Dear Biofilm scientists,
Finally, I can now announce that the biofilms newsgroup is being moderated,
to filter out inappropriate postings, primarily commercial or off-topic
postings. The moderation will be taken care of by myself, Rob Palmer and
Bob McLean. We will take turns, 4 months each. You should not notice any
difference except that you shouldn't be bothered any more by all the trash
mail we have seen the last few months. I am sorry that the policy change
wasn't effective earlier, but I had little to say in that respect.
However, the rules are still the same. I enclose below the modified charter
for the newsgroup. You can still post messages by using usenet software or
e-mail (to biofilms at net.bio.net).
We will attach a small tail on all postings which direct you to a web page
containing 1) subscription info, 2) contact addresses and, most important
3) a Web resource with references to networked sources of information on
biofilms - WE NEED YOUR INPUT HERE TO GET IT RUNNING! Please send me (or
the other moderators) info on any internet resource you may know concerned
with biofilms, then we can include it in the webpages. (note the webpages
are not quite done yet, but check out http://www.im.dtu.dk/biofilms).
I hope there will be no inconvenience to you because of this change. If so,
please don't hesitate to e-mail me (cs at im.dtu.dk).
Best regards,
Claus Sternberg
-------------- revisd newsgroup charter ------------------------
Information for BIOFILMS/bionet.microbiology.biofilms
USENET newsgroup name: bionet.microbiology.biofilms
Status: Moderated
One line Description: Research on microbial biofilms
Moderation address: bionet-microbiology-biofilms at net.bio.net
(biofilms-moderator at net.bio.net
is an alias for
bionet-microbiology-biofilms at net.bio.net)
Moderator: Claus Sternberg
Department of Microbiology
Technical University of Denmark
Co-moderators: Bob McLean
Department of Biology
Southwest Texas State University, Texas
Robert J. Palmer, Jr.
Institute For Applied Microbiology
University of Knoxville, Tensessee.
Mailing list name: BIOFILMS
e-mail addresses: biofilms at net.bio.netbiofilms at daresbury.ac.uk
Newsgroup character:
Definition of microbial biofilms: Microbial biofilms are layers
(sometimes only one) of microorganisms associated with a surface of
some kind. The organisms in a biofilm may be a single species or
multiple species. The organisms may for example be bacteria, yeasts or
protozoans, or combinations. The surfaces may be solid surfaces such
as metals, glass, plastics, or dentin, or may be less well defined,
such as soil particles, or plant tissue surfaces. The association to
the surfaces may be tight, by direct binding, or loose, such as cells
residing in gelatinous matrices.
bionet.microbiology.biofilms is a forum for scientific
discussions/questions regarding all aspects of the science related to
microbial biofilms, including but not limited to biofilm initial
events, formation, maintenance and breakdown, genetic and
physiological aspects of microorganisms in biofilms or organisms
isolated from biofilms, role of biofilms in pathogenesis, in
industrial applications, and as a tool in teaching.
The Biofilms newsgroup will provide:
A forum to discuss concepts, problems and recent developments in the field
of microbial biofilms.
A forum to discuss development of laboratory systems for growing,
inspecting and in-depth analysis of microbial biofilms.
A forum to discuss the role of biofilm science in education.
A bulletin board for announcements of meetings, funding sources and job
opportunities.
A communication source for sharing mutants, strains, molecular probes, etc.
Opportunities for collaborative efforts between labs at different locations
and/or between industrial and academic research labs. The forum will also
provide opportunities to exchange new ideas concerning the teaching of
microbiology, and curricular design, as well as the education of the public
about the benefits and/or hazards of microbial biofilms.
A list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) concerning microbial biofilms
should be created with the joint efforts of the newsgroup members, and kept
in an electronic form accessible for anyone.
A list of pointers to other interesting related resources in the form of a
world-wide-web page (http://www.im.dtu.dk/biofilms/).
Further remarks:
The newsgroup encourages the participation of both academic and industrial
affiliated individuals or organizations, and anyone else with an interest
in microbial biofilms.
Discussions should as a general rule be conducted in the newsgroup, rather
than being continued by private e-mail. Only when discussions take a
personal turn which obviously is of interest only to the persons involved,
it should proceed privately by e-mail.
General questions about confocal microscopy: Confocal microscopy is an
important tool for many people working in the biofilm field, but technical
questions concerning this technique of microscopy should be directed to the
newsgroup on this topic (bit.listserv.confocal; Send an e-mail to
listserv at listserv.buffalo.edu with the message (ignore subject):
subscribe confocal "Your Name").
Moderation Policy: Mass-posted commercial messages, chain letters, and
similar postings not germane to microbial biofilms will be
deleted without comment. Inappropriate messages posted in good faith will
be returned to the sender. Messages not strictly within the charter but
likely to be of interest to many subscribers will be accepted.
Use of the newsgroup for commercial purposes is prohibited.
Claus Sternberg, PhD
Department of Microbiology Technical University of Denmark
Building 301 DK 2800 Lyngby Denmark
Phone: (+45) 45 25 25 15 FAX: (+45) 45 93 28 09
E-mail: cs at im.dtu.dk
URL: <http://www.im.dtu.dk/biofilms>
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* Claus Sternberg, PhD *
* Department of Microbiology Technical University of Denmark *
* Building 301 DK 2800 Lyngby Denmark *
* Phone: (+45) 45 25 25 15 FAX: (+45) 45 93 28 09 *
* E-mail: cs at im.dtu.dk *
* URL: <http://www.im.dtu.dk/im/claus.html> *
* PGP Public Key available on request *
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