A potpourri of issues that the editors have been involved with over the past year:

1. Technical Evolution

In particular we have worked extensively on a number of issues including:

1. Reducing Exposure to Spam

   Through debugging and implementing the restricted_post option of majordomo we are now able to offer our list owners a method of cutting spam off at the source before it gets delivered to lists. With the phenomenal increase in spam over the past year, and the concerns of many people as to the problematic content of some of this material, having this facility is a major step forward.

   Prior to implementing this feature I spent some considerable time weeding out spam posts to the editors list archive, not only to save space used by this junk, but also keep it from clogging responses to searches in this area.

2. Moving List archives to <halifax.ns.ca>

   With the movement of our EMail and mailing List functionality to our new server, we are still facing some unresolved issues about how to access and administer list archives in this new location. We anticipate continuing to work on this issue.

3. Debugging CGI 'recent' functionality

   We have worked with the Technical Committee on issues of debugging and making functional (again) the CGI recent script so that the [Recent] button on the CCN standard button bar would properly reflect changes to CCN documents.

4. Virtual Domain Names

   We have been working with David Trueman and others on a procedure for requesting and implementing virtual domain names by interested IPs. This is now largely in place.

5. Mailing List Administration

   We've also worked with Mailing-List Administration on an on-going basis and in relation to certain initiatives to eliminate mailing lists which are no longer required; establish ml-pub lists for those groups requiring them; update the membership of certain lists; change the list-ownership of certain lists; and create/amend/distribute administrative passwords for lists to those who require them. This is an on-going initiative.

2. Revising IP Application & Support Documents

3. Revising documents in the Chebucto directory

This area had become filled with 'deadwood' and was technically (in terms of HTML coding) and stylistically out of step with the balance of CCN public documents. I rewrote and restructured many documents in this area to give a clearer, more comprehensive and more coherent sense of the nature and structure of the organization. Much old material was mothballed and many pages were revised to put them into keeping with CCN stylistic criteria (headers, button-bar, background, etc.).

Moreover, in working with many of the Committees (Volunteers, Policy, Communications, Membership, SAT, etc.) we created administrative structures (majordomo lists, edit groups, etc.) to better enable these Committees to administer their respective areas themselves. Some of the Committees have followed through on these initiatives - others not. In general, despite extensive revision, this is an area which could, and should, be more actively curated by the respective committees and chairs if we are to have documents there which:

1. reflect our responsibility and accountability to our membership; and

2. project a clear sense of what the CCN is as an organization and consequently makes it an attractive place for both individual users and information providers.

Some key documents that were created and/or revised in this process were:

1. CCN Key Players
2. About the CCN
3. Reasons for Becoming a CCN Information Provider
4. The CCN Society

4. Editors' Website

1. Revisions to IPDB and Group Editor documentation based on changing functionality (some more of this needs to be done);

2. Changes in procedures, or additions to IP process based on areas that needed to be better elaborated or which dealt with new issues, problems, procedures, etc.;

3. Creating an internal menuing system to allow for better ease of access to some of the information for editors.

5. IP FAQ Directory

6. New [Contacts] Page

7. Changes in Editors Roster

• Sheilagh Hunt to the Arts Billboard
• Clive Bagley as Recreation Editor
• Colin Prudoe as Technology Editor.
• Colin Stewart as Environment Editor.

Currently the Science Editors chair is vacant and I would like to find someone who would take over Professional Enterprise and Commerce from David Murdoch (who has his hands more than full!) and to assist Sandy Sutherland in the Education & Libraries portfolio. Seeking the right people for these positions is an on-going process.

8. Upgrading CCN Documents

• Usenet: Multicultural Groups
• Canadian Newspapers
• Canadian Radio
• Canadian Television
• News Media Around the World

9. Communications with IP Editors

1. Including CCN acknowledgments and links back from their home pages;
2. Employing the CCN standard Button Bar;
3. Volunteering with the CCN;
4. Having their IP organizations make donations to the CCN;
5. Creating symbolic links and using index.html to shorten their URLs;
6. IP FAQ's directory available to them and joining ccn-ipe.

10. Assisting Information Providers

11. Monitoring IP Applications

In general, the rate of new IP applications has slowed considerably over the past year. We are not attracting the numbers of prospective IPs that we once did. We have also lost a number of site that have moved to other servers or have simply closed down. There are a number of factors that contribute to this, however, the all point to the fact that as an organization we need to redouble our efforts to make the CCN an attractive place to situate websites - and to publicize this fact accordingly!

12. Reseau communautaire Chebucto

1. Reaching out more effectively to potential IP Organizations to encourage them to consider mounting their sites on our server;

2. Expanding our editorial base to bring in new editors to neglected areas.

3. Having a Volunteer Agreement (from the Policy Committee) which would define volunteer responsibilities and create a formal base for our volunteers;

4. Technical improvements/changes in an number of areas such as;
   1. A front end to HTTP authorized access so the Editors and IP Committee can administer this area of functionality;

   2. Create a mechanism to synchronize IP Database and Majordomo ml-priv list memberships to keep these two important IP structures in synch;

   3. A reform of the structure of our edit groups (we have a hodgepodge of overlapping groups with inconsistent jurisdictions & nomenclature);

   4. Technical reforms to allow *.html.fr files (RCC files) to work correctly with Weblint and with RCS (installing <link> elements and RCS comments files, etc.);

   5. Improving the technical infrastructure of the CCN, most particularly being able to FTP files to IP directories and supporting local PPP service. These are features that many CCN and prospective CCN IPs would be interested in seeing and would help us attract a wider spectrum of Ips to our site.;

5. Revision to CCN pages (including the home page) to take into account;
   1. Increased RCC visibility/functionality;

   2. Increased Csuite visibility/functionality;

   3. More extensive employment of Javascript;

   4. Revisions to graphics on CCN pages;

   5. Relationship between CCN pages and the Custom User Login page, currently in beta-test on the CCN. It's widescale implementation would give us a whole spectrum of new possibilities in terms of what information we can provide (and target) to our users, but also has implications in terms of what information we supply on our IP pages.

Christopher Majka
Editor-in-Chief