The Conservation Distribution List, or ConsDistList, is moving to a new platform this summer. The new platform will allow us to make significant improvements to the submission and distribution process. In addition, we have the opportunity to rename this group of 12,000+ international members to better reflect its usage and format.
We welcome you to join the next iteration of the ConsDistList: The Global Conservation Forum. The Global Conservation Forum will be hosted on the AIC and FAIC Online Community platform. For those unaware, the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) supports the ConsDistList and its moderation, with help from those of you who donate to FAIC and CoOL. FAIC hosts several other forums in our Online Community, so this is a perfect fit. This move is vitally necessary. The software that runs the ConsDistList is aging and unable to meet the demands and restrictions of current email hosts and providers. The server itself, where the ConsDistList is hosted, is also aging and needs an upgrade. We cannot do this until all our mailing lists on CoOL are transitioned to other platforms. What does this mean for the ConsDistList? 1. The ConsDistList will not exist in the same format. There will not be volume and issue numbering. Where you now may refer to an instance of the ConsDistList, you will instead need to refer to a date, thread number, author, title, and URL. 2. The new list will be called the Global Conservation Forum. 3. The Forum digests will be sent daily; the order of the posts will be as submitted. The moderator cannot reorder the posts. 4. The Forum will still have a moderator! This new platform will be much easier to use, which makes a daily digest possible within the usual time constraints. 5. The posts can contain html styling, attachments, and hyperlinks. This is long overdue and is not available with the current software. What does this mean for you? 1. Joining the Forum is free and will remain free. If you find the service useful, you can support it through a donation to FAIC. 2. You may already have a record in our database as a member of our association, AIC, or as a customer, workshop participant, or through some other activity. We will send instructions to you explaining how to join the Forum based on whether you already have a record or not. 3. You will receive daily digests from the Global Conservation Forum when you join the group. You may also choose to receive weekly digests in addition to or in place of the daily message. 4. You can easily post to the Forum via email or link within the digest. Your post will be held by the moderator and reviewed before it is accepted. 5. We hope you will continue to find useful content, conferences, and job postings in a more easily accessible manner. I will send out more details with a timeline and procedures for signing up or logging in to the new Forum within the next few weeks. Please write to me with any questions about the process. --Bonnie Bonnie Naugle Communications & Membership Director American Institute for Conservation -Preserving Cultural Heritage- bnau...@culturalheritage.org (t) 202.661.8064 | (f) 202.452.9328 727 15th St NW | Suite 500 | Washington, DC | 20005 www.culturalheritage.org ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to consdistlist-le...@cool.conservation-us.org Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
