Risk and RAPA on the Internet
Thomas G. Field, Jr.
Communications advances have been dramatic: Many wonder how they could possibly have gotten along before fax 1 transmission was common. Advances are evidenced, too, by radio stations that announce newswatch numbers for cellular phone users and invite listeners to send them email. Such technology appears to have little effect on topics of core interest to members of the Risk Assessment and Policy Association 2 or other readers of Risk, emfs aside, 3 but innovations at the Law Center may make life easier for RAPA members or potential Risk authors and subscribers with at least an email account --
particularly those residing abroad. 4
- Email. Beginning with this issue, email addresses for the journal and for RAPA appear on inside covers. 5 This is a great way to send, e.g., employment opportunities and other submissions for RAPA News.
- RAPA information. Up-to-date information about RAPA including meeting plans and other news, can be found at
www.piercelaw.edu/risk/rapa.htm. RAPA articles of incorporation appear at
/risk/rapaart.htm. 6
- Risk Index. Anyone who wishes can now download, at /risk/rskindx.htm, an annotated, five year index for searching with virtually any word processor. 7 As new issues are published, contents will be added. [As of November 1996, all contents are annotated, indexed and online.]
- Back issues on line. Beginning with the earliest, we plan to post the text of articles -- and, eventually, figures and tables. When more people are on the Internet, it will no longer be necessary to offer back volumes on disk.
- Current issues by email. If the technology lives up to its promise (and is not completely overwhelmed by the virtual explosion of new users), subscribers will be able to receive current issues of Risk much more quickly than hard copies. Those outside the U.S. may find this particularly useful, given usual delivery times.
- Human Genome Conference. Building on a 1993 conference reported in issue 5(2), another entitled Promoting and Managing Genome Innovation is scheduled for October 13-14, 1995. The program appears at /risk/genpro.htm; registration information, at .../genInfo.htm; and the contents and introduction for the first conference, at /risk/genindx.htm. 8
- Authors' guidelines. Information for potential contributors appears at .../rskgdlns.htm (no longer available). More general information is at /risk/profrisk.htm.
- Listserves. We hope soon, to make it possible for anyone interested in regularly communicating with others having interests common to Risk subscribers to do so.
Please send job announcements and news for RAPA News. Besides being included in RAPA News, as mentioned above, submissions will be posted as quickly as possible at the RAPA website.
Suggestions welcome. I will be happy to get any ideas readers may have about how to reap the largest rewards from the Internet. Being able to format files for web posting, I will implement them as soon as possible.
1 A noun/verb that has all but replaced "telefacimile."
2 For more information about RAPA and its relationship to Risk and Franklin Pierce Law Center, see, e.g. , Dalton G. Paxman, Kristin S. Shrader-Frechette & Thomas G. Field, Jr., Editorial: RAPA and Risk, 6 Risk 95 (1995).
3 See, e.g. , Ann Bostrum et al., Preferences for Exposure Control of Power-Frequency Fields among Lay Opinion Leaders, 5 Risk 295 (1994).
4 Given exchange problems, they may also find it helpful that we can now accept two major credit cards; see inside back cover.
5 Other possibly useful addresses are cruh@piercelaw.edu or tfield@piercelaw.edu.
6 "http://www.piercelaw.edu/tfield" is indicated by "...".
7 I once intended to provide a comprehensive subject index, but this no longer seems compelling.
8 Interested readers lacking web access are encouraged to call or fax for more information.
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