News as a conversation at The Scientist

In our linkurl:latest issue;http://www.the-scientist.com/toc/2007/6/ of the magazine you'll find two features that provide a flavor of how our content will be evolving over the coming months to encourage user participation on our website. Regular visitors to our website will already be familiar with the linkurl:crowdsourcing;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing experiment that linkurl:we launched in April;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53034 . We asked readers to help create a

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In our linkurl:latest issue;http://www.the-scientist.com/toc/2007/6/ of the magazine you'll find two features that provide a flavor of how our content will be evolving over the coming months to encourage user participation on our website. Regular visitors to our website will already be familiar with the linkurl:crowdsourcing;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing experiment that linkurl:we launched in April;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53034 . We asked readers to help create a feature looking at the barriers in stem cell cloning research and how to overcome them. You can see how the final version of the feature turned out linkurl:here;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/home/53224/ -- thank you to everyone who posted comments, and also to those who took part in our polls, the results of which can be seen linkurl:here;http://www.the-scientist.com/2007/6/1/34/100/ . The June issue also contains linkurl:a feature;http://www.the-scientist.com/2007/6/1/26/1/ looking at the ways in which creating an environmentally friendly lab are becoming more affordable and effective, from changing lighting systems to overhauling waste disposal systems. Realizing that many researchers will want to know how they can make their own labs greener, and that labs come in different shapes and sizes -- not to mention depths of pockets -- we have assembled a list of experts who have kindly agreed to linkurl:answer any questions;http://www.the-scientist.com/2007/6/1/26/100/ you might have on these issues. If this interactive Q&A proves popular, expect to see this feature on a regular basis. Why is our content changing in this manner? The news landscape has been evolving over the years, as the Internet is providing new ways for readers to access, interact with, and create content. Or as the media consultant and blogger linkurl:Jeff Jarvis;http://www.buzzmachine.com/ succinctly puts it: linkurl:news is a conversation;http://www.buzzmachine.com/interact/ . This provides an unprecedented opportunity to engage with the scientific community, and to use the expertise and experience of our readership to help enable debates on the issues that matter. There are many ways in which we are looking to create these conversations, and we'll keep you informed of the latest developments here. Reflecting the need to host and access different types of interactive content, our website will also begin to go through a metamorphosis. (Before you ask, yes, this will also apply to this blog.) Again, we want the redesign of the site to be more of a conversation, so this will be occurring step-wise over a period of months, rather than a grand unveiling of an all-singing, all-dancing revamp. This is a process in which we are likely to be learning every day, so please do give your feedback on all these changes, your opinions will help shape how the site evolves.
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