A NEW RESEARCH TOOL FOR SCHOLARS
An Interview With
Dr. Richard W. Slatta, Director of ScholarNet

by Ron Beloin


Last fall, advanced computer-based telecommunications, in the
form of PoliNet, was introduced to scholars in political
science, public administration, and criminal justice. This
marked the first phase of ScholarNet, a network devoted to the
humanities and social sciences. The project is supported by
North Carolina State University, Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., and
Wadsworth Publishing Co. This summer, HumaNet makes its debut to
facilitate collaboration among professionals in history,
religion, philosophy, and English.

ScholarNet offers a range of services including E-mail,
topically-oriented bulletin boards, real-time conferencing, and
access to relevant databases. The following is an interview
(conducted via E-mail) with history professor/ScholarNet
Director, Rich Slatta.

RB: Rich, how did an expert on 19th-century Latin American
bandits come to be involved in computer networking?

RS: Thanks for asking, Ron. I've asked myself the same question
a number of times over the past years. Completing my first book
manuscript ["Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier"] in 1982, I
vowed not to go through the interminable bout of retyping and
reproofing with secretaries again. I bought an Osborne 1 and
have pounded out thousands of pages on it since.

As a researching historian, I quickly became fascinated with the
capabilities of telecommunications. Bringing the catalog to the
Library of Congress [via DIALOG] into my home study was a
wonderful possibility. I began working online early in 1983 and
explored The Source, Dow Jones, CompuServe, and lots of bulletin
boards. Unable to restrain my "teaching urge," I began writing
tutorials and articles for microcomputer publications, like
Link-Up, PC, Business Software, and many more.

The potential for international communications also attracted
me, given that most of my research is done in Latin America. In
short, just as I added SPSS [Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences] and mainframe computing to my historian's toolbag in
the Seventies, so I added microcomputing and telecommunications
in the Eighties.

North Carolina State University, a leading technological campus,
provided ample support to encourage these computing activities.
I think that within a few years, virtually all productive
scholars will be working with word processing and online
research.

RB: What are the immediate goals of ScholarNet?

RS: ScholarNet seeks to provide for the scholar what Delphi,
CompuServe, et. al. offer for home computer users--a bundle of
essential, easy to use, and cost effective online services. The
first goal is to place materials online that our subscribers--
mostly university professors and research professionals--need.
These include course syllabi, bibliographies, software reviews,
tutorials on computer use, and public domain software--all
tailored to the interests of scholars in the humanities and
social sciences. Secondly, we must publicize our existence and
increase the subscriber base. We strongly believe in an
interactive system with services shaped by the requests and
participation of users.

RB: Do you find that new methods of working are evolving to fit
the technology, or are users more or less duplicating their
existing work habits online?

RS: Most of us are creatures of habit. Initially, most users
duplicate traditional work habits. They substitute electronic
mail for the postal letter. They look for types of information
online relevant to past and current interests.

But, as online experience grows, new possibilities occur to us.
For example, Dr. Alex Pattakos, a professor at the University of
Maine at Orono, has used PoliNet to institute an "electronic
visiting professor" program. He brings professors from other
universities into his classes via a PoliNet conference. That's
an innovative use of telecommunications.

RB: What is the most popular feature of PoliNet?

RS: The first heavy use of the system by a new subscriber is
generally E-MAIL. That probably remains the most used feature.
But professors are "infomaniacs," always hungry for information,
so the file exchange areas get a good workout, too. So far,
most of the articles, reviews, and public domain software in the
file exchange have been posted by ScholarNet staff.

We recently added tutorials on uploading files. We hope that
subscribers will begin posting their materials online. Ken Baser
of the ABC-Clio publishing firm in Santa Barbara recently posted
some items on their scholarly publications. We expect the file
exchange to grow rapidly and to diversify.

Michael Vasu, executive editor of PoliNet, has held one online
conference and will be sponsoring more this fall. I expect
conferencing to "take off" as we develop more identifiable
interest groups. I also expect to see the creation of many more
online newsletters to reach different academic constituencies.

RB: How essential are the contributions of volunteer editors and
writers to the operation of PoliNet?

RS: Whether ScholarNet ultimately succeeds in becoming THE
communications medium for scholars depends largely on our
recruitment of online editors and contributors. We aspire to
cover all significant areas of the humanities and social
sciences. The staff at our campus cannot and should not
coordinate information in all areas.

The network offers the possibility of having the best person as
editor of a given specialty, regardless of geographical
location. It holds the promise of a decentralized and more
democratic forum for knowledge. We have commitments so far from
professors in several states to serve as online editors. The
National Library of Canada has contacted us about improving
scholarly communication with Canada.

