed in with other story types on the home (and many other) pages; stories could employ a Databits logo to identify them clearly; and there would be a single archive where they could all be found. Databits stories on the LNO site could be cross-posted to EDI such that the full catalog stays with LNO but stories that are relevant to EDI also go on EDI with a link back to the LNO site. Outsized advantages of this blog approach are that it would improve searching tremendously, and make it far easier to reference and share links to particular content. Some issues that we need to resolve include how content would be moderated, that we will indeed continue to have Databits editors, and whether there is still a place for content like Site Bytes. Regardless of format (PDF issues/blog, or a mix), we would like your feedback on how Databits would best serve our community going forward. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">link to survey: <a href="https://forms.gle/XgEBGdT2vKGPQ3mX8" target="_blank">https://forms.gle/XgEBGdT2vKGPQ3mX8</a></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Thanks in advance for your consideration.</span></p><br><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">IM Exec</span></p></div></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b>Stevan Earl</b></span><br>Information Manager, Central Arizona<span>–</span>Phoenix LTER
<br>Data Manager, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability<br>
<span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;color:rgb(124,124,124)">P.O. Box 875402 | Tempe, Arizona | 85287-5402<br>
PH: 480-965-1851 | Main: 480-965-2975</span><div style="display:inline"></div><div style="display:inline"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>