C. Project Description C. 1 Introduction

C.4 Work Plan

The major activities for this project are shown in Figure 4. Each major activity provides the basis for those that follow. Additionally, we use an iterative approach, developing early prototypes and demonstrations to further engage the users and to refine the requirements of the system, as shown by the arrow from Activity 3 to Activity 1. As with all technology development, the issues encountered during Activity 4 will also influence Activity 3. Activity 6 is cross-cutting and will influence all others.

The intensity of project activity will be first in Activity 1 and then progress through the other activities, as shown in Figure 5. The project will be evaluated after six months, and every six months thereafter.

The major activities are further described through subtasks.

The first activity engages both providers and users of Adaptive Management Area information. A profile of typical Adaptive Management Portal users, managers, and staff will be gathered including the content, level of detail, scale, and purpose of the information they seek. The subtasks are self-explanatory.

1. 
   Understand the customer requirements and opportunities
   
   1. 
      Hold focus groups and workshops for various stakeholders at Adaptive Management Areas to determine needs
      
   2. 
      Assess the current information content for Adaptive Management Areas
      
   3. 
      Interface with other national and international efforts
      
   4. 
      Evaluate the strengths and corresponding marketing opportunities for the Adaptive Management Area Network
      

The second major activity assimilates the results from Activity 1 into a coherent set of requirements.

2. 
   Articulate and evolve the requirements for the system
   
   1. 
      Synthesize the results from the first activity
      
   2. 
      Identify and evaluate various standards/approaches for terminology
      
   3. 
      Establish target communities who will use the Adaptive Management Area Network, with usage scenarios
      
   4. 
      Set the requirements for the system
      

The third major activity serves to define the model and associated functionality for the two forms of superimposed information, as detailed in Task 3.1 and 3.2. We will build a series of increasingly sophisticated prototypes to facilitate more realistic discussions with the users. We will also work first with one of the ten Adaptive Management Areas and use the range of data found there to guide the conceptual definition of the technology. In the second year, we will expand our horizon to include a second Adaptive Management Area. In year three, we will consider a still broader set of the Adaptive Management Areas.

3. 
   Conceptually develop the information access portal technology
   
   1. 
      Develop terminology, with relationships, as a browsable, multi-granularity index for information
      

3.1.1 Define the model for multiple theme information access

3.1.2 Explore representations (e.g., XML/RDF, Topic Maps) for multiple theme access

3.1.3 Define tools to help create terminology-based access to information

3.1.4 Select appropriate information categories/glossaries for use in the system

2. 
   Develop user-supplied, value-added information
   

1. 
   Develop a model for templates for user-supplied, value-added information
   
2. 
   Explore representations, e.g., XLink, RDF, Topic Maps, for templates for user-supplied, value-added information
   

3. 
   Select domain-specific templates for use in the system
   
2. 
   Evaluate the tradeoff between the complexity of the model for superimposed information and the associated capability to browse, navigate and query
   
3. 
   Build experimental prototypes
   

The fourth major activity concerns the definition of the system architecture, based on the anticipated deployment environments and the scalability requirements. The successive influence of the Adaptive Management Areas that we consider for Activity 3 will also be used to drive this activity.

4. 
   Architect and scale the terminology-based information access technology and the templates for user-supplied, value-added information
   
   1. 
      Define the system architecture
      
   2. 
      Investigate various addressing mechanisms (for the base information) and their impact on functionality as well as the implementation
      
   3. 
      Project the size and growth of the information space
      
   4. 
      Evaluate the performance (in situ) and identify performance hot spots
      
   5. 
      Research techniques for performance improvement and scalability
      
   6. 
      Build a series of prototypes, to handle increasing scale
      
   7. 
      Evaluate the acceptance, adoption, and use of the system by intended users; identify obstacles or inhibitors to use
      

The fifth activity addresses the issues associated with deployment, including the evaluation of the system and the identification of marketing issues. Note that much of this work is supported through in-kind contributions.

5. 
   Experimentally deploy the technology at various Adaptive Management Areas
   
   1. 
      Choose site partner, for first experimental deployment
      
   2. 
      Articulate system and staff requirements for participation in the Adaptive Management Portal; identify marketing opportunities
      
   3. 
      Define start-up plan, to phase in information into the Adaptive Management Portal
      
   4. 
      Test the effectiveness of the resulting system through use in a graduate-level Environmental Science and Engineering class
      

The sixth activity ensures that the resulting system meets the research objectives and the objectives of the Adaptive Management Areas.

6. 
   Evaluate the Project
   
   1. 
      Conduct semi-annual assessments of project activities
      
   2. 
      Arrange semi-annual meetings of the Advisory Board
      
   3. 
      Document and present findings to the project team and other interested parties
      
   4. 
      Periodically review ongoing activities elsewhere and identify their potential relationship to the Adaptive Management Portal
      

The principal team members are shown in Table 2. Tim Tolle and Lois Delcambre are jointly responsible for this project. Tim Tolle is the USDA Forest Service Regional Coordinator for the Adaptive Management Areas and serves as the American Field Representative for the International Model Forest Network. Eric Landis is the only US representative to the International Union of Forest Research Organizations’ Global Forest Information Service task force. Craig Palmer is a specialist in environmental analysis and assessment. Fred Phillips provides expertise on marketing. Patty Toccalino recently defined the Ecosystem Management and Restoration track for the M.S. in Environmental Science and Engineering at OGI.

Table 2: Principal Team Members
Team Member	Position
Tim Tolle (in-kind)	Ecosystem Management Coordinator, USDA Forest Service
Eric Landis	Forest Information System Specialist, Consultant
Craig Palmer (subcontract)	Natural Resources Monitoring Expert, UNLV
Fred Phillips	Professor and Head, Management of Science and Technology, OGI
Patty Toccalino	Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering, OGI
Lois Delcambre	Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, OGI
David Maier	Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, OGI

Lois Delcambre and David Maier are researchers in the database field with an interest in conceptual modeling and information integration. They have participated in several projects using various forms of superimposed information.

The team includes appropriately qualified student interns to assist Fred Phillips and Patty Toccalino. Computer science research and system prototyping will be conducted by one C.S. PhD student (Shawn Bowers), one staff programmer (during years 2 and 3), plus summer faculty interns from nearby undergraduate colleges. Judy Cushing (The Evergreen State College) is a specialist in scientific databases and metadata for use in forest canopy science. Dave Hansen (joining George Fox University, Fall 1999) is an expert in information system integration and scalability.

Table 3 shows the roles of the team for each of the major activities.

Table 3: Role of the team members in each major activity (Activity 6 cuts across all others)
	1. Understanding the customer requirements	2. Articulating requirements of system	3. Conceptually developing technology	4. Architecting & scaling technology	5. Experimentally deploying the technology
Tim Tolle	lead	team member	assisting	assisting	lead
Eric Landis	team member	Lead	assisting	assisting	team member
Craig Palmer	6. evaluation	6. evaluation	6. evaluation	6. evaluation	6. evaluation
Fred Phillips	team member	Assisting			team member
Student intern	team member				team member
Patty Toccalino	assisting	team member	Assisting		team member^3
Student intern		team member			team member
Lois Delcambre	assisting	Assisting	Lead	team member	assisting
David Maier	assisting	Assisting	team member	lead	assisting
Shawn Bowers	assisting	Assisting	team member	team member	assisting
Judy Cushing	assisting	team member	team member
David Hansen			team member	team member
programmer				team member	assisting