rick@cs.arizona.edu (Rick Schlichting) (10/08/90)
** Call for Discussion ** -- comp.japan.research
PROPOSAL: A new newsgroup to facilitate dissemination of Japanese
research results in computer science to other researchers
worldwide.
MODERATED: Yes (I volunteer as initial moderator.)
DATES: Open discussion starting 10/8. If warranted, a Call for Votes
will be issued at an appropriate time thereafter.
FOLLOW-UP/QUESTIONS: news.groups, or to rick@cs.arizona.edu
RATIONALE:
Although many of the technological achievements made by the Japanese over
the past decade are well-known, there is surprisingly little awareness
of Japanese developments in computer science outside of that country.
Although there are many reasons for this, one fundamental problem is that
only a limited amount of Japanese work in the field is reported in
journals commonly read by U.S. researchers. While these are undoubtedly
important, it represents only a small percentage of papers actually written.
The remaining work, and especially the most recent work, is reported in
forums widely distributed only in Japan. These forums include
English-language journals, as well as those written in Japanese.
The purpose of this newsgroup would be to increase accessibility to
these research results by providing a forum for publicizing this
work and for subsequent discussions. In particular, the types of
articles envisioned would include the following:
-- Information about CS research papers published in Japan, including
titles, authors, and (where feasible) abstracts.
-- Descriptions of current Japanese CS research activities, such as
the reports written by Dr. David Kahaner from the Office of Naval
Research/Far East (currently posted to soc.culture.japan.)
-- Specific requests for information.
-- Announcements related to CS in Japan, including those related to
conferences held in Japan, research opportunities in Japan, etc.
-- General discussions on CS in Japan.
Initially, the newsgroup would rely on voluntary article submissions
from Japan to disseminate information about papers. However, we are
also pursuing ways to provide information such as the Table of Contents
of Japanese journals on a more systematic basis. The basic intent is
that publicizing this information will encourage other researchers
to either obtain copies of the relevant articles locally or to contact
the authors in Japan for further information.
ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: Why not utilize the existing comp.* newsgroups?
A: The new newsgroup would serve to augment, not replace, the existing
newsgroups. Thus, articles about a specific topic such as operating
systems would be cross-posted to comp.os.research as well as
comp.japan.research. In general, comp.japan.research would serve
as a focal point for such information, as well as provide a forum
for other articles that currently do not fit well into the existing
structure.
Q: Why moderated?
A: In addition to improving the signal/noise ratio, a moderator would
help maximize exposure by cross-posting to appropriate technical groups.
Q: What good is it going to do me to find out about papers written in
Japanese?
A: (1) Very often, the authors will also have related papers written in
English that can be obtained on request.
(2) My experience is that it is often quite possible to determine
the main thrust of a paper since even papers written in Japanese
commonly have figures, keywords, etc. that are in English.
Sometimes, the abstract is in English as well as Japanese.
(3) There may also be the chance to gain information by direct email
exchange with the authors. Most technical Japanese have very good
English reading and writing skills, and e-mail connections to Japan
from other parts of the world are now excellent.
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Rick Schlichting, Associate Professor (rick@cs.arizona.edu)
Dept of Computer Science, The University of Arizona
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