Chemistry Newsgroups, Discussion Lists, and Blogs
From ChemicalInformationSources
Chemical Information Sources Wiki
Contents |
Introduction
This chapter introduces some of the new communication techniques that the Internet and World Wide Web have enabled. In particular, the ability to communicate with people with similar interests is stressed. We are in a transition state from paper to electronic. It is very important to understand that not all information found in printed materials is also on the Web, nor is all of the material on the Web available for free. Nevertheless, the Web has enabled an unprecedented level of communication, especially nowadays, with the increasing use of the social networking software associated with WEB 2.0. However, communication by chemists with similar interests using the Internet has been going on for several decades using such tools as LISTSERVES and NEWSGROUPS. These are tools for distributing a single message via e-mail to a targeted audience that may reach in the thousands. More recently, BLOGS have become quite popular as a way of keeping up with important happenings in a field.
BLOGS
A new way of communicating in the Web 2.0 world of social computing is to maintain or subscribe to a blog. A BLOG (short for web log) is a website where entries are made and displayed. The content may include commentary or news on a particular subject, but some blogs function more as personal online diaries. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of most blogs. (Souce: Wikipedia, 5/5/07) An interesting chemistry blog is Jean-Claude Bradley’s appropriately named Useful Chemistry blog at Drexel which invites you to “Post specific problems in chemistry that need to be solved.” Other components include
- UsefulChem Molecules
- UsefulChem Wiki
- UsefulChem Experiments.
A guide to blogs in chemistry is Chemical Blogs.
Internet Listserves
The LISTSERV program has proven to be a very reliable and popular program for constructing discussion lists. To get an idea of the variety of interests among subscribers to listserves, see: Listserves archived at Indiana University Bloomington. There are many Listserves, Discussion Lists, and Newsgroups for Chemistry. The LISTSERV program has evolved over the years to include a Web archive of messages that can be searched as any other database.
All LISTSERV-type programs provide a channel to discuss various issues with a potentially large group of people. (Other programs that function similarly are Majordomo and Mailbase.) Some of the listserves are unmoderated, while others are private, with submissions only by the LISTOWNER, the person who administers the list. Some lists have a lot of traffic, so some subscribers prefer to utilize the digest option of the LISTSERV program. This allows one message per day to reach the recipient, and the single message contains all messages sent to the list the previous day. Most lists have a few very active commentators, who act as magnets for other people, some of whom prefer to remain LURKERS, subscribers who are not active participants in the discussion topics.
CHMINF-L, the Chemical Information Sources Discussion List
A popular chemistry list is CHMINF-L, the Chemical Information Sources Discussion List, which was started by Gary Wiggins in 1991. CHMINF-L exists to serve as a forum for discussion of chemical information sources and an information source for chemistry reference questions. It is currently sponsored by major chemical information units of several professional societies (American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Special Libraries Association). Typical topics of discussion on CHMINF-L include:
- News about existing or new sources
- Prices and availability of databases and other sources of information
- Search hints
- Surveys on various topics
- Sources of chemicals
- Other reference questions.
Some typical postings are:
- Where can I find information on polymer structure and data storage standards?
- Where can I find a reference to the Pkheidzhe and Gagnaudze Reaction?
Usenet Newsgroups
Thousands of news groups were developed to be read through Unix news readers. They were distributed to organizations only through network newsfeeds. Therefore, you may have to request that a subscription be added if your organization utilizes newsgroups. The news feed is read by newsreader client software such as: trn, rn, nn, tin, etc. or newsreaders included with network browsers. Alternatively, you could use a Web service such as http://groups.google.com/ Google Groups. Some examples of such groups are:
- comp. - computer science and similar topics examples: comp.software.testing comp.os.linux
- news. - news about Usenet itself
- rec. - recreation, hobbies, the arts examples: rec.bicycles rec.heraldry
- sci. - scientific research and applications, including many scientific, engineering, and social sciences disciplines examples: sci.chem sci.polymers
- soc. - social issues (loosely interpreted) example: soc.religion
- misc. - materials that do not fit anywhere else
- alt. - alternative ways of looking at things; discussion groups range from relatively ordinary topics to the bizarre. Not all systems carry these Newsgroups. examples: alt.cd-rom alt.feminism alt.horror
- biz. - business-related issues example: biz.jobs.
Link to Internet Sources for Chemistry Newsgroups and Discussion Lists
Chemistry E-Mail Servers Based on LISTSERV and Comparable Software
This wiki page was originally created by Gary Wiggins. If you have a legitimate desire to contribute to its contents, please request an account from the sysop, Dr. David J. Wild, by e-mailing him at djwild @ indiana.edu
