Prototype Website Research Articles

An ‘app’ropriate resource? Using mobile apps to provide feeding advice and support to parents

Feeding problems in children are extremely common and can affect long-term physical health, in addition to being acutely stressful for both the parent and child. Despite this, advice on child feeding is still poorly communicated to parents and many struggle to find professional support and advice when they experience problems feeding their child. The purpose of this research was to develop a resource to address this; one which allows for wide and cost-effective dissemination of expert advice and avoids traditional barriers to healthcare access. To this end, we developed a free-to-download mobile app for smartphones (and website version for non-app users). Following a review of the literature on infant feeding problems, the resource was developed to offer: (1) education on the most prevalent feeding difficulties; (2) interactive, tangible tools and tips to implement suggested strategies; and (3) assessment tools to monitor problem severity and parent/child subjective wellbeing. Mothers ( N = 18) discussed their feeding experiences and appraised the mobile app and website prototypes. Feedback confirmed that feeding problems were common, guidance was inadequate, and that this resource was viewed as extremely helpful, novel, and contained a depth of information beyond anything previously seen. Importantly, mothers welcomed the possibility of using a mobile app to access feeding-related guidance. Overall, this resource represents a novel way to deliver education and guidance in an easy-to-use, highly accessible way that fits with modern parents’ lifestyles. Further evaluation activities are planned to test the efficacy of the resource as an intervention tool.

Analysis of the cultural factors affecting the proper design of website and electronic courseware for e-Learning in ASEAN

This study is to understand perspectives of administrators and instructors in higher educational institutes on cultural factors which affect website and electronic courseware for e-Learning in ASEAN. It used an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to find underlying cultural factors affecting the design of website and electronic courseware for e-Learning in ASEAN. Based on the factors identified, the proposed model of website and electronic courseware for e-Learning in ASEAN along with the prototype were presented at the end. The research procedures included two major steps. Step 1 is based on the review of related literature and the data collection from the survey concerning cultural factors affecting website and electronic courseware. In step 2, experts' interviews were conducted to obtain their opinions concerning the proposed factors, along with discussion about readiness of Thai e-Leaning in higher education so as to become part of the ASEAN Community in 2015, and the model of website and electronic courseware for e-Learning in ASEAN were presented. The results of this study were the report of the cultural factors affecting the proper design of website and electronic courseware for e-Learning in ASEAN, the proposed model, and the prototype of website and electronic courseware for e-Learning in ASEAN assimilating all the related cultural factors exquisitely.

Component Based Method for Usability Testing of a Website

This paper presents the Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE) approach for usability testing of a web-site based on ISO 9241-11 usability guidance to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product by testing it on users. A particular type of website i.e. university web site was chosen and segmented in different components in modular forms according to the purpose of that component. Then component wise tasks as per ISO 9241-11 usability guidance were prepared to carry out the usability testing for evaluating the test web-site. After analyzing the results of component based usability testing, a proto-type version of the test web-site was designed in a limited form including all the feedback of test results. Finally, the proto-type web-site was re-evaluated for establishing the effectiveness of component based web usability method with the same tasks. The proposed component based usability testing method is expected to improve the design/content issues of web-site resulting the web-site much more user friendly, effective and less time and cost consuming.

Development and pilot of an advance care planning website for women with ovarian cancer: A randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveFew available tools facilitate cancer patients and physicians' discussions of quality of life and end-of-life. Our objective was to develop a web-based tool to promote advance care planning for women with ovarian cancer. MethodsWomen with ovarian cancer, their families, clinicians and researchers met to identify ways to improve cancer care. A prototype website was created to address advance care planning, focusing on advance healthcare directives (AHD) and palliative care consultation. Patients were recruited from a gynecologic oncology clinic for a pilot randomized controlled trial. Primary outcomes included completion of an AHD and palliative care consultation. ResultsAt study completion, 53 women with ovarian cancer were enrolled and 35 completed the study. The mean age at enrollment was 57.9±9.5years; most were newly diagnosed or at first recurrence. There were no statistical differences in completion of AHD (p=0.220) or palliative care consultation (p=0.440) between intervention and control groups. However, women in the intervention group showed evidence of moving toward decision making regarding AHD and palliative care and lower decisional conflict. Women assigned to the intervention, compared to control website, were highly satisfied with the amount (p=0.054) and quality (p=0.119) of information and when they accessed the website, used it longer (p=0.049). Overall website use was lower than expected, resulting from several patient-related and design barriers. ConclusionsA website providing information and decisional support for women with ovarian cancer is feasible. Increasing frequency of website use requires future research.

