3 replies to this topic

[vetticus3]

Hello BioForum,

I was wondering if you, or the people on the board might be interested in an online newsletter, or something similar.

I love this board, it has helped me out with so many issues that I have had when i first began, and even today.  There are so many stories behind how the protocols have been sorted out, or papers that have "issues", and advice for people starting out.  I was wondering what you, and the people of this board, might think about having a newsletter (or something) that people of the board could contribute to.  

Maybe every 6 months, or year, people could send in a short article about either their work (ie tips everyone should know about cloning, insect biology - what's so interesting about bugs, why i think publishing in nature is so difficult, best bioforum topic of the month, how to deal with colleagues that play their ipods too loud, or choosing the best place to hold a conference etc), or something that they might want to share with others.  A mixture between the fun and the serious (which is just like this board).  It might even be something to have on a CV - that the contributors can write for a "general" audience as well as scientific papers.  Completely voluntary, and if it is only once or twice a year, and quite short, it wouldn't be such hard work. People could volunteer their time to either write a small article, or compile the newsletter.  It could be available electronically, facebook or through a mailling list.  I would help.
I don't know, it's just an idea, and I'm trying to avoid working this afternoon.

V

[pito]

I think its a good idea.

What I always considered was having a subforum with in that some general hints/tips.
We now have stickies that contain good tips however some stickies have become too long or people have posted too much questions in it that its often difficult to find that general information you are looking for.

I always found it an intersting idea to have someone who checks some of the stickies and makes 1 nice file out of it and then this file could be posted in a subforum called hints and tricks or something.. and there this new sticky would be "closed" so nobody except some mod or responsible for it could open it.

But the thing is: it takes time.. and you need people to order it, to fix it.

Edited by pito, 30 June 2011 - 09:22 AM.

[hobglobin]

pito, on 30 June 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

I think its a good idea.

What I always considered was having a subforum with in that some general hints/tips.
We now have stickies that contain good tips however some stickies have become too long or people have posted too much questions in it that its often difficult to find that general information you are looking for.

I always found it an intersting idea to have someone who checks some of the stickies and makes 1 nice file out of it and then this file could be posted in a subforum called hints and tricks or something.. and there this new sticky would be "closed" so nobody except some mod or responsible for it could open it.

But the thing is: it takes time.. and you need people to order it, to fix it.

Pito, I find your idea even better, because it's really helpful to have excerpts of the many important methods, protocols or lists of hints and useful ideas that are discussed in many many threads and posts and it's sometimes really tricky and/or time-consuming to find the good posts...and it's insofar easier for the writer, because you don't have to start from scratch, but most of the information is there available, it just has to be edited and sorted etc.
For a newsletter you have a blank sheet and to write something...first you need to have an idea and then write a good text...that's really time-consuming and laborious especially for non-native speakers...I guess even if it's worth and a good idea to have it, it will die finally because there are not enough authors in the end.

Edited by hobglobin, 30 June 2011 - 12:01 PM.

[pito]

Something I forgot to mention yesterday:

I would find it very intersting to have a topic in each subforum with in it a few titles that are a must have in that specific field for students/researchers.

often I see posts from people asking for a good book to start learning.. and I think it would be nice to have 1 (closed) sticky with in that sticky maybe a few very well known titles in the field.
And only a moderator or responible one can then change the sticky once in a while to add a new title.
And the titles must be kept to a minimum (not posting every book), just the essential known ones.
The kind of books that every student or researcher has in his book collection.

I'll give an example, for the cloning forum one title would be:
Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual
(Third Edition)

I think that every lab has this book or worked with it or any scientic library will have this book..