CHARLES E. SCHUMER, NEW YORK, CHAIRMAN DANIEL 1(. INOUYE, HAWAII DIANNE FE INSTEIN, CALIFORNIA RICHAR [ I J.

DURBIN, ILLINOIS E. BENJ I \MIN NELSON, NEBRASKA PATTY WASHINGTON MARK L PRYOR, ARKANSAS TOM UDALL, NEW MEXICO MARK IAARNER, VIRGINIA PATRICK LEAHY, VERMONT LAMAR ALEXANDER, TENNESSEE M ITCH McCONNELL, KENTUCKY THAD COCHRAN, MISSISSIPPI KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, TEXAS SAXBY CHAMBLISS, GEORGIA PAT' ROBERTS, KANSAS RICHARD SHELBY, ALABAMA ROY BLUNT, MISSOURI

tlnitcd
COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20510- 6325

JEAN PARVIN BORDEWICH, STAFF DIRECTOR MARY SUIT JONES, REPUBLICAN STAFF DIRECTOR

August 1, 2011

Dear Colleague: The Rules Committee has identified several new and innovative Internet-based technologies to help Members better carry out their official duties. We are pleased to announce the following five new services: Real-time video webcasting of official events in a Senator's home state. A number of offices have expressed interest in real-time video webcasting. Among the available options, the Committee has negotiated an agreement with UStream, an online video streaming provider, to offer advertising-free video webcasting to Senate offices for a fee. The agreement with UStream stipulates the non-profit rate for Senate offices and ensures that no external commercial advertisements will be shown on the site. The UStream video webcasting can be paid for with official funds. For more information, please contact the Senate's UStream liaison, Chris Melehan, at cmelehan@ustream.tv, or at 408-398-0044. Enhanced, Internet-based tools to display large, non-confidential documents. The Rules Committee has reached an agreement with Scribd.com for advertising-free Scribd sites for Members and Committees. Scribd is especially useful for viewing and sharing very large documents that are not confidential, such as those intended for public access. As a free, web-based document sharing and display tool, Scribd allows users to take a document in any format (Word, Adobe, PowerPoint)- upload it- and view it or share it on any computer or web-enabled mobile device without any additional programs or equipment. It has enhanced search functions on longer documents, and transforms any document into a web document that's discoverable through search engines, and can be shared on social networks. Offices wishing to execute an agreement with Scribd, and set up an official Scribd site can consult the primer, which appears at http://www.scribd.com/scribd101. The Senate's Scribd liaison is Robert Macdonald, and he can be reached at rob@scribd.com, or at 917-647-3770. Secure intra-office sharing and archiving of documents. The Rules Committee and Sergeant-at-Arms have approved the use of SharePoint, a multi-purpose platform for document management and intranet portals, and are now making it available to all offices. Microsoft SharePoint allows users to create and manage documents, publish Access databases on the intranet portal, and centrally store and manage documents and favorite links. It

allows several staff members within an office to collaborate and edit documents or draft legislation. Offices can choose any one of nine vendors. Under this program, offices will have the flexibility to use the Economic Allocation Fund or Official Personnel and Office Expense Account to pay for SharePoint. For more information, please contact the Customer Service Analyst at 224-0821 or visit http://webster. senate. govI constituentsvcssystems/ sharepoint-integrators/

Easier Access to Hearing Documents for Personal Office and Committee Staff. The "Committee Hearing Documents Portal" makes documents accessible in one location to any Committee or Member staff at any time. This eliminates the need to e-mail these documents as attachments, and frees up valuable space in staff inboxes. Staff members also can sign up for e-mail alerts to be notified whenever documents are added or edited. Additional information on the Portal is available at http://webster.senate.gov/hearingdocs/ or contact Jeremiah Feindt, Senior IT Specialist at 228-4063. One-Stop Online Source of Committee Hearing Schedules and Information. A new version of the online application called "Hearing Scheduler" has been launched, rebranded as "Hearings Manager." This program lets Committee staff manage in a single location all the information about hearings that now appears on the Senate Office Buildings electronic signs, Webster, and Committees' senate.gov sites. A new feature will allow the committee clerk to track Member attendance and votes during committee meetings. The web address for Hearings Manager will be http://webster.senate.gov/hearings/. For information on "Hearings Manager," please contact Lynden Armstrong at 224-6352.
The Rules Committee will continue to review new technologies and applications that can help you carry out your official responsibilities, and we welcome your suggestions. If you or your staff have questions or need further information, please contact us or the Rules Committee staff- Jean Bordewich, Staff Director, or Mary Jones, Republican Staff Director, at 224-6352. Sincerely,

Ct..Lc;;J__
Ranking Member Charles E. Schumer Chairman