Draft 2019 report for IUCr exec

[kaduk at polycrystallography.com]

Hi, James:

Looks fine to me.

Jim Kaduk

On 2020-03-19 20:49, James Hester wrote:
> Dear COMCIFS,
> 
> Please see below a draft report for last year.  Please let me know if
> I have missed anything that you think worthy of mention. In
> particular, if the wwPDB has some CIF-related news that would be
> excellent. And Herbert, did the NIAC do anything relevant to CIF last
> year that we should make a note of?
> 
> thanks,
> James.
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 
> COMCIFS report 2019
> ===================
> 
> COMCIFS is responsible for maintaining and developing the suite of
> standards known as the Crystallographic Information Framework (CIF) on
> behalf of the IUCr. The committee consists of five voting members and
> a broad collection of advisers and observers. The current voting
> members are James Hester (Chair), John Bollinger (Co-Secretary),
> Brian McMahon (Co-Secretary), Herbert Bernstein, and John Westbrook.
> 
> New dictionaries
> 
> No new dictionaries were approved this year.
> 
> Legacy dictionaries
> 
> No further legacy dictionaries were transferred to DDLm this year.
> The method for doing this has been finalised for the modulated
> structure and electron density dictionaries.
> 
> International Tables Volume G
> 
> COMCIFS members are closely involved with the preparation of the
> second edition of International Tables Volume G ("Production and
> exchange of crystallographic data"). Progress has been slow due to
> clarification of the new foundational standards being a prerequisite
> to producing on the Volume. Further information is available in the
> report of the Commission for International Tables.
> 
> Macromolecular standards
> 
> The wwPDB is responsible for a large and rapidly expanding collection
> of CIF definitions that encompass concepts and techniques used in the
> macromolecular community.  In 2019 submission of entries in mmCIF
> format became mandatory as one of the final steps in moving away from
> the 1970s era PDB format.
> 
> Interactions with other groups
> 
> Herbert Bernstein represents COMCIFS on the NeXus international
> advisory committee (NIAC).  In 2019...
> 
> COMCIFS is also closely involved with the IUCr Committee on Data
> (CommDat).
> 
> Events
> 
> This year's AIC International Crystallography School in Naples
> ("CIFiesta")
> had a strong focus on Crystallographic Information, and included
> several
> hours of lectures on the CIF system and dictionaries from CIF experts.
> 
> Looking forward
> 
> As flagged in previous years, an ever-shrinking group of people is
> drawn upon to support CIF maintenance and development. This situation
> is not sustainable, particularly as the first generation of CIF
> experts move into retirement. This situation did not improve in 2019.
> --
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