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Information
Technology
Draft Standard Speaks Volumes
for Future E-Book Success
Electronic books are hybrid products
that combine the printed word with the versatility of computer, touch-screen display
technology, and software enhancements including font-resizing and an on-board dictionary.
The Open Electronic Book Standards Forum recently released a draft specification in a move
that is expected to accelerate the availability of e-books by providing publishers a
single format for electronic content.
The group was formed in
October 1998 at NIST's
Electronic Book '98 Workshop, the world's first conference for the e-book industry.
Victor McCrary, a group
leader in NIST's Information Technology Laboratory,
spearheaded the effort to bring industry groups together to create a voluntary, common
standard. Participants included more than 100 major software companies, book publishers
and electronic book manufacturers. Major players include SoftBook Press, Microsoft,
Nuvomedia, Adobe, OverDrive Systems, Versaware, and Brown University.
Common standards are
particularly important in emerging industries because they free consumers from the fear of
investing in new technologies that could become obsolete. When a variety of industry
participants agree on a standard, consumers can choose products from any manufacturer that
supports the standard, facilitating early adoption and market definition.
The new draft standard
delineates the format that content takes when it is converted from print to electronic
form. It calls for the use of two common computer mark-up languages--HTML and XML--which
are widely used on the World Wide Web.
More information about the
standards effort and a copy of the draft specification are available at www.openebook.org. The next e-book conference, Electronic Book '99, is scheduled for Sept.
21-22, 1999, at NIST in Gaithersburg, Md. For more information, go to www.nist.gov/ebook99.
Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661 
Electromagnetic Technology
Magnetic Recording Industry
to Benefit from New Partnership
NIST is working to provide the
magnetic recording industry with much-needed primary magnetic materials standards.
Unfortunately, these reference samples are expensive, delicate and generally of fixed
geometry. To help the industry out, NIST has signed a cooperative research and development
agreement with SHB Instruments Inc., of Northridge, Calif., to develop calibration
principles for robust, inexpensive reference samples.
For example, the B-H Looper
is the dominant metrology tool used by the disk drive head industry for process and
quality control at the wafer level. A prototype for the calibration of B-H loopers will be
designed, constructed and tested as a secondary reference sample. This will complement the
primary thin film reference sample currently under development at NIST. Measurements on
soft magnetic films, as used in heads, sensors and magnetic RAM devices, will be improved
with the implementation of these secondary reference samples.
More information on this
CRADA may be obtained from David P. Pappas,
NIST, Boulder, Colo. 80303-3337; (303) 497-3374; or Barry Megdal, SHB Instruments Inc.,
19215 Parthenia St., Suite A, Northridge, Calif. 91324; (818) 773-2000; bmegdal@sbhinstruments.com.
Media Contact:
Fred McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
Manufacturing
NASA Adopts STEP
Standard for Data Exchange
STEP (also known as ISO 10303), the
global Standard for the Exchange of Product model data,
received one of its strongest endorsements to date when the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration recently required all of its computer-aided engineering, design and
manufacturing systems to have STEP-compliant tools that enable data interchange.
From the definition of IGES
(the Invited Graphics Exchange Specification) through the current STEP standard, NIST has been a leader in the quest to create a universal,
unambiguous language for exchanging product information. From 1984 until 1998, NIST also
served as the secretariat for the International Organization for Standardization
(abbreviated ISO) Subcommittee on Industrial Data. NIST still participates in STEP's
evolution and implementation by developing testing methodologies for and making technical
contributions to ISO 10303 as applied to different industries.
Companies successfully
using STEP in their manufacturing processes include Boeing, Boeing's McDonnell Douglas
unit, Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, General Motors, Rolls-Royce and UTC/Pratt &
Whitney.
Both NASA and NIST are
members of PDES Inc., a joint industry/government consortium specifically formed to
accelerate the development and implementation of STEP. Bob Kiggans, general manager of
PDES Inc., said, "The release of this [NASA] standard is a real milestone for the
STEP community. It basically says that if you want to exchange data with NASA, ISO 10303
is the way to do it."
For more information on
NIST's involvement in STEP, contact Lisa Phillips,
(301) 975-5021; or Steven Ray, (301) 975-3524.