The broadcasting on INTERNET of water DPSIR indicators. Experiment on the Nestos delta, Greece

An initial GIS data base has been assembled in 2001 covering the various parameters related to the Nestos river basin and its delta. This data set is being used for water resources modelling purposes within the frame of the multinational PROMENES initiative. The initial data gathering has produced a vast set of information which has been stored using the ArcView GIS tool. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) recently defined guidelines for structuring the GIS databases aimed at water resources management. It is stressing the use of "open" GIS systems and formats in order to further facilitate maintenance and reporting to the public, a needed requirement. The present project explores the application of the DPISR concept to the publication of a "State of the Environment Report" on the Nestos delta through Internet. This concept has recently been proposed by the European Environmental Agency and is already in application for air pollution indicators broadcasting and urban environmental problems reporting. The PROMENES data base has been restructured using an "open" GIS approach and lessons learned on how to organize water management related datasets for the building of environmental indicators. A prototype web site is evaluated and is being tested for public broadcast under the supervision of EPO Living Lakes, an environment protection organisation operating in the Nestos delta.

FireWatch: Creative Responses to Bushfire Catastrophes

FireWatch: Creative Responses to Bushfire Catastrophes

Testing of a prototype Web based intervention for adolescent mothers on postpartum depression

PurposeThis article describes testing of a prototype Web site for adolescent mothers with postpartum depression; providing proof of concept. MethodsParticipants (N=138) were recruited from a public school-based program for adolescent parents and completed the Mental Health Acceptability Scale, Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help, and Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale before, and after, the Web site intervention. They also provided feedback on the usability of the Web site. ResultsAttitudes related to depression and treatment (ATSPPH) improved after viewing the Web site (p=.023). Feedback on the Web site indicated that it was easy to use (77%), reflecting highly acceptable score for product usability. ConclusionsThe data provide the foundation for the launch of the Web site from prototype to product and more comprehensive testing. The creation and testing of informational text messages will be added to the Web site to increase the interactivity and dose of the intervention.

Development of a Web-Based, Work-Related Asthma Educational Tool for Patients with Asthma

Asthma is a common chronic condition. Work-related asthma (WRA) has a large socioeconomic impact and is increasing in prevalence but remains under-recognized. Although international guidelines recommend patient education, no widely available educational tool exists. To develop a WRA educational website for adults with asthma. An evidence-based database for website content was developed, which applied evidence-based website design principles to create a website prototype. This was subsequently tested and serially revised according to patient feedback in three moderated phases (one focus group and two interview phases), followed by face validation by asthma educators. Patients (n=10) were 20 to 28 years of age; seven (70%) were female, three (30%) were in university, two (20%) were in college and five (50%) were currently employed. Key format preferences included: well-spaced, bulleted text; movies (as opposed to animations); photos (as opposed to cartoons); an explicit listing of website aims on the home page; and an exploding tab structure. Participants disliked integrated games and knowledge quizzes. Desired informational content included a list of triggers, prevention⁄control methods, currently available tools and resources, a self-test for WRA, real-life scenario presentations, compensation information, information for colleagues on how to react during an asthma attack and a WRA discussion forum. The website met the perceived needs of young asthmatic patients. This resource could be disseminated widely and should be tested for its effects on patient behaviour, including job choice, workplace irritant⁄allergen avoidance and⁄or protective equipment, asthma medication use and physician prompting for management of WRA symptoms.

Marketing for remote area using an experience-based tourism website destination

This study developed an experience-based tourism website prototype. Contrast to the traditional information-based website, users can interact with the website to arrange their own customised schedule and the system will generate a tour handbook for their scheduled tour. 107 users were recruited to participate in this study in order to test the effectiveness of the experience-based tourism website. The result indicated that our website can increase user’s experience with the website and then increase their intention to visit the remote location we are promoting. We were convinced that the experience-based tourism website can be a helping hand for organisations that try to do destination marketing on the internet, especially for those organisations that are working on infamous remote areas.

