Policy on Support for External ISIS Users

In the past, the Astrogeology Team has provided a high level of support to external ISIS users. We shall continue providing support for ISIS on NASA-funded projects and those that have an integral relationship with the activities of the Astrogeology Team. However, it is often the case that questions posed to the ISIS support staff are unrelated to either internal Astrogeology or NASA projects. With these factors (and others) in mind, the following mechanisms have been put into effect to handle future ISIS support questions:

• All questions regarding ISIS including installation, use, bug reports, and programming should be submitted online through the Isis Support Center (URL: http://isis.astrogeology.usgs.gov/IsisSupport/) a forum based message board. Please refrain from submitting email directly to any USGS Astrogeology Team member as this can result in delayed (or no) response.

• We will attempt to answer all posted questions, however, those which have an integral relationship with the Astrogeology Team will receive a higher priority. Other low priority questions will be answered in an appropriate time frame (hours to weeks) depending on the level of difficulty and availability of staff.

• As a primary option for obtaining the ISIS system, we recommend using our internet distribution facility (rsync server). Requests for DVD distributions can be considered under extraordinary circumstances for NASA funded scientists, missions, and organizations.

• Bugs will generally be fixed and distributed via our internet distribution facillity. Requests for changes or new features will be acted upon given their relevance to our ongoing USGS mission and project activities.

• We encourage outside participation in the forum as we recognize there are many advanced and expert ISIS users outside of the Astrogeology Team who are willing and able to assist athers in the ISIS community.

For additional information, see the Policy on ISIS Programming, which describes the policy on support for users who want to write their own specialized ISIS programs.