Via Harry Powell: Possible Computing School in Japan, 2008

["L. Cranswick" <lzc@dl.ac.uk>]

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Hi

1) Since the last School was almost universally well-received, I think we
should certainly plan on having another in 2008, associated with the Osaka
IUCr Congress.

Most of the comments I received (both from participants and from third
parties) were complimentary, so I think the general form was probably
about right, with a couple of provisos -

(1) Attendees who were primarily developers (i.e. not crystallographers)
who were thinking of entering crystallographic software development seemed
to be more disappointed than satisfied (the lesson I learnt from this is
that we can't cast the net too wide, and perhaps we shouldn't try to
address this constituency).

Those who are thinking of becoming developers who are currently "working
crystallographers" seemed to be universally happy with thhe School as it
was (at least, I didn't get a bad report from anyone).

(2) We should certainly try to get the practical sessions sorted out well
before the School - I think we were rescued from a shambles by the hard
work and clear thinking provided by Ralf, George and Kevin. Since I was
responsible for having created the shambles in the first place, I'm very
grateful for their efforts.

(3) I don't know how well the idea of presenting topics in a way which
didn't divide up protein, chemical and powder crystallography worked. It's
an idea I'm very keen on but I think that it requires a few things in
order to be successful -

(3a) the audience has to be aware that some techniques can be
applicable to their own sub-field even if currently only implemented in
another

(3b) the lecturers have to deliver the subject in a way which
is less obviously directed at a particular sub-field

(3c) in-depth discussions of particular problems which arise in a
particular sub-field should be avoided, since they appear irrelevant to
members of the audience who don't have any intention of working in that
sub-field

With these in mind, I think it would be better to be able to
(occasionally?) divide up into two or three streams. Unless you have every
lecturer "on board" with these ideas you are bound to get problems when
the lecturer decides to do his/her own thing if there are no parallel
sessions.

(4) My personal feeling is that "software sessions" where the participants
use existing software are often of little value in training people to
develop new software. Sessions like this can illustrate a point in
development, but the School should not be aimed at training to use any
particular crystallographic program.

On the other hand, the use of existing crystallographic libraries etc can
be a very useful thing, as can the use of scripts etc for chaining
together functionality.

(5) My gut feeling is that we should aim at "more of the same" - perhaps
addressing some issues in greater depth. But the important thing is to
identify the real target audience before, while and after making any
decisions. My choice would be the "currently working crystallographers who
want to move into crystallographic software development".

(6) We need to identify sources of sponsorship to replace the EU funding
that was obtained from Max-Inf2 - this will not be available for any event
held outside the "European Economic Area".

> 1 - The next Crystallographic Computing School
>
> 2 - Issues to be addressed by the computing commission
>
> ad1) Prior to the IUCr Florence meeting we organised a computing
>      school in Siena, close to Florence. This type of combining of
>      activities turns out to be very efficient.
>
>      We will now have to start the planning of a next computing school.
>      Relevant questions are:
>      - Is a similar combination of school + congress possible/desirable
>        for the 2008 Osaka IUCr Congress ?
>      - What will be the carrying theme of the school ?
>
> ad2) Our commission member Lachlan Cranswick Edited an informative
>      newsletter in the previous 2002-2005 period.
>      Is this something to continue ? New ideas ?
>
>
>
> I hope that all commission members will share their views on the above
> issues by sending their suggestions to this list:
>
>                           compcomm-l@iucr.org
>
> Best wishes
>
> Ton Spek
>
> Chairman of the IUCr Computing Commission
>
> --
> #===========================================================================
> # Prof. Dr. A.L.Spek, Laboratory of Crystal and Structural Chemistry       #
> # Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University.            #
> # (Kruytgebouw, room N801), Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands. #
> # E-mail: a.l.spek@chem.uu.nl       http://www.cryst.chem.uu.nl/           #
> #                                   http://www.cryst.chem.uu.nl/platon/    #
> #                                   anonymous ftp: xraysoft.chem.uu.nl     #
> # FAX   : (31)-30-2533940           PHONE : (31)-30-2532538/2533/3902/3502 #
> #===========================================================================

-- 
-----------------------
Lachlan M. D. Cranswick
Contact outside working hours /
  Coordonnees en dehors des heures de travail:
NEW E-mail / courriel: lc *at* bluehaze.com.au Home Tel: (613) 584-4226
Mobile/Cell: 613 401 3433   WWW: http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/
        P.O. Box 2057, Deep River, Ontario, Canada, K0J 1P0

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