The Research Cooperative External Blog

Science funding in New Zealand

2008-04-25T10:59:00.001+09:00

SideLines, April 2008

There has been some serious laughing-but-not-laughing about New Zealand science funding in the news recently ("NZ research assistance 'laughable', Weekend Herald, March 8th 2008).

Part of the problem is a lack of business spending on research.

What does this mean when so much of New Zealand business is driven by international companies? Presumably, they do a lot of their research in other countries.

New Zealand has had some success with agricultural-industry groups pooling their resources to carry out research that is valuable for all members.

Is there any way that disparate small companies can pool their resources to support the pre-proprietary stages of research? What topics would be relevant to diverse small companies in a small and relatively-isolated country?

Social research on employment-related issues? Logistical research on transport systems? Legal research on doing business across the ditch? Research on the risks of not doing research? (Try selling sunhats on a rainy day).

A good starting point might be to create a science-fashion magazine with a title like: 'Science for Every Occasion' (SEO, now recruiting, wanted: science writers with flair).

It might be laughable, but textile science is a big business, and the Wearable Art contest in New Zealand is a joke that seems to never wear thin. I have no doubt that there is a lot of science behind the art.

You can laugh, but some of those hats might be useful on Mars.

About the Research Cooperative: For free membership and to publish or modify Notices, please register here: Registration/Log-in

Comments can be posted in our Viewpoints forum (see menu above).

Higher education going down (Japan)

2008-03-06T07:41:00.004+09:00

SideLines, March 2008

In the Japan Times of 28th Feb., 2008, W. Hollingworth introduces the conclusions of Roger Goodman, from Oxford University, on the future of higher education in Japan.

The falling birthrate in this country, and the limited movement older-age students into universities, are leading to "an implosion of a type not seen before". "There is little evidence that the vast-majority of the lower-level four universities will be able to rise to meet the demographic challenges that currently face them".

Goodman suggests that struggling Japanese universities should look to alternative sources of income by undertaking more research projects and raising endowments. Japanese universities also struggle to attract foreign students, so Goodman also suggests employing more foreign staff, and conducting more courses in English.

His work, "‘Education in the Aged Society: The Demographic Challenge to Japanese Education’, will be published soon (March, 2008) in Florian Coulmas, Harald Conrad, Annette Schad and Gabriele Vogt (eds)., The Demographic Challenge: A Handbook about Japan, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.

Comment: Historically, it has been quite difficult for Japanese to return to Japan and find work after long periods of study and work abroad. Perhaps a more open employment system will also help them, as well as helping universities to survive in Japan.

Found a great bookshop

2008-02-03T23:17:00.000+09:00

SideLines, February 2008

Today I went for a Sunday walk in Kyoto City with my family. We went from one temple or shrine to the next to enjoy the lunar New Year festivities.

On one street corner we found some narrow stairs leading up to a second-hand books shop called Greenebooks.

This shop buys and sells books in any language except Japanese. The very eclectic range was mainly English-language. A New Year sale was in progress (50% price reductions!), and the books were mostly very good. The shop is close to Kyoto University, which has many foreign visitors and students.

I was happy to discover and purchase the following (no relation): J. R. Matthews et al. (1996) Successful scientific writing: A step-by-step guide for the biological and medical sciences. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 181 pp.

After a quick browse, I can recommend this book highly.

I particularly enjoy a section on 'devil pairs' (pp. 131-134). These are pairs of similar or related words that many writers get confused by, and choose wrongly.

After returning home, we scattered beans to drive out evil spirits from our house ('Setsubun' is an old Japanese custom on the last night of Winter). Maybe we also gave some 'devil pairs' a fright.

For extra effect, we tied a smelly, grilled fish-head to some thorny holly leaves to the frame above our door, outside. The leaves were kindly provided by our local supermarket when we bought fish yesterday.

Who needs biotechnology when we can use magic like this?!

Higher Education and Newspapers

2008-02-03T10:58:00.000+09:00

SideLines, January 2008

In many countries, major newspapers may publish special supplements on science or higher education, and these may also appear in newspaper websites.

