2nd RFD: sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe (was: sci.techniques.scanning-probe)
From: Jim Logajan (JamesL_at_Lugoj.com)
Date: 09/10/04
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Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 16:23:53 +0000
REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
unmoderated group sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe
This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the
creation of a world-wide unmoderated Usenet newsgroup
sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe. This is not a
Call for Votes (CFV); you cannot vote at this time. Procedural
details are below.
CHANGES from previous RFD:
1) The name was changed from sci.techniques.scanning-probe to
sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe.
2) The mention of a possible gateway between the existing mailing
list and the newsgroup was elided from the rationale.
3) Several other minor clarifications, typographical corrections, and
grammatical refinements were made.
Newsgroup line:
sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe Scanning probe microscopy.
RATIONALE: sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe
The proposed newsgroup should be created because it will provide an
open forum for the discussion of techniques and current research of
scanning probe microscopy. The newsgroup sci.techniques.microscopy
has become a de facto forum for discussion of optical microscopy,
which has little in common with scanning probe microscopy. Currently,
a private mailing list of one SPM vendor has a good amount of
activity, with an active membership of a couple thousand users and an
average of several daily postings. And the field continues to grow,
both in users and vendors.
The group will provide the SPM community a forum that is more publicly
accessible and easier to read (e.g. direct support for threads) than
the privately subscribed mailing list. The advent of feature rich web
searchable archives by entities such as Google Groups is another
advantage of using Usenet over that of a private list. Usenet's
inherently distributed nature makes multiple archives both possible
and likely, while the same is not so easily done with a private
mailing list.
The current mailing list is run by the leading microscope manufacturer
and has provided the scanning probe community a great public service,
for which they must be commended. Postings on issues about systems
from other companies or from the large community of researchers who
built their own microscopes do come up occasionally, yet many more in
the community have not thought of subscribing to the mailing list -
either because they are unaware of it, believe it focuses only on that
manufacturer's equipment, or disagree with its list of banned topics
(such as comparisons or reviews of competitive equipment or relevant
job postings from commercial entities). An unmoderated newsgroup
would attract a much wider audience to share information and would
complement the existing mailing list.
The issue of spam is a concern of many. The amount of spam that such
a group is likely to receive can be estimated by reviewing the Google
Groups archive of the nearest relevant newsgroup,
sci.techniques.microscopy newsgroup:
http://groups.google.com/groups?group=sci.techniques.microscopy
For a sample period of ~April 17, 2004 to ~August 4, 2004 there were
~9 spam messages out of ~412 messages posted. (N.B. Google even
archives spam.) The level at which spam becomes a significant
irritation is a subjective issue, but relative to regular e-mail, a
~2% rate may be considered quite low.
CHARTER: sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe
This group is an open forum for the discussion of techniques, theory,
instrumentation, and research in the use of scanning probe
microscopes. Such technologies include any form of microscopy that
involves the scanning of a probe close to a surface. This includes,
but is not limited to: atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning
tunneling microscopy (STM), magnetic force microscopy (MFM), chemical
force microscopy (CFM), lateral force microscopy (LFM), and near field
scanning optical microscopy (NSOM or SNOM). Postings advertising job
openings directly from the hiring firms (i.e. not recruiters) that
require expertise in SPM techniques, theory, instrumentation, and
research would also be appropriate, provided they are not repeated.
Binaries and postings entirely unrelated to any of the above would not
be appropriate and posters are asked to post them to more appropriate
groups.
END CHARTER.
PROCEDURE:
This is a request for discussion, not a call for votes. In this phase
of the process, any potential problems with the proposed newsgroup
should be raised and resolved. The discussion period will continue
for a minimum of 21 days (starting from when the first RFD for this
proposal is posted to news.announce.newgroups), after which a Call For
Votes (CFV) may be posted by a neutral vote taker if the discussion
warrants it. Please do not attempt to vote until this happens.
All discussion of this proposal should be posted to news.groups.
This RFD attempts to comply fully with the Usenet newsgroup creation
guidelines outlined in "How to Create a New Usenet Newsgroup" and "How
to Format and Submit a New Group Proposal". Please refer to these
documents (available in news.announce.newgroups) if you have any
questions about the process.
DISTRIBUTION:
This RFD has been posted to the newsgroups:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups
sci.nanotech
sci.physics
sci.techniques.microscopy
In addition, once this RFD is posted to news.announce.newgroups,
the proponents intend to post pointers to the following newsgroups:
sci.engr.micromachining
sci.materials
sci.physics.research
And to post the RFD to the following mailing list:
spm [at] di [dot] com
Subscription information: http://spm.di.com/listinfo.html
Proponent: Gordon Vrdoljak <gvrdolja@nature.berkeley.edu>
Proponent: Thom Borton <borton@phys.ethz.ch>
Proponent: Jim Logajan <JamesL@Lugoj.com>
- Next message: Fred Chen: "Nanoparticles increase X-ray sensitivity in tumors"
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- Next in thread: Bill Aten: "CFV: sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe"
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