Shop Talk

Have You Seen Your Technical Committee Home Page Lately?

by Leonard Morrissey

In 1995, ASTM’s technical committees took their first steps into cyberspace with the introduction of the technical committee home pages on the ASTM Web site. In a few short years, these pages have evolved from a novelty that served a limited number of users to powerful avenues of communication that rapidly and effectively disseminate important committee information to ASTM members, customers, and other interested parties. Last October, the ASTM technical committee home pages underwent a facelift. In addition to the cleaner, more professional look, the completion and integration of a new Access Database allows ASTM to offer the following enhancements to the technical committee home pages.

Standards Development Tools
Now available for viewing or download in a PDF format from the Technical Committee Pages:

• The Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees;
  
• Form and Style for ASTM Standards (the “Blue Book”);
  
• The ASTM Technical Committee Officer Handbook;
  
• ASTM Long Range Planning Guide;
  
• New Standard Development and Ballot Submittal Forms; and
  
• Interactive Standards Development Forum Request Forms.
  
• Committee-Specific Information

Now under the title and staff contact name for each technical committee is a paragraph providing a thumbnail sketch of the committee, including: the number of members in a committee, frequency of meetings, approximate number of standards, volume number of the Book of Standards where a committee’s standards can be found, and general areas of interest for a committee

Committee Scopes
This information allows visitors to view the areas of interest of all 129 technical committees by accessing the main committee scope. This information, approved by the ASTM Board of Directors, is useful when deciding where to begin a new activity or when looking for expertise in a particular topic area.

Committee Officers
This area of the technical committee home pages contains the names and corporate affiliations of the officers of each technical committee. At committee discretion, e-mail links can be established to allow easy communication for visitors who have technical questions or are seeking specific committee information.

Committee Application
This link allows new and existing members to join the Society, a single committee, or multiple committees by e-mail. This secured site also allows for payment by credit card to accompany new applications.

List of Standards by Subcommittee
Visitors, members and customers can now view the titles and designations of all published standards under the jurisdiction of each technical committee by simply selecting a subcommittee title. A list of approved, published standards will appear as hyperlinks. This link allows visitors to view the scope of each particular standard and gives purchasing information, including the ability to download any standard instantly.

Committee Week Registration
Information for upcoming Committee Week meetings is now available on the technical committee home pages. When users select this link, they can view all pertinent information about the next series of Committee Weeks including hotel information, committees meeting at that location, ASTM services provided at that meeting, travel information, special events scheduled, and more. Users can also pre-register for each Committee Week meeting from this link by filling out the pre-registration form and e-mailing the form back to Headquarters.

Miscellaneous Items
Our new Access Database allows our Technical Committees to post relevant Committee Documents to assist in committee operations including (but not limited to): press releases, white papers, tracking documents, committee operating procedures, membership information packets and others.

As use of the ASTM Web site continues to grow as a primary source of information and communication for people interested in the activities of our Technical Committees, visitors will demand more from our site. ASTM will continue to invest resources and work on developing new features to increase the value of the technical committee home pages, making them effective tools to help our committees advance their standardization objectives. //

Talk to the Editor: Maryann Gorman