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DISCUS is being provided as a continuation of the CONCISE service by
Level-7 on behalf of DANTE.

For more information about the changes to the service please refer to
the item "DISCUS, a new name for a familiar service" - enter 1253 (return)

If you require further information or assistance, please send a message
to the helpdesk: helpdesk@discus.dante.net

                          Introducing DISCUS
D A N T E         New Name for a Familiar Service       Level-7 
1 March 1994

Under the name DISCUS, the Central European Information Server for
Researchers set up during the COSINE Project will be continued in 1994.
The DISCUS Service will continue to be provided by Level-7 which, in
1994, will work under contract to DANTE. DANTE is a new company
established in July 1993 to provide international telecommunications
services for the European research community. The COSINE Project
concluded in April 1993 and taking over responsibility for the services
resulting from COSINE is one of the objectives of DANTE.

In this context DANTE now manages EuropaNET, the international backbone
network linking the European research networks, MailFLOW, the global MHS
Co-ordination Service, PARADISE and DISCUS.

The new name DISCUS has been introduced because it marks the beginning
of a new period in which the service will be provided from a different
perspective. The provision of Information Services in a commercial
setting is a challenging issue. More than any other area, information
services are regarded as "free" by the research community. Neither users
nor funding bodies are eager to pay charges that DANTE, with its
commercial structure, is obliged to make for all its services -
including Information Services. DANTE is currently investigating how
these services could best be offered to its customers. Taking a closer
look at DISCUS, and assessing the prospects and possible limitations of
the service, is part of this process

DISCUS will remain operational under the same conditions in 1994 as in
previous years. The Server will continue to offer a wide range of
information on subjects of interest to the research community. Research
groups will continue to be able to use DISCUS as their own document
server.

DANTE and Level-7 are both committed to offering European Researchers a
high quality Information Service. In 1994 this can only be to the
benefit of DISCUS users.


DANTE                                     Level-7 Ltd.        
Josefien Bersee                           Graham Knight          
Customer Relations Manager                DISCUS Project Manager
Lockton House                             Centennial Court      
Clarendon Road                            Easthampton Road
Cambridge                                 Bracknell         
CB2 2BH                                   Berkshire RG 12 1YQ    
UK                                        UK
tel: +44 223 302 992                      tel: +44 344 867 199
fax: +44 223 303 005                      fax: +44 344 868 442
e-mail: dante@dante.org.uk