KRISTOFFERSON@BIONET-20.ARPA (02/27/88)
From: David Kristofferson <Kristofferson@BIONET-20.ARPA> I have read with interest the recent messages on SEQNET and BIOTECH about the LifeSci server starting up in Israel and am encouraged that interest in these facilities is on the rise. However, I feel that this is a good time to go public with my earlier discussions with Deba Patnaik of BIOTECH and Martin Bishop of SEQNET. Several months back I proposed that we should initiate an international series of bulletin boards in the major interest areas of the biological sciences. The first of these bulletin boards was to be named BIOSCI. The bulletin boards should be designed so that copies of messages sent to any computer participating in the network would be forwarded automatically to all others. The forwarding scheme would be set up so that major or national distribution centers would feed copies to other more local computers to minimize traffic on the network. The model for this is the current BIONET/SEQNET distribution scheme in which BIONET sends single copies of its messages to SEQNET for redistribution in Europe and SEQNET reciprocates for its message distribution in North America. Both Deba and Martin have indicated an eagerness to participate in such a scheme and we planned to find other major centers to participate. Since these initial discussions further work on the necessary software has occurred and the plan should be feasible in the near future. However, I am raising this issue in public now because I would like scientists to be aware of the potential benefits here if actions are coordinated BEFORE large numbers of independent systems get started. A significant advantage of computer networks is the ability they provide to communicate QUICKLY with large numbers of people without the intervention of editors, etc. This proposition can only succeed if many people participate in established groups. I would like to encourage as many computer centers as possible to join Martin, Deba, and myself in this endeavor before the system gets fragmented. Interested parties, i.e., those with the responsibility for running bulletin board facilities on computers in biological science departments, should contact all of us at the following e-mail addresses: Martin Bishop: mjb1@uk.ac.cam.bio (JANET address) Deba Patnaik: deba@umdc.bitnet Dave Kristofferson: kristofferson@bionet-20.arpa This effort will require a lot of coordination so I do not expect it to happen overnight. Nonetheless it is eminently feasible and does not require the leaping of tall buildings in single bounds, etc.! We have a chance here to establish a system that would be a real model of international cooperation. Let's proceed in that spirit! Sincerely, Dave Kristofferson BIONET Resource Manager kristofferson@bionet-20.arpa -------