Research Cooperative Review (Issue 23, 23rd January 2013)

The Research Cooperative

A message to all members ( RCR 23)

Greetings,


Update

The results from our first poll are in: our FAQ page needs improving but is basically OK. A total of 59 people responded - a good sample. See this note with graphs at Research Co-op Polls .

Our fund-raising campaign at the Rocket Hub site continues (see http://www.rockethub.com/13044 ). A few donations have been made. Most encouragingly, one of our members ( Tom Benjamin ) has made a new remix of the video used to explain our network to potential donors. The remix has a new style, new voice, but almost the same spoken content.

I have also reorganised the sub-tabs in our "Meet People" menu, and added a new tab for " Indexers ". If you have any questions about how to make an index for your book or journal or website, that's the place to go to start getting advice. Our Indexers group grew quickly thanks to invitations sent out by existing Co-op members. Thanks for that!

(All members are welcome to invite friends and colleagues to join the Research Cooperative -- see the Invite tab in main menu , after signing in) ( See this note if you have lost your password ).


Review

There has been a lot of discussion recently about different models of publishing, and what the true costs are, for authors, institutions, and publishers. I have tried to join the discussion with a short submission to the UK House of Lords on the subject of a report titled: Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications .

New journals being created every month, creating an oversupply of new journals, while many existing and long-established journals struggle to continue with limited funds.

Our network is not a place where financial transactions are carried out, but with our special focus on the process of science communication , and very diverse membership , it is a good place for people to start talking about their experiences, concerns, and expectations regarding costs.

Please visit our groups for editors and proofreaders , translators , illustrators , indexers , publishing and production , and research communication topics to discuss any issues related to the costs of communication.

If costs are of no interest to you, then perhaps you would like join our group for volunteers !


Announcement

A few days ago, received confirmation that Dr Christian Corda and Dr Daniel Niles are willing to continue serving as founding members of our International Board of Advisors . We are still looking for advisors with suitable experience in research, language services, graduate student issues, IT, publishing, information services generally, or NPOs. The role is unpaid, voluntary, and requires only that frank opinions be given when the advisor wishes to give them.

Best regards, Peter (Admin., Kyoto)