NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE MÖSSBAUER EFFECT DATA CENTER

(1)

HAL Id: jpa-00218620

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/jpa-00218620

Submitted on 1 Jan 1979

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- entific research documents, whether they are pub- lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE MÖSSBAUER EFFECT DATA CENTER

V.E. Stevens, J. Stevens, W. Gettys

To cite this version:

V.E. Stevens, J. Stevens, W. Gettys. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE MÖSSBAUER EF- FECT DATA CENTER. Journal de Physique Colloques, 1979, 40 (C2), pp.C2-686-C2-688.

�10.1051/jphyscol:19792238�. �jpa-00218620�

(2)

JOURNAL DE PHYSIQUE Colloque C2, supplkment au

n o

3, Tome 40, mars 1979, page C2-686

NEW D I R E C T I O N S FOR THE M ~ S S B A U E R EF'ECT DATA CENTER

V.E. Stevens, J . G . Stevens and W.L. G e t t y s

University o f North CaroZina, Ashevi ZZe, North CaroZina 28804, U. S. A.

R6sum6.- Afin de s e s u f f i r e 1 lui-mtme l e "Mijssbauer E f f e c t Data Center" a d t a b l i un p l a n q u i regroupe l e s p u b l i c a t i o n s de "Mijssbauer E f f e c t Reference" e t "Data J o u r n a l " p l u t c t que

1"'Index"

a n n u e l . Les d 6 t a i l s du p r o j e t , l e s d e s c r i p t i o n s du "Data J o u r n a l " e t l e s f o n c t i o n s du "Center" s o n t t r a i t & c i - dessous.

A b s t r a c t . - I n an e f f o r t t o become s e l f - s u p p o r t i n g , t h e Mijssbauer E f f e c t Data Center has devised a p l a n which r e q u i r e s p u b l i c a t i o n s of t h e ~ g s s b a u e r E f f e c t Reference

and

Data J o u r n a l r a t h e r t h a n t h e annual Index. The d e t a i l s of bhe p l a n and d e s c r i p t i o n s of t h e "Data J o u r n a l " and f u n c t i o n s of t h e Center

-

f o l l o w .

As a s c i e n t i f i c t e c h n i q u e , Mijssbauer s p e c t r o s - copy i s unique i n one p a r t i c u l a r way. That i s , a l l of i t s r e f e r e n c e s and d a t a have been documented from i t s d i s c o v e r y i n 1958 t o t h e p r e s e n t . For t h e y e a r s covering t h e l i t e r a t u r e through 1976, t h i s in-

formation has been p u b l i s h e d a s t h e Mijssbauer E f f e c t Data Index 111. Ten of t h e s e have been p u b l i s h e d , t h e f i r s t by A r t Muir and h i s group and t h e r e s t by t h e Mijssbauer E f f e c t Data Center (MEDC)

.

^1977,

however, marked t h e end of t h e annual i n d e x and i t s replacement with ~ i j s s b a u e r E f f e c t Reference and Data J o u r n a l (MERDJ), a s MEDC took a new d i r e c t i o n . Be-

- -

f o r e t h e s e changes a r e d i s c u s s e d , some background i n f o r m a t i o n may be u s e f u l .

MEDC s e r v e s about 3000 ~ a s s b a u e r s p e c t r o s c o - p i s t s i n f i f t y c o u n t r i e s . Two major computer banks a r e maintained and updated monthly; one c o n t a i n s -12,500 r e f e r e n c e e n t r i e s , each w i t h a s e t of des- c r i p t i v e keywords, and t h e o t h e r h a s -33,000 s e t s of d a t a e n t r i e s , a l s o with keywords. The emphasis of MEDC has been on thorough coverage of t h e w o r l d ' s l i t e r a t u r e f o r Mijssbauer s p e c t r o s c o p i c i n f o r m a t i o n and d a t a and on i t s e f f i c i e n t management i n o r d e r t o maximize i t s u s e f u l n e s s . This means MEDC i s in- volved i n a l l f o u r a s p e c t s of d a t a h a n d l i n g : r e -

t r i e v a l , documentation, e v a l u a t i o n , and dissemina- t i o n .

