WAO'98 abstract on Web-based Electronic Logbook.

     Tom Meyer, Fermilab

   In the fall of 1996 the two operations groups at Fermilab,
   Accelerator and Research, were merged.  Along with the confusion of
   merging two groups with different operational philosophies came the
   question of what the Main Control Room (MCR) logbook should be.  The
   Research Divisions Operations group had long ago switched to an
   electronic logbook.  It was based on the VMS-TPU platform and was
   therefore text only in its content.  The Accelerator Division
   Operations group had maintained a paper logbook and depended
   greatly on the ability to include graphs, pictures and pre-written
   memoranda into the logbook in order to pass on information from one
   shift to the next.  The obvious collision of cultures forced a
   reexamination of the technology of electronic logbooks.  The
   resulting E-Log is a Web-based application written in the Perl
   programming language implementing an HTML/CGI interface with
   Javascript being used to help implement improved client-side
   functionality.

   The starting code for this application was taken from Oak Ridge
   National Laboratory's DOE2000 electronic logbook project.  This
   code was designed to be used as a single scientist's or single
   project's logbook.  Modifications and enhancements to the code were
   made so that the E-Log would be useful in a rotating shift, 24 hour
   a day operations environment.