Research Cooperative Review (Issue 17, 5th March 2011)
| Dear All, 1. UPDATE It is now almost Spring in Kyoto. We still have many cold and damp days ahead, but there is a hint of warmth in the sun, whenever it appears. In other words, there has not been a lot activity in recent months, but the sun might shine, and our garden of social connections might begin to grow more vigorously. Thanks to all of you for showing interest in our network. I cannot greet you all in person, but please feel welcome to contact me at any time, with questions or advice. IMPORTANT: Many members may not be able to find their own profile page after joining. It is not hard once you know! After logging in, please look for the 'My Page' tab in the main menu and click on that. 2. REVIEW Improving navigation: Making navigation easier and more effective inside our network is a never-ending task. We will always need to look for improvements, because helping our members find each other and make useful connections is the primary reason fgor the existence of the network. The main improvement recently has been the design of full-window-width navigational pages that can be accessed from our menu tabs and subtabs. These link to our country focus groups, research communication focus groups, and many other groups (for example, see All occupations , under the Members menu in the top, main menu). Each group page is also now linked to other groups, in ways that make it possible to explore the network in an intuitive fashion, from one group of interest to another. At the same time, many new groups have also been formed, to continue increasing and improving the channels for contact between all members, according to our interests. One example is our new group for ' transport '. This has several members already, and a discussion on bicycle transport systems has been started (replies to the message are welcome!). The aim here, as with all our topic groups , is to connect the discussions to research communication in each field. For bicycle technology and uses, what research publications can our members find or recommend? Note: the most significant journals for a specialist research field are often not so-called ' high impact factor journals '. They may be journals that are not widely known outside one country, or one group of researchers. A young researcher in one country might not learn about a very good, specialist journal until another member of our network talks about it, in a group where people with similar interests can gather. And this might lead to new ideas for where to publish a paper. Please visit our site soon , if you have not visited recently. Then read the explanation text before looking at the subscription payment options at the bottom of the page. The text explains that you can choose a payment of zero in order to continue to have free access to our network. We expect that most members will choose to use free access. Please do not be too surprised. As an NPO, our network can only survive in the long-term with the support of members. Members can support the network financially, and through volunteer help as moderators, communicators, bloggers, etc. If members of the Research Cooperative can help cover the costs of operation and development, then the network can live longer, and remain independent longer. Since last year, several members have kindly contributed small payments, as subscriptions or as donations, and their encouragement is much appreciated. We probably need about 120 paying members to cover our annual basic operational cost of about $600. When we reach that number, we will certainly make a special announcement to celebrate the fact! 3. ANNOUNCEMENT International Board of Advisors : We have started to assemble an International Board of Advisors (voluntary) for our network. Such a group is needed in order to have access to frank and constructive advice on how the network is managed, and on our future plans Offers to serve on this Board are welcome from anyone with (a) sincere interest in the aims of the Research Cooperative , and (b) suitable academic qualifications or a suitable level of experience in any area of communication (editing, illustration, translation, etc.) or publishing. March Invitation Campaign: Our group for Translators now has 100 members (and many translators in our network have not yet joined this focus group). Our group for Editors and Proofreaders is lagging behind! It has only 75 members. If you know any editors or proofreaders, please invite them to join the Research Cooperative , and invite them directly to join the focus group. We welcome not just English-language editors and proofreaders. People who can edit or proofread other languages are all welcome |
Visit The Research Cooperative at: http://researchcooperative.org