kristoff@NET.BIO.NET (Dave Kristofferson) (01/22/89)
The following policy statement on the formation of new newsgroups has
been agreed upon by the BIOSCI management.
Sweden: Mats Sundvall
U.K.: Royd Whittington
Ireland: Niall O'Reilly
Finland: Rob Harper and Juhani Tenhunen
U.S.A.: Deba Patnaik and David Kristofferson
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We, the managers of the international BIOSCI bulletin board network
for the biological sciences, have received several requests to expand
the current list of newsgroups into other areas. While we wish to
encourage further developments in the use of electronic communications
by biologists it is necessary to institute a policy to govern the
formation of new newsgroups. We have agreed upon the following
regulations:
1) Anyone on the BIOSCI network can put forward a suggestion for a new
bboard/newsgroup on any topic in the biological sciences.
2) Proposals for new bboards should be submitted to the BIONEWS
newsgroup at one of the addresses listed below. Proposals should be
clearly outlined and have definite goals. The BIONEWS addresses are:
bionews@irlearn.ucd.ie Ireland
bionews@uk.ac.daresbury U.K.
bionews@bmc.uu.se Sweden
bionews@net.bio.net U.S.A.
3) After receiving each proposal there will be a call for votes.
Votes will be submitted to a special address ("biovote") created to
tabulate responses and *NOT* to the BIONEWS Bboard. The voting
replies should be kept as short as possible. A simple
YES for Newsgroupname or NO for Newsgroupname
on the Subject: line of a E-mail letter would be sufficient. Votes
should be mailed to the BIOVOTE address at the closest BIOSCI node:
biovote@irlearn.ucd.ie Ireland
biovote@uk.ac.daresbury U.K.
biovote@bmc.uu.se Sweden
biovote@net.bio.net U.S.A.
4) At least 40 votes must be received within a 2 month (60 day) time
period to create a new bboard. The creation of new bboards will be
announced on the BIONEWS bboard.
5) Proposers of new newsgroups will have the responsibility to promote
and maintain their bboard once it has been created. This will consist
mainly of sending out introductory notices on the bulletin board,
posting items of interest on a frequent basis and encouraging
scientists to participate in the discussion group. Guidance will be
provided by the BIOSCI management.
We look forward to serving the community in this expanding venture in
scientific communications!
Sincerely,
The BIOSCI staff