Bali/Japan - one wish

William Allison wallison at dhivehinet.net.mv
Mon Nov 6 19:42:59 EST 2000


I live in a place where internet access is expensive. Despite that, to my
perhaps naive way of thinking, Ove's proposal is appealing, if behaviourally
and to a lesser extent logistically challenging. Arguing against the idea
because relative accessibility discriminates is rather like arguing against
published proceedings because some individuals can't afford them. Cost
discriminates whether a conference is real or virtual. Although lacking the
perks and dimensions of attending a conference, visiting a web site to pull
down papers seems to be a relatively efficient and inexpensive alternative
to the high cost and catch-as-catch-can of a large symposium. In addition,
as one of those unable to attend for purely logistical reasons, the
availability of a potentially strong second-best option has great appeal. As
Ove pointed out the result would be enhanced disemination and comprehension
of ideas that those fortunate enough to attend the meetings would benefit
from all the more. As a bonus the proceedings would be available, presumably
cheaply and instanter on web and relatively soon thereafter as hardcopy.
There might also be some beneficial environmental consequences.

Sincerely,
Bill

William (Bill) Allison
Kothanmaage - South
Apt. S-05
Maaveyomagu, Marfannu
Male
MALDIVES

Phone:  (960) 32 9667
Fax: (960) 32 4865 or  6884
email: wallison at dhivehinet.net.mv
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ove Hoegh-Guldberg" <oveh at uq.edu.au>
To: <jware at erols.com>; "Les Kaufman" <lesk at bio.bu.edu>
Cc: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 03:02
Subject: RE: Bali/Japan - one wish


> Dear John,
>
> Thanks for the comments but I think you may have misunderstood the essence
of my
> comments.  The key to this new approach would be to post papers on the
web -
> which is straight forward nowadays.  Much though I appreciate your
calculations,
> the idea is to think beyond the square.  We have an opportunity with the
> Internet which we should use.  I would also not expect people to print
papers on
> their home computer.  PDF or DOC files can be viewed and read on home
computers
> as advanced press ... that is, the volumes are still printed and sent to
all
> registrants.
>
> The only problem is that not all people will have access to good web
resources.
> A CD with manuscripts could be burnt that might be offered to those
scientists
> who do not have the benefit of fast Internet resources.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ove
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Ware [mailto:jware at erols.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, 7 November 2000 6:58 AM
> To: Les Kaufman
> Cc: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Re: Bali/Japan - one wish
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> Ove's idea is interesting but the logistics seem daunting.  Every
> presenter, let's say 400, would have to submit a near-ready-for-review
> paper well ahead of time.  This means the papers would have to be ready
> a month or two ahead of the normal deadline.
>
> Then someone would have to make a copy for every person registered at
> the symposium and mail the copies out.  Additional copies would be
> required for late registrants.  The proceedings now typically occupy 2
> large volumes and this is *after* peer review has considerably reduced
> the weight.  The cost and problems seem daunting.
>
> Granted that many of the papers could be put on the web, there are
> problems with that approach also.  Even downloading and printing just
> the ones you are interested in would be a time-consuming task (my 6
> pages/minute printer).  Then there are those people who do not have
> internet access - should they be discriminated against?
>
> I too was not at the symposium, but, having been at the previous two I
> appreciate the difficulty one faces with simultaneous presentations in
> areas of interest.  It is a problem that symposium organizers and
> attendees have faced since the era of large symposia and I know of no
> one in the engineering field who has solved it.   Perhaps coral reef
> scientists can do better?
>
> John
>
> Les Kaufman wrote:
> >
> > Though I regrettably had to miss the meetings, I for one find Ove's
> > suggested changes to he format intriguing.  I wonder how others have
> > reacted....
> >
> > Les Kaufman
> > Boston University Marine Program
> > Department of Biology
> > 5 Cummington Street
> > Boston, MA 02215
> > lesk at bio.bu.edu
> > 617-353-5560 office
> > 617-353-6965 lab
> > 617-353-6340 fax
>
> --
>      *************************************************************
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