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About HD.govThis section provides information about HD.gov, its origins, purposes, and governing policies, as well as answers to frequently asked questions and other information. If you have additional questions please e-mail us at partner@hd.gov. What is HD.govThe Interagency Committee on Government Information (ICGI) defines a cross-agency portal as "A Website that brings together information and services from multiple federal agencies or organizations about a particular topic or for a particular group." HumanDimensions.gov, or HD.gov for short, is a credible on-line interactive information resource and a portal with featured links to guide users to existing on-line information relevant to their specific information needs (e.g., on-line tools, publications, methods, calendar of events). HD.gov adds to existing human dimensions of natural resource management sites by highlighting the widely applicable aspects of their content, while retaining links to more detailed information. How will people know how to find information we post on-line? Often in traditional on-line searches, because of lack of time or specific search terms, many valuable resources are never found. Popular search engines may yield hundreds or thousands of responses, but how many are relevant, useful, objective, or credible?
In the “Recommended Policies and Guidelines for Federal Public Websites” the federal government states that the following: “The proliferation of information on the Internet, including information on federal public websites, can make it difficult for the public to sift through the maze of available resources, some of them overlapping and duplicative. Better coordination within and among federal organizations would limit the amount of duplication that currently exists and allow organizations to more effectively manage their resources. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by leveraging the resources of cross-agency portals, which promote the principle that information and services are created once and used many times.” Taking these issues into account, representatives from several agencies and organizations decided that, rather than work on separate initiatives, government agencies should combine their resources related to human dimensions of natural resource management in one place, while still maintaining their individual sites. To test the validity of this proposal, a needs assessment was developed and sent to over 60 human dimensions professionals and natural resource managers across the U.S. Respondents stated that such an on-line resource was "needed," "timely," and "exciting," and preliminary "commitment" was obtained from numerous federal and state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions. With the Internet becoming the primary source of information, and human dimensions becoming an increasingly strong topic of interest for natural resource managers, several government agencies had plans to further develop their human dimensions websites. The only concern was how value could be added without duplicating existing resources on other federal sites. The agencies generated the idea of a joint website, or a portal that would combine information from various agencies, that might also possibly serve as a mechanism to support an interagency community of practice among human dimensions professionals. To test this idea, professionals from the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center sent a needs assessment to professionals and managers throughout the U.S. (See Need for HD.gov.) Based on the feedback obtained, they decided that the scope of the portal should be expanded to include academia, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. HD.gov was then presented at several conferences, including the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management (ISSRM), the Society for Human Ecology (SHE), the Northeastern Recreational Research Symposium (NERRS), and the Organization of Wildlife Planners (OWP). During this time, several drafts of the portal were developed and reviewed by the partners in preparation for the June 2007 launch.
The primary audience for HD.gov is natural resource management professionals. The Web portal is developed to reduce the time required to find information and has a strong focus on the application of social science concepts, methods, and information. The use of nontechnical language makes content accessible to users regardless of background. The information on the site will also be helpful for both students and researchers. Following the usability concept that users want to get to their information within two clicks of the home page of any Web site, HD.gov is built on a two-level structure, each level representing a click of a mouse. The first page is the home of the HD.gov Portal. Any “Level 1” page can be reached from the home page (actually most Level 1 pages can be reached from any page on HD.gov). Level 1 pages include a list of the Level 2 pages that fall within their section (as applicable) that can be sorted and searched. Level 1 pages include: Standalone Level 1 pages (these do not have associated Level 2 pages) include: Level 2 pages have detailed content that is organized in a template which is shared with all pages in the same section. Level 2 pages within the same section also share the same header and color scheme so that users are always aware of their location on the Web portal.
HD.gov is developed and run by its partners through a committee based organization. Registered users of HD.gov have the option to be involved in any of the committees as well serve as content reviewers (if they meet reviewer standards). The role of the committees is to facilitate the growth of HD.gov help make decisions regarding future development. The role of each committee is outlined below. If you have any questions on committees please contact us at info@hd.gov or post a question in the “Committees” section of the forum.
