PROFESSORS INVITED TO JOIN NEW WEB COMMUNITY
A new Web-based community for scholars has debuted at www.pronetos.com. Pronetos, the Professors?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢ Network, is the brainchild of Chris Blanchard, a graduate student in history. While working as an undergraduate student to publish a paper with social work professor Dan Huff in 2003, he became frustrated by the cumbersome process of peer review and publishing. As a certified Web developer, he knew the Internet could solve a lot of his problems.
Fast forward to 2007, where MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites attract millions and building a site has become easier and cheaper. With the assistance and support of Huff, economics emeritus professor Larry Reynolds, and other faculty and students, Pronetos finally became a reality, going public earlier this week.
The site allows registered scholars from around the globe to collaborate on research, review one another?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢s work and ultimately get published with less hassle. Pronetos gives academics a robust set of tools such as blogs, forums, wikis and more, and is organized by academic discipline.
Boise State faculty are encouraged to register so they can help test the site over the summer.
In addition to furthering research, Pronetos will increase or improve collaboration between faculty members interested in doing multimedia projects and providing online materials for students, said Reynolds, who over the years offered many of his class materials online.
?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?Ö‚ÄúI had a lot of students who said it was really great that I provided them with online text and peripheral matter for free,?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?Ǭù he said. But posting that content can be difficult for professors who don?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢t have the technical support they need. Pronetos will simplify that process for instructors and students.
The Pronetos project was launched with advising assistance from the Boise State TECenter and a marketing plan authored by the fall 2006 GB450 class. In addition, Pronetos?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢ software was created by MenloPrk, a company led by a Boise State alumnus.
Congrats on the launch and best of luck as you ramp up your service. Great to read about local success stories!
NICE SHOUTING, CHRIS! lol
But - truth is, he might well have reason to shout. When I’m “egghead” mode, I have access to multiple repositories, listservs and maybe a message board, but no “coffeeshop/pub” for informal communication & collaboration. It would be nice to know what others are doing. And, this bodes well for a means by which we can get to know each other a little better. (Most of the existing mechanisms are either too small (or clubby) or too big & unwieldy.)
Heck, I hear nationally the cry for a similar facebook/myspace-ish mechanism for economic development.
Hmmm… maybe there’s room for such a mechanism to support….TechBoise?
Well done, young Jedi!