Did I hear correctly at the CSI Show that CSI was going to start, if they have not already, a subscription service for MasterFormat. Can someone please explain how it would work?
I also heard that the MasterFormat '04 provided in our conference bags (which was nice) is already out of date and that the CSInet.org website has the latest edition. Can someone please comment on that as well?
I don’t recall getting MasterFormat 2004 in our conference bags. That was a disk from BSD SpecLink, who sponsored the bags.
I also don’t specifcally recall about a subscription service, but I do recall that MasterFormat will be updated on a more regular basis and that updates could be available by subscription.
About MasterFormat being out of date, they did say in the instructor course that the list of numbers and titles on the CD-ROM (included with the printed copy of MF2004, and available on the CSI website) is actually more current than the printed copy (a victim of printing deadlines, obviously)
CSI does have plans to establish an updating service - the details are in the process of being worked out - will probably be some sort of electronic access subscription service - will probably include a central point to make suggestions for additions and revisions which will be considered by a expert panel - again the services and how it will operate will be announced later.
The printed document and accompanying CD-ROM are not out of date - they are the most up-to-date info. There were a few minor revisions to the list that was first put on the CSI website in June, 2004 - they were provided as errata information on the website in August and November, 2004. A final corrected version including the corrections with the Novemember, 2004 date is also on the website - that document clearly states at the beginning as follows: “The numbers and titles presented here are identical to the numbers and titles presented in the full MasterFormat 2004 publication available for purchase from CSI and CSC.”
The website thus includes the corrections to the June, 2004 list in August and November of 2004, and a November, 2004 version including the correcdtions. The latest information on the website and the information in the published document and CD-ROM are the same. Nothing is out-of-date.
Make sure Michael Chambers knows that. He’s the one who mentioned it at the instructor course in Chicago.
I remember Mr. Chambers and also Mr. Hall discussing exactly what Mr. Johnson has just stated in detail at the Chicago convention. I think he (Mr. Chambers) is one of them that will be on top of the happenings of Masterformat 2004.
It may be possible / I suspect that what Michael Chambers may have meant by his reference to the version on the website being more current than the one on CD, he was referring to the CD that accompanied the PROJECT RESOURCE MANUAL - MOP, not the CD that accompanied the MasterFormat '04 publication.
Not sure exactly when it hit the streets, but I received my PRM in October, and there was a subsequent errata published on the website in November. (The CD included with the PRM is level 2 Numbers and Titles only, not the full version of MasterFormat.)
This scenario does not seem to contradict Mr. Johnson’s posting above. Nor Mr. Chanber’s statement at the instructor training session.
Mystery solved, perhaps?
Good point David. The CD-ROM that came with the Project Resource Manual (PRM) was out-of-date because the PRM was on the street before the MasterFormat was finally completed in November. That may well have been what Michael was referring to. I did alert Michael to this thread by email.
Ronald,
There should have been a complete MasterFormat '04 in you conference bag. This went along with the whole theme of the show which was “The New World of MasterFormat”.
Did anybody else not get a MF’04?
I’ve been robbed!
Apparently I didn’t say “thank you” nicely enough to the person handing them out.
Oh well, at least I received one at the Accredited Instructor Course.
Robert: That may have been what Michael was referring to. But, I could have sworn he meant the MF2004 book. Either way, the correct information is out there. Thanks!
the handing out of the MF04 was sort of… badly organized. You had to get your name checked off so that you didn’t get more than one of them, and there wasn’t always someone at the booth who was there to do that. You might ask them nicely via email and mention both your attendence and that you didn’t get the entire package..
I think the reason you didn’t get one in your bag is because you got one with the course - I didn’t get one in my bag either, I think it was because I had received one earlier as a member of the task team - the people in the booth giving them out were checking against a list - my name wasn’t on the list. I don’t know if that is the situation for sure, but I think they were limiting people to one free copy.
Ron,
It may depend on when you stopped at the booth to get your tote bag. I stopped there on Tuesday morning (before the MF seminar) and they had not yet arrived (I believe someone said they were still boxed up and sitting at the loading dock, awaiting delivery to the show floor). When I went back later during the lunch break, the books had arrived and had already been inserted into the bags. From what I undedrstand, there was one for each person who signed up for full Education Program registration (none for ‘Exhibit Hall only’ registrants). They were, in fact, checking badges to ensure they only distributed to those on the list.
So if you did not get one, they should have a record of it, by virtue of the fact that your name had not been crossed off (assuming they kept the list, that is).
And the distribution seems to have been totally independent of the MF Seminar, since I received one for each circumstance.
yep, me too. (I got one free copy and one from the course) Marc Chavez and I shipped our total of 4 free copies back to Seattle and the box weighed 47 pounds after adding in the tote bags and some miscellaneous other paper stuff.
Bob is absolutly correct as usual with his statements regarding the proposed subscription service. This is in discussion as a part of a proposed MasterFormat Maintenance Task Team. The goal is to make MasterFormat a living document and update it on a periodic basis that better keeps pace with changes in the industry and allows user input into the document.
Many of the processes the MFETT set forth in the development of the document to attract wide industry input will continue and be expanded. ASHRAE has established a ongoing technical committee to make recommendations on HVAC stuff in MasterFormat and we are encouraging other industry groups to do the same.
Sorry about the confusion with the delivery of MasterFormat to all Convention attendees. If you believe you are do a book and did not receive one, please let me know and I will make sure that we live up to our committment to our membership and Convention attendees. While I do not have authority to do a lot, I am “outspoken” in my committment to do the right thing.
I thought that only those who pre-registered for the Education Program by the Early Bird date received the hard copy MF2004 in their bags.
Helaine is correct, only those who pre-registered for the full educational program were to get the free MasterFormat. But there was a lot of confusion, both with Convention attendees and with the temporary staff handing out the books. Some folks that were not suppose to get them demand books and got them and some that were suppose to get them did not because we ran out.
Everyone who has contacted me to date, will be sent a book. I believe that CSI should do the right thing by our membership and the Institute agrees. After this point, getting a free book for Convention attandence will be a lot more difficult.
I have corresponded with Teresa Sullivan on Institute staff and she will be happy to ensure that any member who got missed with the MasterFormat give-away program is properly dealt with. This is not a green light for a free-for-all. Names will be checked to ensure you at least attended the Convention and you did not get your copy.
This is a limited time offer until her generosity runs out. So, it you missed the boat at the Convention, your ship has come in again. Jump on now because the ship is leaving for Las Vegas. Hope to see you all there.
in the June issue of Specifier, page 69, is an advertisement for a CSI MasterFormat 2004 Online Subscription Service. Nowhere in the ad is CSI mentioned; some outfit called “IHS”? Does anyone know if this is the “Official” CSI-Sponsored subscription service?
IHS is what we used to know as Information Handling Services. They are a reseller of standards documents – their primary service used to be microfiche and microfilm. What they are offering in that ad is purchase of Masterformat from them. IHS has a lot of different subscription packages, in which “subscription” really means a package deal for lots of standards for a single annual fee. I have an inquiry in to them as to what it costs and what you get. But I would surmise that it would be less expensive to buy it from CSI because IHS has to mark documents up unless the author permits them otherwise. I would guess that what CSI means by subscription involves advance purchase of updates that are scheduled on a regular basis much shorter than the traditional 5 or 6 year cycle.
Take a look at the press release on their website http://www.ihs.com/news/press-releases/05-csi-masterformat.html