Creating Project CREATE

Background: This paper discusses the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention's effort to develop a web-based service called Project CREATE that responds to a need for targeted health promotion materials expressed by directors of HIV/STD prevention services in predominately rural states. Purpose: Project CREATE allows users to select customized photos, taglines and applicable statistics in order to design targeted prevention posters to reach persons at risk for HIV/STDs in their areas of rural America. Methods: Project CREATE resulted from a bottom-up development process that involved pilot testing the website prototype with members of the target audience (i.e., rural HIV/AIDS health educators, prevention specialists and program coordinators), a model that could be applied to any health promotion effort. Results and Discussion: The assessment data from the pilot test attests to the need for services like Project CREATE that are developed in close coordination with the practitioners who will ultimately use these resources. Translation to Health Education Practice: The paper concludes with recommendations for best practices for public health researchers working with software developers to create web-based tools designed to be used by practitioners.

Expanding the Usability Toolkit: Using PowerPoint™ to Perform Website Analysis and Testing

Many usability software packages exist to serve the needs of user experience practitioners. However, these options are often expensive and possess steep learning curves. The purpose of this paper is to provide novice practitioners a usability toolkit that is easy to use, versatile, and affordable. Using basic presentation software, PowerPoint™, graduate students in a usability and redesign course performed card sorting tasks with several users and used the results to create website prototypes for usability testing. The detailed methods for deploying these usability techniques via PowerPoint™, as well as the benefits of these methods, will be explored.

Prototype for Internet support of pregnant women and mothers with type 1 diabetes: focus group testing

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to pilot test a prototype website called MODIAB-web designed to support pregnant women and mothers with type 1 diabetes.MethodA focus group was undertaken and the results were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsEight subthemes were identified, comprising “blood glucose versus insulin,” “application for smart phones,” “the time aspect,” “interface and technology,” “forum,” “direct link to the diabetes midwife,” “ask the expert,” and “lack of contact information.” These subthemes were condensed into two main themes. The first theme was “easily understood interface, but in need of a more blood-glucose focused orientation” and the second theme was “forum for interaction with both equals and experts.”ConclusionThe women in this study had positive impressions of several of the MODIAB-web functions, including a forum for pregnant mothers with type 1 diabetes and the possibility of being able to put their blood glucose levels into a diagram which could be sent directly to the diabetes midwife. Access to articles and information via the “fact” tab and the ability to ask questions of experts were also significantly helpful to women in the focus group. Pregnant women and mothers with type 1 diabetes can gain support from such a Web-based self-help system.

A Full-text Website Search Engine Powered by Lucene and The Depth First Search Algorithm

With the amount of available text data on the web growing rapidly, the need for users to search such information is dramatically increasing. Full text search engines and relational databases each have unique strengths as development tools but also have overlapping capabilities. Both can provide for storage and update of data and both support search of the data. Full text systems are better for quickly searching high volumes of unstructured text for the presence of any word or combination of words. They provide rich text search capabilities and sophisticated relevancy ranking tools for ordering results based on how well they match a potentially fuzzy search request. Relational databases, on the other hand, excel at storing and manipulating structured data -- records of fields of specific types (text, integer, currency, etc.). They can do so with little or no redundancy. They support flexible search of multiple record types for specific values of fields, as well strong tools for quickly and securely updating individual records. The web being a collection of largely unstructured document which is ever growing in size, the appeal of using RDBMS for searching this collection of documents has become very costly. This paper describes the architecture, design and implementation of a prototype website search engine powered by Lucene to search through any website. This approach involves the development of a small scale web crawler to gather information from the desired website. The gathered information are then converted to a Lucene document and stored in the index. The time taken to search the index is very short when compared with how long it takes for a relational database to process a query.

Usability Testing of An Online Transition Program for Adolescents with Hemophilia