See for example:
The Australian
The Sydney Morning Herald, and its online Classroom, and
New Zealand Herald Science

Such publications would be a good target for promoting the Research Cooperative website for research editors, translators and writers.

REWSE - Research Writing Search Engine

2007-12-22T23:40:00.000+09:00

Cyber University

2007-12-02T20:02:00.000+09:00

SideLines, Nov.-December 2007

Y. Kageyama (Japan Times 1. Dec 2007) reports that Cyber University is the only university in Japan to offer all its courses on the internet, and that it has recently started offering classes on mobile phones.

For mobile viewing, the handset screen can only offer Power Point images and sound. So it will be more of an adjunct to full internet access.

Online studies are of course second-best to direct interactions with teachers and other students in live classes - but potentially can reach many people who would otherwise have no chance at all to study.

Are students going to become great writers if they try to send in essays written on mobile phone handsets?!

About the Research Cooperative: For free membership and to publish or modify Notices, please register here: Registration/Log-in

Comments can be posted in our Viewpoints forum (see menu above).

PhD Jobseeker Logo

2007-10-17T07:57:00.000+09:00

SideLInes October, 2007

K. Sugimoto in the Asahi Newspaper (7th August, 2007) reports that The Japan Society of Applied Physics has created a "Career Explorer" logo for PhD graduates who are looking for jobs. At academic conferences, the graduates are encouraged to use the logo on their posters, or in their talks, because such conferences are an ideal venue to advertise the need for a job - a captive audience is provided.

The Society says that PhD graduates should not be shy about advertising their qualifications.

The Research Cooperative believes that graduates should also use every opportunity to improve their writing and presentation skills, with their own research results, and also by helping others through the reading, editing or translation of research papers - there is always work to be done.

United Nations University

2007-09-27T21:08:00.000+09:00

SideLines, August-September 2007

Hans van Ginkel, a former Rector at UNU, based in Tokyo, Japan, has written (Asahi Shimbun, 21st Sept 2007) that the UNU cannot compete as a world university with enrolled students, since many universities already take students from the around the world. Rather it should position itself at the top of an academic pyramid by focusing on post-doctoral programs in fields of expertise that are related to the agenda of the United Nations. At the same time the university has been expanding its scope by establishing centers of activity in numerous countries. Online learning has also been targeted as an area in which it should take a lead role.

Perhaps our Research Cooperative should try to ride on the coat-tails of this institutional master of the universe?

About the Research Cooperative: For free membership and to publish or modify Notices, please register here: Registration/Log-in

Comments can be posted in our Viewpoints forum (see menu above).

Science Map

2007-07-07T22:51:00.000+09:00

SideLines, July 2007

The Science Map (2004) is a study of publishing efforts in 'hot' research areas (1999-2004) using a bibliometric method to survey literature worldwide (Science and Technology Foresight Center, National Institute of Science and Technology). T. Kurosawa in the Asahi Shimbun (26th July 2007) summarises the main findings: Japan is ahead in high-tech fields but lagging in social sciences. Looking at the original report, no mention of language of publication is mentioned.

The entire survey is thus rendered meaningless, because the presence of Japan-based research across international, English-language publications may vary markedly according to discipline, and may have little relation to local or overall research effort, in what is one of the largest economies in the world.

Have similar surveys been conducted across Japanese-language research publications?

About the Research Cooperative: For free membership and to publish or modify Notices, please register:

Registration/Log-in

Peoples Archive

2007-06-10T15:25:00.000+09:00

SideLines, June 2007

Peoples Archive Ltd., a company based in
the United Kingdom, has taken on the challenge of interviewing and filming great "thinkers, creators, and achievers" around the world - leaders in many areas of art, science, and society generally.

Registered subscribers at Peoples Archive have more viewing options, but even non-subscribers with relatively slow internet connections can enjoy using this site.

John Maynard Smith's interview includes a segment entitled "An exercise in futility' in which he describes having to translate an English version of Virgil back into Latin, at school. The mathematical-biologist-to-be turned the 'futile' effort into an experiment in working with permutations and combinations.

