Since the glycosci newsgroup is one year old this week, it may be a good
time to consider its progress. I don't know exactly how many posts have
been made - but I think been it's about four-hundred. The newsgroup
appears to have become primarily a forum for announcements, requests for
basic information and the odd methodological question - with the
occasional rogue 'make money' (or whatever) post that have afflicted
other newsgroups.
The question is: Is this the type of newsgroup the glycoscience community
wishes to have? Many scientific newsgroups are more lively than this one
- but perhaps the glycoscience community is not ready for this style of
communication. Of course, discussion can be initiated by anyone who reads
the newsgroup - no need to feel reticent. One idea that comes to mind is
that there could be newsgroup discussion prior or after a MOO-based
discussion on a topic, technique or journal article.
The overall concept of the Glycoscience Interest Group (GIG) and
Glycoscience Network has come some distance in the past year, with a
number of WWW pages appearing and the holding of the EGC-1 electronic
conference. Hopefully this will continue and high quality
glycoscience-related information will find its way on to the Internet. If
you wish to help/initiate an information source or an electronic
discussion forum, why not share the idea with the newsgroup first?
NB: The URL of the Glycoscience Network Homepage is:
http://bellatrix.pcl.ox.ac.uk/people/barry_spring95/Glyco.html
Any ideas on developing the newsgroup or electronic network can be
discussed here or (if you prefer) with Barry Hardy or myself.
Regards to all,
Iain
--
Iain Wilson Institut fuer Chemie
Tel: 43-1-47654-6065 Universitaet fuer Bodenkultur
Fax: 43-1-310-5176 Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33
E-mail: wilson at edv1.boku.ac.at A-1180, WIEN, Austria