Abstract 4777 Purpose:This study explored the usability of a new Internet-based educational program of disease-specific information, self-management strategies and social support for adolescents with hemophilia. Methods:A comprehensive eight-module educational website was developed, based on results of an in-depth needs assessment. The website was tested for usability, using qualitative methods that included semi-structured, audio taped interviews and observation by a trained observer. To determine the usability and intuitiveness of the user interface of the “Teens Taking Charge: Managing Hemophilia Online” intervention, testing occurred in three cycles (4 participants per cycle). Participants were asked to work through standardized parts/features of the program, with changes to the prototype made after each cycle. Thematic analysis using a collaborative and iterative process was used to organize data into categories that reflected the emerging themes. Results:A purposive sample of twelve adolescents (range 12–18 years, mean 15.4 years) was recruited from a Canadian tertiary care center. All of the participants had access to a computer at home and felt comfortable using the Internet. Teens responded positively to the content, appearance and theme of the website (promoting self-management in youth with hemophilia). Subjects thought that it was easy to navigate, use and understand. Overall, they felt the content was appropriate and geared to meet the unique needs of adolescents with hemophilia. The multi-media components (videos, animations and quizzes) were thought to enrich the experience and make the program appealing. Adolescents provided ideas on how the website user-interface could be improved in terms of its usability (navigation, format and layout). Minor changes to the website user-interface were made and tested after the first and second cycles of testing. No further problems were identified in final cycle of testing. At the teens’ suggestion, additional social media elements were added (discussion board, “ask the expert” section) to build in elements of support and increase interactivity. Most participants felt this program would be helpful prior to transition of care and beyond. Conclusions:Usability testing was the crucial first step in ensuring the acceptability and ease of use of “Teens Taking Charge: Managing Hemophilia Online”. Findings from this study were used to refine the website prototype. A pilot study is underway to determine the feasibility of using a randomized controlled trial to study the Internet-based self-management program. Disclosures:Breakey:Baxter Bioscience: Research Funding, Salary Support. Ignas:Baxter Bioscience: Salary Support.

The Use of Fuzzy Logic System in Determining Preferences toward GUI Design for E-Commerce Website

This paper presents the findings of a survey that correlate human personality types with the preferences towards graphical user interface (GUI) design for e–commerce website. Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) inventory is the personality instrument used to conduct personality test on human beings in this study. The targeted sample is the students from UCSI University KL Campus. They are first group into one of the sixteen MBTI personality types, and then they are further grouped into one of the four Myers–Briggs temperaments. 2 types of surveys are imposed: the Personality and Preferences Questionnaire (PPQ) which aim to figure out the correlation; and User Evaluation Questionnaire (UEQ) which is conducted online is used to collect user feedbacks on the resultant website prototypes. Fuzzy logic theory together with the data collected during PPQ is implemented into ANFIS systems to come out with inferences about whether or not the suggested correlation exists. Conclusion drawn from this study is that human's personality type does affect some of the preference towards website elements (website layout and font type used), but not all.

Designing public web information systems with quality in mind

PurposeThis paper aims to describe evolution of a new public information web site, through evaluation‐refinement prototyping cycles.Design/methodology/approachAn expanding range of participants is being engaged in formal evaluations as the site design evolves. The Flesch‐Kincaid Grade Level Score is applied to assess ease of reading in the wording used; the National Quality Forum guideline statements are applied to determine whether the prototyping design process is meeting performance expectations; and then Nielsen's heuristics are applied to evaluate ease of use of the latest prototype.FindingsThe page wordings started at a high reading grade level to be technically correct, with a strategy to progressively reduce levels without losing meaning. Reading level was reduced to an average of two and as much as six grades through editing between the third and fourth‐generation prototypes. None of the National Quality Forum principles were found missing from the development process. The prototype web site was ranked at the middle compared to official public web sites of seven other States' healthcare‐associated infection programs, some of which had been open to the public for more than a year. Many of the heuristic violations that weighed against the prototype were described as being minor and easily fixed. Collaboration between a State health department and a university to advance this evaluation‐refinement process was valuable to both parties, enhancing the ability to produce a new public information web site that is more likely to meet the needs of its intended audience.Practical implicationsIn response to increasing expectations of transparency and accountability, a growing number of public web sites are displaying hospital performance data. Washington State's mandatory public reporting of healthcare‐associated infection rates is a recent example of this trend. The Department of Health is required by law to launch a public information web site by December 2009. The research was based on an evidence‐based approach to understand and meet the information needs of the public.Originality/valueAlthough few studies have evaluated the usage and impact of hospital comparison web sites, these studies uniformly show relatively low usage and disappointing impact. Using the research literature, issues thought to account for poor usage and low impact, and developed design principles that address this poor past performance were identified. Throughout 2008 and 2009, successive prototypes were developed for the web site structure guided by those principles and refined each generation of prototype through focus group evaluations. This paper explains the approach, and summarizes results from the evaluations, leading to improvements before the final design first opens to the general public.

