Thanks, Claudia, for this update.
When I mentioned this issue at the last EB meeting, I was concerned that
the IUFRO Board and Secretariat wasn't really catching on to some of the
changes that occurring in the way that people communicate with each
other. The divergence between the use of traditional communication
methods and age is inverse: the younger a person is, the more likely
they are to be using other forms of communication.
It is possible to argue, especially by us older individuals, that there
is nothing wrong with the traditional communication methods
(newsletters, electronic lists such as this one, policy briefs, even
websites). However, my concern is that there is a generation of
individuals who are now beginning to penetrate the scientific community
as junior professors and scientists who are using different
communication means, and IUFRO simply isn't there. I am referring to the
increasing use of open technology, such as blogs, Facebook, U-Tube,
wiki-based technologies and so on. I am yet to see any strong
indications that our Task Force on Communication has recognized this,
although I do think that the 6.03 is group is beginning to get a grasp
of some of the issues.
I believe that there is something deeper and much more serious here than
we in IUFRO have recognized. The whole nature of scientific
communication is rapidly changing, as witnessed by the recent
proliferation (in the last 12 months) of open science journals. The
scientific review system is rapidly changing - double-blind reviews are
increasingly the norm (for those who bother with review process at all),
but the concept of open review by the whole community through
wiki-technologies is not too far away (we are using this already for the
review of criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management on
one of our websites; it is only a matter of time before this process is
used for scientific papers).
Best wishes
John
Dr. John Innes
Professor, FRBC Chair of Forest Management
Department of Forest Resources Management
University of British Columbia
2045-2424 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6T 1Z4
email: john.innes(a)ubc.ca
tel: (+1) 604 822 6761
-----Original Message-----
From: it-group-bounces(a)lists.iufro.org
[mailto:it-group-bounces@lists.iufro.org] On Behalf Of Goestl
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:58 AM
To: it-group(a)lists.iufro.org
Subject: [IUFRO IT group] IT group suggestions and activities
Dear IT group members,
as you will remember, we agreed last year that the process group on the
broader use of IT
(chaired by VP Science) will discuss and suggest new approaches on the
use of innovations
in communication technology via the IT mailing list.
I am writing you today using this mailing list tool to summarize last
year's suggestions
and the planned and ongoing activities:
Summary:
Generally the IT group activities date back to Motion 6 (Board to
establish IT group, IT
group to use 2008 Adaptation Conference in Sweden as test case) and
Motion 11 (TF
Communication and Publication Committee to develop recommendations) of
the 2007 EB Meeting
in China, Beijing.
In September 2007 we agreed upon:
a) starting the mailing list approach, and to use the Adaptation
Conference in Sweden as a
test case
b) and c) to put all interested parties on the mailing list and enable
online
self-subscription of other interested persons
d) to continue to exchange ideas "on how to best use innovations in
knowledge management
and communication technology in the work of IUFRO" by establishing the
IT mailing list
What has been done:
1) the mailing list for the Adaptation Conference and the IT group were
set up in October
2007
2) additionally mailing lists for all IUFRO Divisions and interested
Task Forces were set
up in October 2007
3) additionally mailing lists for interested Research Groups and Working
Parties (2 Test
Cases) etc. were set up in December 2007
4) all lists (exception: IT group) support online self-subscription of
interested parties
and self-edit address updates; besides existing lists of
addresses of officeholders were imported
5) the lists are fully moderated to guarantee the quality and relevance
of postings and to
ease the initial reservations and fear to make something wrong users
often have when using
new community tools
6) the lists and possible uses (conference announcements, search for
publications, request
for help in solving interdisciplinary question, position announcements,
etc.) were
advertised in IUFRO News
Suggestions that were brought forward by members of the IT group:
1) Mike Wingfield suggested to establish and maintain List Servers for
all the RG's in the
Divisions
>> progress report: mailing lists based on List
Server technology
were set up for all
RGs and WPs that expressed interested in Dec 07
2) Mike Wingfield stated the FORENT and FORPATH mailing lists as an
example and suggested
that these lists could be test cases. He furthermore suggested together
with Sandy
Liebhold that these lists should move from the server in Vermont, US, to
IUFRO given the
retirement of the list administrator
>> progress report: the lists did not need to
serve as technical test
cases as the other
lists were already in the implementation process; there has been close
cooperation between
Mike Wingfield, Sandy Liebhold, Dale Bergdahl and me to ensure a smooth
transition of the
two lists with each over 600 active subscribers; this transition from
Vermont to IUFRO
(Vienna) successfully took place in February 2008.
3) Mike Wingfield suggested to supplement the list server based mailing
lists with a
self-edit tool that allows mailing list members to enter their details
(address,
background information, etc.) with the vision to build an electronic,
powerful directory
and a target time frame of 2010.
The systems suggested were those of the American Phytophath Soc. and the
South African
Society for Plant Pathology (Mike Wingfield) and a software called
Drupal used at the
British University of Columbia (Angeline Gough).
>> progress report: it was recommended to give
the list members time to
get acquainted
with the new tool and to wait until a true online community has formed,
so that we will
actually be able to use a tool that specifically fits the needs our
still forming IUFRO
online community. Mike Wingfield and I have agreed to continue
collecting examples on an
ongoing basis and I will look into the technical issues involved so that
we have a series
of pre-selected tools once we are ready for this next step. Note: The
possibility of
address updates (as suggested by Perry Brown in this context) is catered
for by the
current system we use, as each list member can self-edit his/her email
address and mailing
preferences.
Outlook:
So what we would need would be further suggestions (next to the
self-edit information
system already on the list) on further approaches on the use of
innovations in
communication technology.
Furthermore, any feedback on how such long established list as the
FORENT and FORPATH
lists (existing for over 15 years now) could serve as example for the
new communities; on
how the mailing lists could ease the communication among officeholders
and Unit members,
etc. are most welcome.
Furthermore any initiatives to involve the TF Communication and the
Publications committee
are most appreciated.
Guidance on how to use the IT mailing list tool for your reply to the
whole group:
To reply kindly click on the reply button in your email client and
proceed as with any
other mail. The mail will be sent automatically to all group members (as
the groups list
server address it-group(a)lists.iufro.org stands in the "To" field) with a
short time delay
due to the moderation.
Further guidance is available online, see:
http://www.iufro.org/science/iufro-mailing-lists/faq-mailinglists/.
Besides you are most
welcome to contact me directly at goestl(a)iufro.org for assistance.
I am looking forward to your suggestions.
With best regards,
Claudia
--
Claudia Goestl - Web Management
International Union of Forest Research Organizations
IUFRO Headquarters - Secretariat
Mariabrunn (BFW), Hauptstrasse 7 | A-1140 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43-1-877 0151-14 | Fax: +43-1-877 0151-50
Website: <http://www.iufro.org/>
http://www.iufro.org | Email:
<mailto:goestl@iufro.org>
goestl(a)iufro.org
IUFRO Mailing Lists now online -
<http://www.iufro.org/science/iufro-mailing-lists/overview/>
http://www.iufro.org/science/iufro-mailing-lists/overview/
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