P212121

As promised, I will be posting the main points from my presentation at the American Crystallography Association meeting this year.

Can we improve the way we currently communicate online?

Let’s take a look at how we are currently communicating with each other online. If we have a question about Pymol, we have to sign up for the Pymol bulletin board. If we have a question about Phenix, we have to sign up for the Phenix bulletin board. If we have a question about CCP4, you guessed it; we have to sign up for the CCP4 bulletin board.

The system is currently set up with the program developers in mind. The developers have the community coming to them. Why? Because it is more convenient for them. If you have a question, you seek them out.

Unfortunately, that means you’re going to have to join multiple bulletin boards and get bombarded with spam. It’s crazy what you’ll find in your inbox! Job postings, equipment for sale, auto-response emails letting you know that someone is out of town. Just this month there was even a phishing scam on the CCP4 bulletin board! I think you’ll agree the system needs to be improved.

In an effort to change the way we currently communicate online, I turned to blogging. For those of you who are unfamiliar with blogs, they are a great alternative to bulletin boards. They eliminate spam because they’re not email based. The discussions can be organized by categories and tags so you won’t have to scroll through tons of threads. A blog can also serve as a mutual site for users and developers to come together and interact.

What do you like about the email based bullentin boards? Do you feel there is a place for forums and blogs?

Part 2

Related Posts:

• ACA 2010 Unites 2009 Nobel Prize Winners in Chemistry
• Crystallography Video Lecture Series
• Easy to Replicate
• Why you should Care.
• ACA Presentation 2009, Part 4

4 Awesome Insights so far | Have Your Say!

1. 

   Pett
   August 2nd, 2009 at 6:04 AM #

   http://www.p212121.com – da best. Keep it going!
   Pett

2. Scientific Presentation Resources - P212121
   August 9th, 2009 at 6:35 PM #

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   September 11th, 2009 at 11:14 PM #

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   September 11th, 2009 at 11:15 PM #

   [...] Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 are here if you missed them. Can your research benefit from creating an online [...]