For more information on NASA's new STEP standard, contact Steve Waterbury, Goddard Space Flight
Center; (301) 286-7557. For PDES information, contact Martha Nicholson, (843) 760-3225.
Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
Testing
New NVLAP Directory
Lists Accredited Labs
More than 700 testing and calibration
laboratories accredited by the NIST National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program
are listed in the just-issued NVLAP 1999 Directory. Operating in 47 states, Puerto
Rico and eight foreign countries, the listed laboratories together offer 850 services that
were judged by NVLAP to satisfy internationally accepted competency requirements.
At the request of
industrial and government organizations, NVLAP has set up accreditation programs in 18
major fields. Also available on NVLAP's World Wide Web site (ts.nist.gov/nvlap), the new directory indexes
laboratories by accreditation field, name, location and NVLAP identifier code. Entries
list street and website addresses, contacts, field and scope of accreditation, and other
information. With nearly 400 accredited laboratories, asbestos fiber analysis accounts for
the largest group of NVLAP-accredited services, followed by computer and electronics
testing.
Thanks to NVLAP, the test
results from many of the labs listed in the new directory will have international impact.
New trade agreements between the U.S. government and the European Union and several
Asia-Pacific nations rely on mutual recognition of test results. NVLAP has entered into a
mutual recognition arrangement with seven other Asia Pacific countries and is working
toward similar recognition by European nations that signed another multilateral agreement.
Mutual recognition arrangements will reduce double testing, which adds to the cost of
traded goods.
To get a copy of the NVLAP
1999 Directory, contact NVLAP at (301) 975-4016; fax: (301) 926-2884; nvlap@nist.gov.
Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776
Materials
International
Comparison of Charpy Programs Shows Good Agreement
Charpy impact testing is often
specified as an acceptance test for structural materials, and companies performing these
tests are required to verify the performance of their machines using certified specimens.
In the first ever group comparison, the Charpy impact verification programs offered by the
United States, Japan, France and the European Commission showed good agreement.
Certified specimens for
Charpy testing are obtainable only from the Institute for Reference Materials and
Measurements (Belgium), Laboratoire National D'Essais (France), the National Research
Laboratory of Metrology (Japan) and NIST (United States). About 1,800 impact machines are
verified annually from these specimens. The comparison showed the certified energies of
the specimens typically agreed within 1 percent of the average values determined in the
study. The variation in energy for the specimens was low, and the energies measured for
the tests using the 2 and 8 millimeter strikers on specimens of 4340 steel were nearly
equivalent. However, a trend of slightly higher energy for the 2 millimeter striker was
indicated.
"The good agreement
shown by the comparison implies that industries verifying the performance of Charpy impact
machines to the requirements of [international standard] ISO 148-2 can be assessed in a
fair and meaningful manner, independent of who supplies the specimen," the NIST
report states.
Copies of report no. 19-99
are available from Sarabeth Harris, MC 104,
NIST, Boulder, Colo. 80303-3337; (303) 497-3237.
Media Contact:
Fred McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
Weights and Measures
NCWM Annual Meeting
to Address Improved Handbook 133
Weights and measures experts from
government and industry will meet in Burlington, Vt., July 25-29, 1999, for the 84th
annual meeting of the National Conference on Weights and Measures. This year's theme is
"Setting Standards of Excellence in Pursuit of Equity." Attendees will have the
opportunity to discuss a draft of a new, easier-to-use NIST Handbook 133, Checking the
Net Contents of Packaged Goods, and other issues related to regulatory weights and
measures activities. Participants also will have the opportunity to hear a special
presentation on the recent activities of the Asia-Pacific Legal Metrology Forum and attend
a series of technical sessions, including one on an undercover investigation of retail
motor-fuel dispenser fraud.
Among those encouraged to
attend are state weights and measures directors, state and local weights and measures
inspectors, industry representatives, federal agency representatives, allied
organizations, consumer organizations, retailers, and food processing industry
representatives. Those wanting to review the proposed changes to Handbook 133 can see a
draft on the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/owm.
Program, registration and
fee information is available by calling the NCWM at (301) 258-9210 or by visiting www.nist.gov/ncwm on the World Wide Web.
Media Contact:
Linda Joy, (301) 975-4403
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