Of course, professors who wish to work with us online must
educate their campus administrators in the importance and costs
of such activity. What budget line covers connect time? Will
electronic publications be recognized? But as professional
organizations adopt ScholarNet as an official communications
medium, we'll see more electronic pioneers step forward.

RB: Word-of-mouth is probably important in the recruitment of
new users. Do you see a danger of a group espousing a particular
philosophy or doctrine dominating the network to the point that
potential subscribers with conflicting viewpoints are turned
off?

RS: So far we haven't had any problems with system abuse. Those
of us on campus jealously guard our academic freedom and
zealously protect our access to information. [This is one reason
that the secretiveness and censorship of documents by the Reagan
administration is so disturbing to academic researchers.] Our
goal is to keep ScholarNet a somewhat transparent medium with no
particular axes to grind [beyond hyping online communication, of
course!].

The diversity of academia, the tremendous storage potential of
our system, and the open combat of ideas on the intellectual
"battlefield" will serve to keep ScholarNet open and attractive
to all subscribers, I think. We can certainly offer a much wider
range for potential debate than currently exists within the
scholarly print media.

Censorship of academic expression or coercion toward an
"official history," like that practiced by Accuracy-in-Academia
type groups, constitute real dangers to academic freedom. In
addition to maintaining our traditional disciplinary interests,
we will try to safeguard this new medium from political bigotry
arising from any part of the political spectrum.

RB: How does ScholarNet view some of the more sensitive issues
of privacy and ownership of intellectual property? For example,
does ScholarNet hold a copyright on material that appears on
bulletin boards?

RS: As you know, Ron, the whole area of electronic law is just
being worked out. The proliferation of new publications, like
the "Computer Law Journal," attests to the need for confronting
new legal issues. We do not copyright materials on ScholarNet.
BUT all authors retain implicit copyright, just as with any
printed publication.

We will work very hard to keep implicit and registered
copyrights respected. Materials from the network can be
reprinted only with the author's permission--just like printed
media. We will work out citation forms so that articles cited as
sources by other authors can be ascribed properly to the
network. The notion of "fair use" for educators applies, so that
a course syllabus, for example, could be downloaded, modified,
and used for a class. It cannot, however, be republished for
profit. In any case, we encourage subscribers to request author
permission, regardless of information use. This also lets the
author know that his/her contribution is being put to use.

Like other online services, we have to build a body of
experience and rules. I hope to avoid the heavy-handedness that
characterizes CompuServe. That service threatened to revoke my
subscription when I posted a notice in the public access area
about ScholarNet. That type of nasty, corporate monopolism only
hinders the cooperation that online communication makes
possible.

RB: Where is ScholarNet going?

RS: ScholarNet will grow in a number of directions, I hope.
First, insofar as costs permit, we are dedicated to making it a
truly international communications medium. We are enhancing our
Latin American offerings on PoliNet with an excellent newsletter
edited by Nelson Valdes at the University of New Mexico. We will
begin mailings to Europe this fall. We have a potential
constituency of 65 nations. Connection charges are very high
from many nations, but we would like to reach as many as
possible.

Secondly, we'll reach out to as many areas of the humanities and
social sciences as we can. Beyond that, we can create new
interdisciplinary areas of inquiry. For example, Bill Williams,
of the Organization of American Historians staff, wants to
institute a future studies area on HumaNet. This area would
encompass new paradigms and encompass new types of emerging
knowledge that do not fit neatly into existing academic boxes.

I also hope to see greater integration and cooperation between
electronic networks. We offer gateways to the DIALOG databases
and to the home/business services of Delphi. Our subscribers can
send E-mail to CompuServe users, but they can't send messages
back! I hope that evolving standards and declining turf
protection will help us to extend ScholarNet's communications
potential with other systems.

Finally, during the next few years we wish to move from novelty
to "old hat" status. I hope that, like word processing, online
communication becomes an everyday part of professional life.
Estimates that I read cite only one modem for each 5 to 10
micros. We'll have an attractive bundle of well established
services when the electronic wave rolls across campuses around
the country--and the world. Thanks for taking an interest in our
project, Ron.

-----

Author's Note: Dr. Slatta can be reached at ScholarNet, Box
8101, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8101,
919/737-7908 or by E-mail: ScholarNet@Delphi;
70156,404@CompuServe.

Ron Beloin is a cofounder of Life Sciences Telecomputing which
is implementing a network for the biological sciences. He can be
reached as LST@Unison; RONB@Delphi; G.U2DJ@CRNL20A.BITNET.