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WIRESCRIPTWIRESCRIPTWeb Interactive REview of Scientific Web Interactive REview of Scientific Culture, Research, Innovation Policy Culture, Research, Innovation Policy and Technologyand Technology

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IntroductionIntroductionWIRESCRIPT: Web Interactive REview of Scientific Culture, Research, Innovation Policy and TechnologyStarted in 1998Content acquisition and management by a team of volunteers in academy, industry and researchWeb design, development and maintenance done at no cost by CYEN Technologies SRL, SpainWeb site hosted by World Wide Mart, FloridaURL: http://www.wirescript.com/

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Objectives (1/2)Objectives (1/2)WIRESCRIPT is a Web information service on scientific culture, emerging technologies and innovation processes in Europe. Our goal is to combine the quality approach of printed journals with the unique possibilities offered by Internet delivery

WIRESCRIPT is not a reference for specialists in a given technical domain but a cross-disciplinary scientific popularization tool also aimed at exploring synergies between scientific research, technology and economy in Europe. When appropriate, WIRESCRIPT offers also objective analyses of policy-related issues relevant to its main focus

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Objectives (2/2)Objectives (2/2)WIRESCRIPT is meant as a timely, accurate, well researched and well packaged source of information written by researchers for researchers on different scientific disciplines as well as on pure and applied research, technology and funding sources

Our goal is to continue offering free access to readers, and to recover costs only through sponsorships and advertising revenue

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Design goalsDesign goalsEasy navigation in the Web site

Easy but high interactivity

Reasonable page download times

Easy reading of material on screen

Easy reading of printed articles

Efficient maintenance of the Web site

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OrganizationOrganizationMagazineEducationScience and TechnologyInformation and Communication TechnologyHistory and Philosophy of ScienceForumLetters, News, TalkForum areas for all Magazine sections and individual articlesMailing listsCurrently used only for announcementsResourcesWeb directoryYellow Pages with entries contributed by readers

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TechnologyTechnologyHTMLGenerated from author’s sources, usually in MS WordConversion tools work poorlySignificant manual re-coding requiredPDFNot currently usedPlanned to distribute printable version of archivesXMLUnder studyServer-side PERL scriptsHyperNews: Comments and Forum areasYellow Pages

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HyperNewsHyperNewsHyperNews is an advanced public domain “groupware” systemCurrent release written in PERL 5, future releases planned in JavaURL: http://www.hypernews.org/Each article in the Magazine is wrapped in a HyperNews script that permits readers to post their commentsFeatures:annotating material with commentsusing either the Web or e-mail to receive and post messagescreating nested Forums areassubscribing to individual Forum areas to receive new material by email, e.g. authors subscribe to own articles to receive comments

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MagazineMagazineSections:

EducationScience and TechnologyInformation and Communication TechnologyHistory and Philosophy of Science

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ArticlesArticlesContent:

Formatted text

Graphics

Hyperlinks

Multimedia

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Comments (1/4)Comments (1/4)Comments may be attached to:

Main sectionsArticlesOther comments

Every page is the starting point of a dedicated Forum area

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Comments (2/4)Comments (2/4)Comments may include:

Formatted text (plain or HTML)

Graphics

Hyperlinks

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Comments (3/4)Comments (3/4)Example: readers post comments to articles

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Comments (4/4)Comments (4/4)Example: authors reply to readers’ comments

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ForumForumForum areas for Letters, Talk, News

Readers are invited to spontaneously contribute articles

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SearchSearchFull text search in Magazine articles

Public domain search script in PERL 5, suitably modified

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Yellow PagesYellow PagesNew links are proposed by readers and approved by editors

Directory functions:BrowseSearchAdd

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PromotionPromotionUSENET Newsgroups:New articles are advertised in relevant newsgroups

Direct bulk mail:Most recipients find this annoyingAgainst “netiquette”Discontinued after disappointing results

Link exchange

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IssuesIssuesConverting source material to HTML can be time consuming

No automatic format converter gives really good results

A good result requires significant manual work

Mathematical formulas are especially difficult to convertCurrently converted to inline graphics

The eXtensible Modelling Language (XML) may provide good answers to most technical issues

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IssuesIssuesChicken and egg problem:A popular magazine attracts good articles but ...… good articles are needed to make a magazine popularSlow bootstrap without capitalPeer review:Referees ensure quality articles but …… may slow down publishing timesDoes an article on WIRESCRIPT count as a peer-reviewed paper?Advertising:Advertisers only interested in bulk numbers in the range of 10k page views/daySponsorship appears a better option