Through t h e y e a r s f i n a n c i n g MEDC has been even more complicated t h a n developing a good system of o p e r a t i o n . While t h e i n f o r m a t i o n and d a t a a r e used i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y by a s i g n i f i c a n t number of s c i e n - t i s t s , t h e f a c t t h a t t h e phenomena i s j u s t emerging from i n f a n c y a s a b a s i c r e s e a r c h t o p i c t o i t s matu- r i t y a s a technique h a s hampered a t t e m p t s t o g a i n economic support from i n d u s t r i a l s o u r c e s . The d i -

v e r s i t y of s c i e n t i f i c d i s c i p l i n e s engaged i n

MESS-

bauer spectroscopy i s f a r t o o broad t o a l l o w f o r s u p p o r t from a s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t group. F i n a l l y , be- cause t h e f i e l d p r e s e n t l y o f f e r s l i t t l e a s s i s t a n c e i n s o l v i n g t h e g r e a t s o c i o - s c i e n t i f i c problems con- f r o n t i n g n a t i o n s , such a s energy and environment, governmental agencies do n o t seem a b l e t o j u s t i f y s u p p o r t of t h i s type of d a t a c e n t e r . And, although t h e annual Index demanded around 90% of our e f f o r t t o produce, it y i e l d e d o n l y 25% of t h e income needed t o s u s t a i n MEDC. Aggravating t h e s u p p o r t problem was t h e f a c t we needed a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount more than was a l r e a d y a v a i l a b l e . B a s i c a l l y a two-person o p e r a t i o n f o r e i g h t y e a r s , t h e Center continued t o demand more time a n n u a l l y , more t h a n we could c o n t i - nue t o supply y e a r a f t e r y e a r . We needed a t h i r d p e r s o n .

Confronted w i t h c l o s e d , o r c l o s i n g , doors of s u p p o r t from governmental, i n d u s t r i a l and s c i e n t i f i c groups, we began t o think of a l t e r n a t i v e s . The one chosen most l i k e l y t o succeed was moving from a g e n c y - i n s t i t u t i o n a l s u p p o r t t o u s e r s u p p o r t . A three-year p l a n f o r t r a n s i t i o n was devised which t h e N a t i o n a l Standard Reference and Data System of t h e U.S. National Bureau of Standards (which had pre- v i o u s l y provided p a r t i a l s u p p o r t of MEDC) agreed t o s u p p o r t . See t a b l e I f o r an o u t l i n e of t h e p l a n .

The main v e h i c l e f o r u s e r s u p p o r t i s

MERDJ,

which was f i r s t published i n January, 1978. The term " j o u r n a l " i s m i s l e a d i n g i n some r e s p e c t s , s o a b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e p u b l i c a t i o n w i l l h e l p c l a - r i f y i t s n a t u r e . Besides t h e -120 r e f e r e n c e s and t h e i r accompanying d a t a , each i s s u e i n c l u d e s s u b j e c t and i s o t o p e i n d e x e s , names and a d d r e s s e s of designa- t e d correspondants f o r each a r t i c l e , a p r e p r i n t

Article published online by EDP Sciences and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jphyscol:19792238

(3)

section, and a section for news of interest to M~SS- bauer spectroscopists (i.e, conferences, workshops, position openings, books, reports and theses).Final- ly in most issues there is one of a series of arti- cles on evaluated data and general information for Msssbauer spectroscopists.

Table I: Projected Financial Support for MEDC

0 1 2 3 4

1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 NSRDS Grants 40% 50% 40% 18%

-

~ o ~ a l t ~ " 25% 20% 2%

- -

Journal 35%** 25% 50% 67% 85%

-

^5% ^5% ^5% ^5%

Hiscellaneous

- -

^3% 10% 10%

Total ~ud~et*** 16 28 36 42 42 Total Subscriptions 65** 175 250 300 300

* ~ o ~ a l t ~ from annual Mgssbauer Effect Data Index.

*%[During 1977 we distributed a computerized monthly report to laboratories.

TiM In thousands of dollars.

