SAGE Booklet Announcements

by Barb Dijker
<barb@usenix.org>

SAGE is very proud to announce the third booklet in its series
Short Topics in System Administration.  The new addition is titled
"System Security: A Management Perspective" written by David L.
Oppenheimer, David A. Wagner, and Michele D. Crabb and edited by
Dan Geer. 


This Booklet

As Dan Geer notes in the foreword of this new booklet, "security
is, more than anything else, a way of thinking."  This new SAGE
booklet provides fundamental information to enable that perspective
in a way that isn't intimidatingly technical.  "System Security:
A Management Perspective" defines the basic theoretical models and
concepts of security and relates them to the real threats of today
and the real world of corporate finance and planning.  The booklet
follows by providing detailed information on how to get started
implementing comprehensive security strategies and policies.
Finally the booklet includes appendices on "The Top 10 Computer
Security Problems that Plague Organizations" and a comprehensive
list of resources for further information and timely security
announcements.

One copy of each SAGE Short Topics booklet is mailed to all SAGE
members when it is first published.  So if you are a SAGE member,
you should have already received your copy in the mail.  A significant
portion of SAGE membership and other funds are used to support
these distributions.  Additional copies of this booklet or of
booklets published prior to becoming a SAGE member are available
by contacting the USENIX office and paying essentially the cost of
the copy and postage ($7.50).  SAGE members receive a discount on
the price of SAGE Short Topics booklets ($5.00).  Ordering information
is on the web site at http://www.usenix.org/sage/publications.html.


The Series

The SAGE short topics series is intented to provide brief and
digestible treatments of essential topics.  The goal is to fill a
void of information on the professional rather than technical side.
System Administrators have plenty of resources for technical
information.  With this series, they'll also have resources for
the quasi-political information as well.  Each booklet is written
such that it will be of keen interest to System Administrators but
will find its best audience in those with whom we work in support
of the profession.  So the SAGE short topic booklets are designed
to be shared with your peers and non-technical colleagues alike.
As such, they are also intended to lend credibility to your profession
with your colleagues.  Some of the most important work a System
Administrator does is lobbying colleagues for changes to organizational
polices and practices to improve the computing and work environment.
However, we'd all rather have our heads buried in the technical
work.  SAGE hopes the booklets will lend support to the those
efforts.

The first booklet in the series, "Job Descriptions for System
Administrators," provides a standard for categorizing levels of
expertise of System Administrators that can be adjusted to meet
the needs of any organization.  This information can be used by
System Administrators to help gauge their own level for comparison.
It may also be used by human resources personnel to develop specific
job titles and job descriptions within an organization.

The second booklet, "A Guide to Developing Computing Policy
Documents," is a resource that can provide the impetus and guidelines
to finally write comprehensive policy documents.  Many System
Administrators effectively make policy daily in their decisions to
do this or support that -- often risking their jobs in doing so.
Written and approved policy documents provide a useful resource to
inform users as well as help relieve the risk and stress of the
System Administrators shooting from the hip.


Future Booklets

SAGE has an ambitious schedule this year for expansion of the Short
Topics series.  Three additional booklets have been commissioned
for publication in 1997.  The third will probably ship to members
early 1998.  Since SAGE members automatically receive a copy of
each new booklet, if you've been procrastinating, this is the year
to finally become a SAGE member.  You'll certainly get your money's
worth.  The upcoming booklets are:

	4: Educating and Training System Administrators
	   by Bruce Wynn and Dr. David Kuncicky

	5: Legal Traps and Pitfalls for System Administrators
	   by Dan Appleman

	6: Hiring Policies, Practices, and Interview Strategies
	   by Gretchen Phillips

SAGE is seeking additional topics and authors for expanding the
series.  If you are interesting in contributing ideas, information,
or time, contact any SAGE board member or USENIX office staff.