of Meiobenthologists
Electronic Bulletin Board
Individuals interested in posting messages can send an e-mail to the Webmaster and it will be posted as soon as possible. Messages older than six months will be deleted unless instructed otherwise.
A Society web-vote on the recommendations below is being carried out until the end of June. All members in good standing are eligible to vote and should have received the appropriate web address in their latest issue of Psammonalia (Feb/May 2006, issue 144/45). If you are a member and have not received your issue with the web-vote address please contact the Chairperson, Keith Walters.
Recommendations related to the future of Psammonalia
Planning Committee Report
(Members: T. Corbisier; J. Lambshead; T. Moens;
P. Montagna; E. Olafsson; A. Todaro; D. Thistle, Chair)
The committee deliberated by e-mail and makes the following recommendations. A brief explanation of our reasoning follows some of the recommendations. The committee could not always agree, so for some recommendations, a minority view is also given.
Recommendation 1. The society should communicate with its members twice per year.
The committee felt that the present rate of publication was higher than necessary given the balance between the work required to produce a communication and the need for communication. Several committee members suggested that three times per year was more appropriate than twice per year.
Recommendation 2. Communication should be primarily by a newsletter on the society’s website.
Converting Psammonalia to an electronic form will save the cost of producing and mailing a paper version. It will also make the newsletter accessible to search engines, which should make the society more visible.
Recommendation 3. The chairperson should notify the members by e-mail when a new issue of Psammonalia has been posted.
Recommendation 4. Members without electronic access should receive a paper copy by mail.
Recommendation 5. After a new issue is posted, the previous issue should be archived on the web site intact.
The committee agreed that an archive that could be crawled by search engines would be desirable.
Recommendation 6. The most recent issue and the archives should be freely accessible.
Recommendation 7. After a new issue is posted, appropriate components of the issue that it replaces should be copied to topic areas on the web site.
The committee envisioned topic areas to include such things as methods.
Recommendation 8. Citations of recent publications by members, contributed by the members, should be included in the newsletter.
The committee agreed that space in the newsletter and therefore on the website should be devoted to recent publications of the members because it will allow the membership to become aware of advances in our field in a rapid and convenient manner.
Recommendation 9. The recent literature section should be omitted from the newsletter.
This recommendation was controversial. In brief, a small majority felt that producing the recent literature section was not necessary in an era of searchable data bases. They felt that the editor’s time would be better spent improving the web site. A large minority felt that the recent literature section was valuable. For example, because it includes important papers in all fields of meiofaunal research, non-specialists can become aware of papers outside their fields that they would not know to search for. Also, members without access to data bases value the recent literature section.
Recommendation 10. Membership in the society and the payment of dues should be separated from access to the newsletter.
The committee agreed that the newsletter should be available to any interested person and to search engines in a timely manner, so it will not be possible to charge for it. The society should offer other incentives for dues payments, such as the privilege of posting recent publications on the society’s website, a link on the society’s web site to the member’s home page, or a reduction in the registration fee for the annual meeting.
Recommendation 11. The back issues of Psammonalia should be scanned and posted on the web site.
These issues contain valuable information on techniques and give citations to older papers on meiofauna that are not in data bases.
Recommendation 12. The back issues should be dismembered and relevant portions posted in appropriate topic areas on the web site.
Recommendation 13. The webmaster should be authorized to hire an assistant to do the work on the back issues.
The committee agreed that this task was an appropriate way for the society to spend its money.
Submitted by D. Thistle, 10/2005
(posted 12/2005)