An editorial advisory board, whose member serve three year terms, was established and represents a geographic and disciplinary cross-section. The res- ponsibilities of this board are to (1) make sugges- tions on current activities and future directions,

(2) supply information for the journal, and (3) assist in marketing the journal with whatever re- sources they have available.

The key to the whole plan is the sale of a specific number of journals during each of the three years. It must be emphasized that subscriptions to MERDJ are doing more than support a journal; they are essentially supporting the whole data center.

The functions of MEDC can be listed under three ca- tegories. These are outlined in table I1 and a few which may not be self-explanatory are described below.

Literature or data searching has been done re- gularly on request to assist scientists as they begin research projects, write reviews, perform data evaluations, or update their current research pro- gram (A-l and A-2 in table 11). These same searching capabilities are now being incorporated into the data banks currently being established by agencies, countries or groups of countries to provide specia- lists with rapid access to scientific reference and data information (A-3)

.

The nuclear properties of the more than one hundred transitions in which the Mgssbauer effect has been observed are quite important for interpre- ting most data, so they will continue to be periodi-

cally evaluated and results will appear in- (B-1). A nineteen-section evaluation of other data relevant to ~sssbauer spectroscopy has been prepared for CRC Handbook of Spectroscopy. A number of other scientists assisted in the preparation of this size- able compilation (B-2). Currently we are establishink isomer shift reference scales for imporved comparison of data between laboratories using different standards (B-3).

Table I1 : Functions of t5DC

A. Information Services

I

1. Literature searches 2. Data searches 3. National data banks

4. Literature reviews (See, for example, Ref /2/

5. Compilation of references and data in

MERDJ

6. Copy service

7. Advance notification of research in "Pre- prints'' in

MERDJ

I

B. Data evaluations

1

1 . Nuclear parameters for each transition

2.

CRC

^Handbook

of

Spectroscopy 3. Isomer shift reference scales 4. Nuclear moments /3/

5. Series of data evaluations in

MERDJ

1

C. Communications

I

1. Newsletter in

MERDJ

2. Newsletter for International Conunission on Applications of Msssbauer Effect

3. Computerized mailing list 4. Name and address listing in

MERDJ

5. Personal correspondance

We maintain a computerized mailing list which aids us in our general operation as well as with pro- motion of MERDj (C-3). This file, however, also is used to generate the name and address listing in

-.

We have provided the list to conference orga- nizers for communicating information. Finally, it is available for advertising purposes to firms selling Msssbauer equipment and Supplies. The nominal cost

-

provides some of the funds under "Miscellaneous" in table I. Other sources of income listed under this and "Sponsors" come from multiple subscriptions from larger laboratories, advertisements in

9,

and the lease of our files to data banks.

This, then is the direction in which MEDC will continue to move. Rather than experiencing the annual anxiety of uncertain funding, the Center will depend directly on the scientists'use of our services to provide the income necessary to remain in existence.

The theoretical model has been carefully worked out;

this is the experiment. Whether we are successful or not depends on the response of the user comunity.

If the experiment is a success, MEDC will continue both to serve the needs of the scientists in the

(4)

C2-688 JOURNAL DE PHYSIQUE

field and provide a model for other specific scientific areas as well.

References

/I/ Muir,Jr, A.H., Ando, K.J. and Coogan, H.M., G s s - bauer Effect Data Index 1958-1965, (Interscience Publishers, New York) 1966; Stevens, J.G., Stevens, V.E., Deason Jr, P.T., Muir Jr, A.H., Coogan, H.M., and Grant, R.W., Mgssbauer Effect Data Index

-

^Co-

vering the 1966-1968 Literature, (IFI/Plenum, New York) 1975; Stevens, J.G. and Stevens, V.E., Mgssbauer Effect Data Indexes

-

Covering the (1969,

1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976) Literatu- re, (IF~fPlenum, New York) 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978.

/2/ Stevens, J.G. and Bowen, L.H., Anal. Chem.

50

⁽¹⁹⁷⁸⁾

176R.

/3/ Stevens, J.G. and Dunlap, B.D., J. Phys. Chem. Ref.

Data

2

(1976) 1093.