🚀 go-pugleaf

  Here is the text of the brochure that CREN distributed at the EDUCOM
conference last month, for those who were unable to attend the
conference or did not visit the CREN booth.
  The text of the brochure is also available via ftp and the Internet
Gopher from info.cren.net, and a PostScript version should be available
in about a week, in the ftp directory /cren-info and the Gopher directory
CREN General Information.  The ftp files are brochure93.txt and ...ps,
the Gopher files "CREN Brochure - New BITNET Directions (text)" and
"CREN Brochure - New BITNET Directions (PostScript for printing)".  The
text is also available from LISTSERV@BITNIC (listserv@bitnic.cren.net)
as the file CREN93 BROCHURE.
                            Jim

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                        It's a NEW world

                                and a new BITNET,


                        because a CONNECTION

                                is only the BEGINNING!



Imagine a North American and international dial-up network
infrastructure that enables alumni, students, and traveling faculty and
staff to connect to their home institution with full IP functionality,
at a low cost, via a local telephone call.

And there's more...


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BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED FOR EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY


The CREN Strategic Plan has 4 immediate objectives:

1.  Build a global dial-up networking infrastructure that will enable
    alumni, students, and  traveling faculty and staff to connect to
    their home institution with full IP functionality at low cost
    wherever they are through a local telephone call.  This initiative,
    called BITNET III, facilitates educational outreach by higher
    education institutions in support of distance education and lifelong
    learning.

2.  Maintain and enhance the current global network of List Managers
    supporting the scholarly exchange of information and documents in
    all formats.  This initiative facilitates low-cost production and
    distribution of scholarly materials including electronic journals.

3.  Cooperatively develop and distribute a suite of software clients
    running on PC Windows and MAC OS platforms to support mail, Gopher,
    NetNews, mailing-list management, document interchange, telnet, FTP
    and other applications.  These easy-to-use, install, and maintain
    clients will be supported by network servers running on a Unix
    platform.  This plug-and-play software suite will be available to
    CREN members at low cost and extended as important new applications
    emerge.  This software is essential for any institution wishing to
    support broad access to Internet information resources.

4.  Facilitate the transition of CREN members to IP connectivity in
    partnership with other networking organizations.


                               B I T N E T

                            Because it's Time


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* BITNET III -
              CONNECTING HOME,
                              ANYTIME,
                                      FROM ANYWHERE,
                                                    FOR VERY LITTLE

BITNET III provides dial-up connectivity to their home institution for
alumni, traveling faculty, staff, and students.  Phone numbers
supporting this service will be listed under BITNET so that travelers,
wherever they are, can easily find the number in the local telephone
directory.  Phase I will include service in 50 cities in North America,
followed by subsequent phases each putting servers in an additional 50
cities.  The service will be built on network access servers provided by
CREN (servers supporting terminal emulation, SLIP and PPP) housed in
CREN member institutions.  The goal is that this service will provide
connectivity anywhere in North America and, through cooperation with
international BITNET members, anywhere in the world at very low cost.



* LIST MANAGEMENT WITH IMPROVED CAPABILITIES

The BITNET community operates an extensive network of interacting List
Managers, based on a product called LISTSERV, that supports global
scholarly collaboration.  CREN will migrate this capability to IP and an
open platform.  It will also extend the current capabilities to a
broader range of documents including electronic journals in multimedia
formats.


* A "PLUG-AND-PLAY' IP SOFTWARE SUITE FOR EASE-OF-USE CONNECTIVITY

A number of colleges and universities are developing software clients
and servers supporting major Internet applications such as electronic
mail, access to distributed information, Internet resource exploration
and facilities supporting discussion groups and collaboration.  CREN
will assist in the development, distribution, documentation and support
of the best of these packages.  The goal is to enable institutions to
support local and remote network users with a Plug-and-Play software
suite supporting major functions that is easy to install, use and
maintain.  CREN expects to evolve this suite over time to include
additional network products and functions.


* SUPPORTING THE TRANSITION FROM NJE TO IP CONNECTIVITY

In order to facilitate the transition of CREN members  to IP
connectivity, CREN is migrating important BITNET services such as
support of the global LISTSERV network to the Internet, and working with
Regional networks to develop low cost connectivity options for small
institutions.


* A NEW MISSION FOR CREN

CREN advances the goals of institutions of higher education by
facilitating, catalyzing and leveraging contributions from the worldwide
higher education community directed toward building a global computing
and communications infrastructure that:
    * supports access to shared information services and resources;
    * supports scholarly collaboration and educational outreach; and
    * contributes to enhanced individual and institutional productivity.


* THE ROLE OF THE WORLDWIDE BITNET COMMUNITY

As a part of the major higher education networking community with a
worldwide constituency, CREN has developed its strategic plan based on the
belief that this community can continue to contribute to building a
global information infrastructure, built on IP rather than NJE
connectivity, that will support important strategic higher education
objectives.


* CREN LONG TERM GOALS

CREN will work to create a global networking and computing
infrastructure built on open standards to:
   * support collaboration among scholars by enabling the creation of
     virtual offices and laboratories;
   * support distance education, including shared seminars, colloquia,
     and classes;
   * support outreach programs to off-site or part-time students, and
     programs providing lifelong learning to alumni;
   * enable access to shared library resources, databases and other
     information repositories in multimedia formats;
   * support, maintain and provide access to software libraries of
     tools, educational, and other programs enabling faculty to create
     courses from modules available on the network; and
   * enable increased individual and institutional productivity through
     rapid access to information.


* BITNET AND THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION NETWORKING

BITNET and CREN are changing to meet the new opportunities and
challenges facing higher education and the networking and computing
community.  CREN looks forward to continuing to serve its members and
the worldwide higher education community by building the computing and
communications infrastructure needed for education in the twenty-first
century.


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CREN
Corporation for Research and Educational Networking
1112 16th St., N. W.  Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036 USA
202-872-4200
BITNET@CREN. NET