Communicating with SIAG members
SIAM encourages each activity group to communicate with its members on a regular basis, using e-mail, newsletters, and SIAG Web sites.
SIAG E-mail
SIAM provides a moderated electronic mailing list for each activity group that is updated nightly. All members of the activity group are automatically included on the list but may request to opt out. SIAG officers determine the moderators (normally the SIAG secretary backed up by the SIAG chair) and any policies on who will be allowed to participate in the list. Some activity groups restrict participation to SIAG members while others allow the moderators to approve requests from nonmembers to join the list.
SIAG Newsletters
Electronic newsletters are a great way to communicate with SIAG members. SIAGs
should designate a newsletter editor, either by virtue of office (i.e.
SIAG Secretary), or by appointment. Newsletters can be distributed via the electronic mailing list or posted on the activity group Web site website.
SIAG Website and Wikis
SIAM has a Web page for each activity group (linked from www.siam.org/activity/)
which includes basic information including the SIAG purpose, rules of
procedure, current officers, link to SIAG conference, and an archive of historical information including prior officers, minutes of business meetings, and charter renewals. SIAM
encourages each activity group to develop its own Web content to maximize
communication with its members, by either adding to the basic page, or
by creating its own independent Web site that will be linked from the
basic page. Beyond the basic information, SIAG Web content is
developed and updated by the volunteers, but the site can be hosted in
one of several different ways.
- Activity groups can provide additional content linked from the basic SIAG Web page, as done by the SIAM Activity Group on Discrete Mathematics (SIAG/DM). Volunteers develop or edit the content and send it to the SIAM Webmaster at webmaster@siam.org for posting.
- SIAM has an area on the Web -- http://siags.siam.org -- set aside for hosting SIAG Web sites. Examples of such a site are ones created and maintained by SIAG/PDE and SIAG/IS. SIAG volunteers build and maintain their own content using standard HTML Web pages. This site ensures continuity for SIAG Web sites maintained completely by volunteers. It allows for a smooth transition when Web editors pass responsibility for the site on to successors, with no need to reload the Web site on to a new server or to establish a new URL.
- SIAM can host a structured Web site, such as DSWeb, which was developed for the SIAM Activity Group on Dynamical Systems (SIAG/DS). SIAM technology staff work with SIAG volunteers to select the modules that meet the needs of the individual activity group. Once the framework is established, SIAG volunteers build, maintain, and update the module content themselves.
- SIAM can develop a wiki for your SIAG, as done for SIAG/GS at http://wiki.siam.org/wiki/siag-gs/ and for SIAG/CSE at http://wiki.siam.org/siag-cse/index.php/Main_Page. There is already a skeleton created for a SIAG/SC wiki, but no content has been added by the volunteers. If you wish to pursue the wiki, we can help you get started. We are currently using MediaWiki, the same software Wikipedia uses for their website. SIAG volunteers build, maintain, and update the wiki content themselves.
- Web sites can be hosted off site on a volunteer’s institutional server, as done by the SIAM Activity Group Orthogonal Polynomials and Special Functions (OPSF). To simplify transition to future editors and to ensure Web site continuity, we recommend that SIAGs who want to maintain their own site consider option #2 above.
