Managing info on web & gopher servers - Marmot

[R124C41 at aol.com]

Here's a note about something that claims to help manage information on web
and gopher servers.  I have not evaluated it but the source is good and the
described capability seems interesting to Web4Lib'ers....

--David Ritchie
--R124C41 at AOL.COM

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     Marmot Internet Publishing Capability
     
     In short
     
     The Marmot publishing server and client are now available free to
provide
a method for end users to interactively manage their information on a
remote Internet server.
     
     More Details
     
     Would you like to:
     - interactively manage information on an http or gopher server, using a 
     simple graphical user interface;
     - allow a distributed project team, located in various places across the

     country, to share management of their information; - organize your
Internet 
     information files logically, and let the server generate the navigation 
     HTML pages for you?
     
     If you are a server administrator, would you like to give users total 
     control of their information, without teaching them ftp, telnet, or
e-mail 
     commands, and without worrying that they will inadvertently affect
     someone else's data?
     
     At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, we have developed a publishing

     protocol called Marmot, which provides these and other similar 
     capabilities.
     
     Marmot works with servers that support both HTTP and Gopher+ services;
in
     fact, it coordinates the two services and allows each to be utilized to
its 
     fullest advantage. People may continue to use current HTTP or Gopher 
     clients to access the information. A Marmot-aware client is needed only
to 
     publish (add, modify, or delete) information on the server.
     
     Marmot provides a framework for extensible task plug-ins, which allow
the
     server to be readily customized to meet users' needs. Plug-ins can be 
     automatic or user-requested. They are easily written and configured, and

     can interface to other systems. Much as forms are an adaptable means
     to retrieve information, plug-ins are adaptable agents for managing 
     information. Some uses include:
     
     - convert between document formats,
     - support a local style guide, for example by adding a
     common header to each HTML document, - facilitate group authoring,
     - enforce business rules such as clearance procedures, - automate 
     generation of HTML pages.
     
     Marmot regulates the level of publishing access granted to individual
users 
     or groups. Access levels can be set and controlled by information owners

     for each information object.
     
     Where to get it
     
     You can try Marmot out for yourself.  Clients (InfoShare 2.3) are
     available for Windows and Macintosh.  By default, they start out
pointing to a    
     live tutorial of Marmot capabilities, allowing users to publish
information to
     our demo server.  If you want to install your own server, copies (mmtd 
     1.38) are available for SunOS and Solaris.  Both clients and servers are

     located under
     
     ftp://ftp.pnl.gov/pub/pnlinfo/marmot
     
     For more information, see
     http://www.pnl.gov:2080/marmot/
     gopher://www.pnl.gov:2070/11/marmot
     or send electronic mail to info-share at pnl.gov.
     
     Important Note
     
     You may freely use the Marmot client and server binaries and associated 
     files.  You may also make them available to others free of charge,
     provided that all documentation is included. You may not resell the
Marmot  
     client or server or associated files, or make derivative works from
them,   
     without written permission from the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory. You
     may not provide the Marmot client or server as part of a for-profit
service 
     (such as selling WWW space) without written permission from the Pacific 
     Northwest National Laboratory.  For more information, send electronic
mail 
     to info-share at pnl.gov.
     
     DISCLAIMER
     
     This material was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency
of 
     the United States Government.  Neither the United States Government nor
the 
     United States Department of Energy, nor Battelle, nor any of their 
     employees, MAKES ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OR ASSUMES ANY LEGAL 
     LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR  
     USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION, APPARATUS, PRODUCT, SOFTWARE, OR 
     PROCESS DISCLOSED, OR REPRESENTS THAT ITS USE WOULD NOT INFRINGE   
     PRIVATELY OWNED RIGHTS.
     
     ACKNOWLEDGMENT
     
     This software and its documentation were produced with Government
support
     under Contract Number DE-AC06-76RLO-1830 awarded by the United States 
     Department of Energy.  The Government retains a paid-up non-exclusive, 
     irrevocable worldwide license to reproduce, prepare derivative works, 
     perform publicly and display publicly by or for the Government,
including
     the right to distribute to other Government contractors.