Site Aimed at Scholars Worldwide
New Web Community Created by BSU Student Debuts
By Jill Kuraitis, 5-25-07
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A new Web-based community for scholars, Pronetos, has debuted this week.
Pronetos, or the “Professors’ Network”, is the brainchild of Chris Blanchard, a Boise State University graduate student in history. While working as an undergraduate student to publish a paper with social work professor Dan Huff in 2003, he became frustrated by the cumbersome process of peer review and publishing. As a certified Web developer, he knew the internet could solve a lot of his problems.
Fast forward to 2007, where MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites attract millions and building a site has become easier and cheaper. With the assistance and support of Huff, Boise State economics emeritus Larry Reynolds, and other faculty and students, Pronetos finally became a reality, going public earlier this week.
The free site allows registered scholars from around the globe to collaborate on research, review one another’s work and ultimately get published with less hassle. Pronetos gives academics a set of tools such as blogs, forums, wikis and more, and is organized by academic discipline.
The site’s main page lists the following uses: “Publish your life’s work. Share an idea with colleagues, and get real-time feedback. Post messages. Start a blog. Upload podcasts of your lectures. Post your curriculum materials. Use Pronetos as a repository for papers in your field - they’ll be indexed, searchable, publicly available and secure.”
In addition to furthering research, it is hoped that Pronetos will increase or improve collaboration between faculty members interested in doing multimedia projects and providing online materials for students, said Reynolds, who over the years offered many of his class materials online.
“I had a lot of students who said it was really great that I provided them with online text and peripheral matter for free,” he said. But posting that content can be difficult for professors who don’t have the technical support they need.
The Pronetos project was launched with advising assistance from the Boise State TECenter and a marketing plan authored by Boise State students. Pronetos’ software was created by MenloPrk, a company led by a Boise State alumnus.
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Comments
Document Versioning: Now, after getting feedback from your peers, you can upload a revised version of the original document, thus reducing the confusion of posting multiple versions of the same document.
Open Peer Review: Based on five factors, you can now have peers in your field review your submissions with more than “comments.”
Improved Profile Pages: Tell people more about yourself and your research! On your profile page, click “Edit your profile” to add “About Me,” “Current Research,” “Outside Interests,” and more.
Check back and be sure to tell your peers and colleagues to sign up on Pronetos.
Darin Blanchard
Community Manager, Pronetos