CFV: sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe

From: Bill Aten (votetaker_at_netagw.com)
Date: 09/29/04 

Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 15:33:54 +0000

                     FIRST CALL FOR VOTES (of 2)
      unmoderated group sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe

Newsgroups line:
sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe Scanning probe microscopy.

Votes must be received by 23:59:59 UTC, 20 Oct 2004.

This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party. Questions about
the proposed group should be directed to the proponent.

Proponent: Jim Logajan <JamesL@Lugoj.com>
Proponent: Thom Borton <borton@phys.ethz.ch>
Proponent: Gordon Vrdoljak <gvrdolja@nature.berkeley.edu>
Votetaker: Bill Aten <bill@netagw.com>

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.

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======= BEGINNING OF BALLOT: Delete everything BEFORE this line =======
|----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Official CFV Name: sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe
| Usenet Voting Ballot [STMSP-81-1] (Do not remove this line!)
|----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Please provide your real name, or your vote may be rejected.
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| newsgroup listed below (do not delete the newsgroup name):
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| Your Vote Newsgroup
| --------- ---------
| [ ] sci.techniques.microscopy.scanning-probe
|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------
======= END OF BALLOT: Delete everything AFTER this line ==============

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This CFV has been posted to the following newsgroups:

news.announce.newgroups
news.groups
sci.nanotech
sci.physics
sci.techniques.microscopy

Pointers directing readers to this CFV will be posted in these newsgroups:

sci.engr.micromachining
sci.materials
sci.physics.research

and to the following mailing list:

Mailing list name: DI SPM List
Submission address: spm@di.com
Request address: http://spm.di.com/listinfo.html

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