All content that is posted on HD.gov will go through some level of review. The level of review is dependent on the type and quantity of content. An editor or moderator will review all:
All other content submitted for inclusion of the Web portal requires peer review (this includes new links). The purpose of this is to ensure that users of HD.gov are confident that the information they obtain from the site is credible, reliable, and useful. Content submitted through the peer review process falls under one of five categories:
Guidelines for content submission and review for each of these categories can be found in the Submitter and Reviewer Guidelines The steps of the HD.gov review process are summarized in the diagram below:
HD.gov Content Review Process The author of the content uses the submit button on the appropriate page (where they want their content to be included), and one they are logged in the get to a submission page where they select the content category (see list above) and either append a document or put their information in the submission form. Once the content is submitted an editor is designated by the review committee to oversee the review process. The editor determines the content and type of review and selects a panel of at least three reviewers (representing if possible agencies, NGOs, and academia) to whom they forward the content. In rare cases the editor may determine (based on HD.gov policies – see below) that the content is not suited for the portal due to relevance issues or product endorsement. In this case an editor may reject the content without submitting it to the reviewers. Reviewers use the Submitter and Reviewer Guidelines to review the content within a given timeframe (to be determined by the editor) and return their comments to the editor. The editor determines, based on reviewer comments, the next step of the process. Four possibilities exist:
It is HD.gov’s policy to limit links to those that will accomplish the following:
Linking to Nonfederal Pages When linking to a nonfederal website, users will see an “exit disclaimer” graphic
There are two types of content on HD.gov: content developed specifically for HD.gov and content pulled from other sources.
Linking to HD.gov Because HD.gov is a federal Web portal in the public domain, anyone can link to it or replicate original HD.gov content (see Crediting HD.gov) without permission. Web Update Schedule HD.gov reviews all links at least quarterly, as part of its routine content development and update process, to make sure they still work and that they still add value. Adding Links to HD.gov If you would like to submit one or more links to HD.gov, click the “Submit” button on any of the pages. This will open an interface that will allow you to submit links and content. Product Endorsement HD.gov does not endorse any commercial product, process, service, or enterprise, by trade name, trademark, service mark, manufacturer, or otherwise. Links to other websites and references to any commercial product or enterprise are provided solely for the user’s convenience and do not necessarily constitute or imply HD.gov’s endorsement, recommendation, or exclusive approval thereof. Accordingly, HD.gov does not endorse or assume responsibility for the content provided on any linked, third-party website. Links to For-Profit Products and Organizations As a rule, links may not promote specific for-profit products or services. It is permissible to link to the home pages or e-mail addresses of a category of private for-profit organizations when it will promote HD.gov’s objectives, with the following provisions:
The most common questions asked by our partners and users are included in this section. If you have additional questions that are not answered here, feel free to post them in the forum, or contact us at info@hd.gov. Describe the process of becoming a partner/contributor. What is RSS?
RSS is also an acronym for Really Simple Syndication, referring to a family of information delivery or Web-feed  formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds, or podcasts. Content distributors syndicate a Web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it (Wikipedia). Think of it as a distributable "What's New?" for your site. Originated by UserLand in 1997 and subsequently used by Netscape to fill channels for Netcenter, RSS has evolved into a popular means of sharing content between sites (including the British Broadcasting Corporation, CNET, Cable News Network, Disney, Forbes, Motley Fool, Wired, Red Herring, Salon, Slashdot, Ziff-Davis Network, and more). RSS solves myriad problems Web masters commonly face, such as increasing traffic and gathering and distributing news. RSS can also be the basis for additional content distribution services. (Source: www.webreference.com.)
On webpages, RSS feeds are often indicated by standard icons, such as this orange square with white radio waves How will people know to visit HD.gov? How is HD.gov different from existing Web publication search engines, such as Ingenta? Will access to NOAA subscriptions or databases be exposed through HD.gov? How do you reference or cite HD.gov—for example, in a publication? Who is the target audience? How will HD.gov access on-line databases? How do you involve the professional societies? What are the search functions and limitations? Is there a cost to support this Web portal? How will people find HD.gov on the Internet? Will all links to other websites be designed to enable a return to HD.gov? What computer skills will you need if you are one of the people who actually must change the site after partner submissions go through the content management system process?
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. RSS feeds use Extensible Markup Language (XML)—a general purpose markup language used to facilitate the sharing of data across different information systems, particularly systems connected via the