In our office, we've been looking at and discussing GOPHER vs World
Wide Web (WWW) technologies, as they're being used by funding sources to
make their information & application forms available.

Here's a statement of "pros" & "cons," from the perspective of an
institution with 850 faculty, that brings in approx. $12 mil/yr, and
that has invested time/effort in setting up a GOPHER server.

I thought this might be a topic on which we might productively
exchange views:

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We have made considerable efforts to:

 1.  Place "Grant Opportunities" information in a
 UW-Milwaukee GOPHER Server

 2.  Train our staff to utilize GOPHER "pointers" to
 various FEDERAL and NON-FEDERAL funding sources
 to access Grant Guidelines/Application Forms, etc.

 3.  Alert our faculty to the utility of GOPHER usage
 to DIRECTLY access these funding sources

 4.  Provide informal "instruction" to faculty on
 the use of GOPHER to get "Grant Opportunities"
 information

In GOPHER we found a relatively simple (menu driven) means of
obtaining documents, one that was (increasingly) being employed by
funding sources to make available their:

 -  application forms
 -  funding priorities
 -  lists of program "contacts"

In recent months, there has been a clear switch toward utilization of
World Wide Web (WWW) servers by funding sources, as opposed to use of
GOPHER servers.  The most recent indicators of this "trend" are:

 -  the GrantsWeb Project, organized by NSF, which
 is a single point of connection to multiple
 Grants Information WWW servers at a variety of
 funding sources

 -  NSF's creation of a WWW information server, although
 NSF has "in place" the most complete GOPHER server

 -  the decision of the FEDIX project to convert their
 Internet-based connection to multiple FEDERAL
 agencies from GOPHER to WWW

The trend appears clear:                [do you agree/disagree??]

 1.  Access to funding sources information via the Internet
 has become MORE COMPLEX:   quite a number of GOPHER servers
 existing, while a growing number of NEW sources are appearing
 which utilize WWW.

 2.  WWW is the means of access which has greatest
 "momentum";  we can expect to see much more of it,
 and considerably fewer new GOPHER servers

The shift toward WWW is problematic for our "grants & contracts"
operation because:

 1.  Since we are interested in DOCUMENT retrieval (i.e., TEXT
 rather than IMAGE, SOUND), the multi-media advantages
 of WWW over GOPHER become almost mute for us.

 2.  WWW requires considerable "computer power"
 (MOSAIC/equivalent, sufficient MB of document storage,
 adequate CRT size/quality, etc.), while GOPHER demands
 just a simple Internet connection.

 3.  We have created a set of Information & "pointers" on
 the our GOPHER server.  Do we wish to "shift" this to
 a WWW server?  Do we wish to maintain the GOPHER and
 create a WWW server?

 4.  Our office has limited hardware/software to connect
 to WWW, and consequently limited staff expertise in
 its utilization.
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What are your views on recent developments in electronic funding info
dissemination?

Ken
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Kenneth D. Buelow / Assistant Director for Research
The Graduate School / University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
P.O. Box 340 / Milwaukee, WI 53201
414/229-5449   /   xxxxxx@csd.uwm.edu   /   FAX=414/229-6967
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