Bob Finn

ON THE LISTS

by Bob Finn

Nasw.org has just changed Web hosts, and I’d like to devote this column to discussing what this means to our members.

Shortly after NASW established a Web presence in 1996, and up until late 2002, nasw.org was sponsored by AAAS’s EurekAlert! service and physically hosted on servers at Stanford University. About a year ago we learned that EurekAlert! and Stanford were parting ways (amicably, I’m told), and that NASW would no longer be able to ride on AAAS’s coattails.

Lee Hotz (NASW officer and L.A. Times reporter) and I began a search for a new Web host, inviting proposals from companies large and small. At the beginning of the summer we thought our search had ended. A small ISP, partly owned by an NASW member, offered to host nasw.org at a reasonable price. We prepared for an early September switchover.

But at the last minute (a bit past the last minute, actually), and without warning, that ISP decided that they were unable to meet our needs. We scrambled to beg a little extra time from Stanford, and we renewed our search for a new Web host.

Deborah Blum (NASW officer and University of Wisconsin faculty member) suggested we contact the Society of Environmental Journalists and see who was hosting its Web site. It turned out to be Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. and the National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting at the Missouri School of Journalism.

IRE/NICAR offered us a very attractive price and an opportunity to be hosted in the same place as (at last count) 18 other journalism organizations (see reporter.org for the full list). They also offered us a number of technical enhancements.

The move actually happened early in November and was mostly seamless. For a few days several domains, most notably yahoo.com, refused to recognize nasw.org’s new location, and mail from those domains to nasw.org addresses bounced back to the senders. But such problems were quickly resolved.
In addition to a stable hosting environment, IRE/NICAR is offering us a number of enhancements, including improved security and scanning all nasw.org mail for viruses.

We have long provided up to two MB of free space on the nasw.org server for any NASW member to establish his or her own Web pages, and that service will continue. In fact, it has just become more convenient. Previously, uploading new pages to a Web site involved a cumbersome procedure requiring two levels of passwords. The current procedure requires ftp-ing in with only one’s nasw.org username and password. If you think you might be interested in establishing a personal Web page, see nasw.org/homepage.htm.

Our e-mail discussion lists moved over to the new server using the same software. Most subscribers probably noticed little if any change. That’s too bad, because majordomo, the software we’ve been using lo these many years, is pretty primitive and lacks many important features. The good news is that we will soon be moving to new Mailman software. Among other enhancements will be the addition of a table of contents at the top of digests, and the ability to control subscriptions through a Web-based interface.

In addition, the mailing list archives will be organized better and will be more easily-and more thoroughly-searched. For more information on our e-mail discussion groups, see nasw.org/swlist.htm.
We are also exploring additional Web-based services. For example, we may establish Weblogs (“blogs”) on the site. This may allow committees to communicate more conveniently.

I’m happy to field questions, comments, and suggestions about NASW’s Web services. Feel free to e-mail me any time.

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Bob Finn administers NASW’s Web site and e-mail lists at nasw.org. His e-mail address is cybrarian@nasw.org.