Understanding reactions to an internet-delivered health-care intervention: accommodating user preferences for information provision

BackgroundIt is recognised as good practice to use qualitative methods to elicit users' views of internet-delivered health-care interventions during their development. This paper seeks to illustrate the advantages of combining usability testing with 'theoretical modelling', i.e. analyses that relate the findings of qualitative studies during intervention development to social science theory, in order to gain deeper insights into the reasons and context for how people respond to the intervention. This paper illustrates how usability testing may be enriched by theoretical modelling by means of two qualitative studies of users' views of the delivery of information in an internet-delivered intervention to help users decide whether they needed to seek medical care for their cold or flu symptoms.MethodsIn Study 1, 21 participants recruited from a city in southern England were asked to 'think aloud' while viewing draft web-pages presented in paper format. In Study 2, views of our prototype website were elicited, again using think aloud methods, in a sample of 26 participants purposively sampled for diversity in education levels. Both data-sets were analysed by thematic analysis.ResultsStudy 1 revealed that although the information provided by the draft web-pages had many of the intended empowering benefits, users often felt overwhelmed by the quantity of information. Relating these findings to theory and research on factors influencing preferences for information-seeking we hypothesised that to meet the needs of different users (especially those with lower literacy levels) our website should be designed to provide only essential personalised advice, but with options to access further information. Study 2 showed that our website design did prove accessible to users with different literacy levels. However, some users seemed to want still greater control over how information was accessed.ConclusionsEducational level need not be an insuperable barrier to appreciating web-based access to detailed health-related information, provided that users feel they can quickly gain access to the specific information they seek.

PatientViewpoint: a website for patient-reported outcomes assessment

To develop a prototype website to collect patient-reported outcomes in outpatient clinical oncology and link the data with the electronic medical record (EMR). A multidisciplinary Research Network, including experts in outcomes research, clinical oncology, nursing, social work, information technology, EMRs, behavioral science, decision science, clinical trials, law, and a cancer survivor, was formed to design the prototype website. The Research Network developed the initial website specifications, elicited feedback from patients (n = 20) and clinicians (n = 7), constructed the website, and conducted usability testing (n = 10). Clinicians reported that the website could improve clinical practice if it was not burdensome and were most interested in tracking change over time. Patients were interested in using the website because of the potential to facilitate communication with their clinicians. Patients emphasized the importance of short and simple surveys and a user-friendly interface. The PatientView-oint website was designed to meet these specifications. Usability testing suggested that patients had few problems accessing and using the site. Preliminary reports from clinicians and patients suggest that a website to collect PROs and link them with the EMR could help improve the quality of cancer care. Further pilot-testing will evaluate the use, usefulness, and acceptability of PatientViewpoint.

Phenomenon of Nasza Klasa (Our Class) Polish Social Network Site

Introduction The design, implementation and success of the social networking portal Nasza-klasa (Our Class) is a model example of the 'rags to riches' ideal of an enterprise construed with no financial funding and no institutional support (neither from ASP/ISP corporations nor from central/local administration). Today, Nasza-klasa.pl ranks among top five Polish social community networking portals, not far behind Google.pl, Onet.pl and Wirtualna Polska (.pl), and followed by Allegro.pl - the biggest Polish Internet auction service. Nasza-klasa is visited monthly by more than 50% of Polish Internet users. There are several hundred of similar social networking services on global e-market. What are the reasons for this particular portal to reach such spectacular success on Polish e-market? First, it corresponds with the elementary need to communicate, a basic treat of human civilization (Barney, 2008; Castells, 2007; Mendes et al., 2004). Secondly, its authors were able to identify a very attractive business niche--after all, each individual has a certain history of social contacts in schooling communities (on elementary, secondary or university level). Thirdly, the portal under study offers a range of functionality and usability features that are well adapted to the needs and expectations of its users. Fourthly, the portal has strong foundation in the form of a constantly improved technological platform that offers stability, infallibility and excellent operational efficiency. Fifthly, Nasza-klasa has recorded a phenomenal, snowballed increase of unique registered users and visits, reaching the status of one of the most popular Polish sites within seven months. Incidentally, there is also a diversity of social graphs evolving on the site, illustrating various relations and ties between individual members on Nasza-klasa community. In general, those social graphs are carefully studied and analyzed by social scientists in such varied subjects as ethnology, sociology, psychology, economics, political studies, law, criminology (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). This particular aspect of Nasza-klasa operation is also emphasized in this study. Basic Information about Nasza-klasa In mid 2006, four students of Wroclaw University of Technology and University of Economics (Poland) devised and implemented a simple social networking portal addressed to members of present and past schooling and university communities. The prototype website came online in November, 2006 ('Nasza-klasa.pl,tour3, 2008d). The following three quarters saw a substantial increase in the number of registered users, mainly from Wroclaw and the Lower Silesia region. Site popularity was noticed by global capital investment funds. As a result, the portal obtained a significant financing support. A limited liability company was established under the name of Nasza Klasa. By the end of 2007, following the renown, press reports and word-of-mouth communication, the number of registered users doubled every month (Sukces naszej klasy, 2008). Consequently, at the turn of 2008, the snowball effect culminated in technological clogs that seriously affected website utility. To address this problem, company owners decided to incorporate another investor from the IT sector. The financial surge allowed to improve the service infrastructure; by the third quarter of 2008, technological and functional aspects of site operation and efficiency were stabilized ('Nasza-klasa.pl, 2008b). By the end of 2008, the company extended its organizational structure, updated their business model and provided new products and functionality features on the site. Table 1 presents results of a study (conducted in June, 2008) of most popular Polish websites, in terms of numbers of users, visits per month (as % of total Internet users), number of visits and average time spent viewing the site. As shown above, nasza-klasa.pl ranked fourth among the websites under study in terms of monthly percentage of users and total number of registered users (7. …

