sci.bio.paleontology and PALEONET

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Norm McLeod has asked me to outline for PALEONET what Usenet newsgroups
are all about, and the potential pros and cons of setting up a gateway
between the new Usenet newsgroup sci.bio.paleontology and PALEONET, now
that sci.bio.paleontology has passed its vote and PALEONET has grown so
much in the  past month.

Individual Usenet newsgroups are something like mailing lists, in that 
they distribute articles to interested readers around the world.  Unlike
mailing lists, Usenet newsgroups are highly de-centralized;  there is no
single host site, and (usually) no individual administrator.  Newsgroup
traffic is copied in bulk from one computer to another via the Internet
and other networks, and stored on each computer that acts as a "Usenet
server".  Individual readers do not subscribe to newsgroups;  they get
permission from their local system administrator to connect to a nearby
Usenet server, using "client" software that lets them read and contribute
to all newsgroups available on that server.  Most people read only a few
selected newsgroups, but many thousands of people can read the same
newsgroup on one server, rather than getting thousands of separate e-mail
subscriptions over the Internet.  Thus, for popular forums with thousands
of readers, Usenet is significantly more efficient than mailing lists. 
Also, the newer Usenet clients can pre-sort and filter the newsgroups on
command, according to individual preferences.  Most people who have a
choice prefer using a Usenet client instead of an e-mail subscription.

Many scientists still do not have easy access to Usenet, so many science
newsgroups have two-way "gates" to mailing lists.  Sci.bio.ecology is a
popular newsgroup that is gated to the ECOLOG-L mailing list.  ECOLOG-L
now has 1800 e-mail subscribers, almost all at universities and research
facilities, and an estimated additional 30,000 readers via Usenet, also
mostly at universities.  The e-mail subscribers are in 48 nations around
the world, and most are scientists.

I would like to have sci.bio.paleontology gated to PALEONET.  Advantages
for PALEONET subscribers are the following:  some subscribers could drop
their e-mail subscriptions and read via Usenet instead, which would save
them time and effort.  This would also reduce the workload on Norm McLeod
and on the PALEONET host server.  Readership would increase dramatically.

Together with readership, traffic on sci.bio.palentology/PALEONET would
increase.  This may be a pro or a con, depending on whether you read via
Usenet or via e-mail, and on your personal tolerance for more e-mail.

There would probably be a larger fraction of readers (but not necessarily
contributors) who are not trained paleontologists, but rather are amateur
collectors, children, and others interested in paleontology.  We would all
become more aware of the fact that PALEONET business is being conducted in
public, where people around the world can read what we post.  This is true
now, but would be even more important with the addition of a gateway to
sci.bio.paleontology.  This could be either pro or con, depending on your
own preferences.  Personally, I welcome greater public exposure and public
education.

I know that several PALEONET subscribers have been following the discussion
on sci.bio.evolution and sci.geo.geology regarding dinosaurs and the K/T
boundary:  what are your views re gating PALEONET to sci.bio.paleontology?


	Una Smith		una.smith@yale.edu

Dept. of Biology, Yale Univ., New Haven, CT  06520-8104