A Decade of Effort by the ESA Vegetation Panel Leads to a New Federal Standard

On 11 February 2008 the Steering Committee of the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee formally approved the 2008 National Vegetation Classification Standard. This event represented the culmination of over a decade of effort by the ESA Panel on Vegetation Classification. The first FGDC Vegetation Classification Standard adopted in 1997 (following ESA Vegetation Panel review and recommendations) left unspecified the specific floristic classification units at the finest levels of the national vegetation classification: the associations and the alliances. The ESA Vegetation Panel immediately undertook the task of developing a process for recognizing these individual vegetation types. A decade of deliberations and collaborations led to a formal set of recommendations described in a detailed document available on the ESA Vegetation Panel web site 〈http://www.esa.org/vegweb/panelActivities.php〉 as well as an article on “Characterizing associations and alliances of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification,” to be published in Ecological Monographs in 2009. The 2008 Vegetation Standard established a dynamic content process for classifying vegetation in a physiognomic/floristic vegetation hierarchy. Interagency Federal use of the Standard will produce nationally uniform Federal vegetation statistics and will provide encouragement to non-Federal partners to follow the Standard when working with their Federal partners. The Standard was developed by Federal and nongovernmental partners, including the Vegetation Panel of the Ecological Society of America, the Federal Geographic Data Committee Vegetation Subcommittee, U.S. Forest Service, National Biological Information Infrastructure (USGS), and NatureServe. The U.S. Forest Service, acting through the Vegetation Subcommittee and working closely with the partners, is the lead federal agency tasked to oversee funding acquisition, partnership development, and effective operation of the components. One problem confronted by the ESA Vegetation Panel and the FGDC Vegetation Subcommittee was that there is a need to recognize thousands of vegetation types distributed across the country, yet, as with classification of organisms or soils, our understanding of vegetation is continually improving. As a consequence, the slow and often tortuous path required for changes in FGDC standards would not be practical for handing the anticipated frequent changes in the recognized set of vegetation types. The solution adopted is a type of standard entirely new to the FGDC, a dynamic content standard. As a dynamic content standard, the FGDC Vegetation Standard creates a process for adopting, describing, and improving individual vegetation classification types over time. This process brings together five core components: (1) maintenance and serving of classification content, (2) maintenance and distribution of supporting data, (3) preparation and submission of proposals for revision of the content, (4) peer review and evaluation of proposals for revision of the content, and (5) publication of peer review results and incorporation of approved changes into the public record of the classification content. The ESA Panel has been intimately involved in the development of both the Standard and the requisite infrastructure for its implementation. The Panel, with support from NSF, built 〈Vegbank.org〉, an international vegetation plot archive to provide access to the data underpinning classification decisions. The Panel also built a prototype web site for submission and processing of proposals for changes in the classification, and for dissemination of the accepted proposals through online publication of a Proceedings. The Panel anticipates continuing to bring ESA's professional credibility and expertise in peer review and publication to the partnership responsible for the implementation of the new Standard. The partnership between ESA and the FGDC in development of the new Vegetation Standard is an outstanding example of the way ESA can constructively contribute at a federal level by providing scientific advice and guidance to federal agencies, and helping to develop and guide the implementation of government standards for science.