Research fields currently represented by the interviews are:

Biochemistry
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Immunology
Mathematics
Physics

About the Research Cooperative:

For free membership and full access to publish and modify Notices, please register:

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Australian Education

2007-05-11T20:59:00.000+09:00

SideLines, May 2007

Australia may be 'Down Under' but 'Higher Education' is a regular supplement in The Australian, a major newspaper. Here is a sample of article headlines from the 10 page February 14, 2007, issue:

Revamp for flawed ratings - describes an overhaul of the way Australian universities measure teaching quality.
Chancellor intervenes in VC's dispute - reports on a dispute between past and present vice-chancellors at Macquariee University.
Crooked paths to Learning - an almost anthropological analysis of how some students (in the real world) act as 'interest chasers' (rather than following unreal study and career plans that are imagined by the university employment counselling services) about which there is 'a general ignorance' among students.
Drop in federal research funding... and academic staff continue to be (substantially) outnumbered by general administrative staff.
Unable to stay the course - science, maths and language courses are imploding in Britain... the anxiety in Australia over maths and science skills is shared in Britain.
Push for increase in foreign fellows - currently the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies limits foreign nationals to just five of the 25 fellowships awarded each year.

and much more, including many higher education job advertisements.

All our forums are open for reading. For free membership and full access to write and modify Notices, please register:

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Science Writers

2007-04-08T21:24:00.000+09:00

SideLines, April 2007

The (USA) National Association of Science Writers was created in 1934 by a dozen science jouralists and reporters in New York City. The aim of the organization was to improve the craft of science journalism and to promote good science reportage. The NASW incorporated in 1955, pledging itself to "foster the dissemination of accurate information regarding science through all media normally devoted to informing the public." [Wikipedia, 8th April 2007). See www.nasw.org

Recommended: A FIELD GUIDE FOR SCIENCE WRITERS
2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2005. Deborah Blum
Mary Knudson, and Robin Marantz Henig (eds).

All our forums are open for reading. For free membership and full access to write and modify Notices, please register:

Registration/Log-in

The Oxytocin Factor

2007-03-25T14:33:00.000+09:00

SideLines, March 2007

A recent article in the Observer reports that College (University) graduates who are really smiling and happy at graduation are likely to live longer, and have more successful marriages. The article links their happiness with the measurable surge in oxytocin, the 'bonding' hormone, that occurs when kindnesses are given and received.

In other words, close physical proximity can help people develop happy and trusting relationships. This does not bode well for writers, editors and translators who work far apart and depend on long-distance communications.

Perhaps there are optimum distances and optimum frequencies of direct personal contact for every kind of human relationship, including those strange relationships where we trust others with the results of our deepest, inner intellectual efforts.

The present Research Cooperative is designed to be international in scope, but at the same time, we should also encourage at least occasional direct contact between research writers, editors, and translators - at the local and regional levels - so that happier and more fruitful working relationships can be established.

The equivalent of a trusting handshake is not easy to accomplish by words alone.

Anyone can read our forums, but for free membership and full access, please register at http://www.researchco-op.co.nz

Student Services in Japan

2007-02-03T22:33:00.001+09:00

SideLines, February 2007

The Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) is responsible for managing student loans and scholarships as an "Indpendent Administrative Agency" (Int. Herald Tribune, 9th Jan. 2007). This means it has balance its own books and somehow be profitable, although its mandate is to provide interest-free or low-interest loans to students.

Despite the fact that student numbers are falling throughout Japan - because of demographic decline (low birthrates) - the number of students seeking loans has been increasing.
According to the article, tuition fees are still rising. Why not cut fees and cut lending at the same time? And provide scholarships for parents who wish to return to their studies after having children?

With a wider range of encouragements, student numbers might eventually stop declining, and a healthier research and teaching system could be nurtured in Japan.

Anyone can read our forums, but for free membership and full access, go here:

Registration/Log-in

A new forum for science writing

2007-01-08T17:58:00.000+09:00

SideLines, January 2007

Best wishes for the New Year.

A new forum for science writing has been added to the Research Cooperative (see main menu on left, at the site).

The purpose of this forum is to support contact between science writers and publishers.

Offers and requests for science writing services can be made by science writers, and book, journal, magazine, and newspaper publishers.

For further enquiries, contact Dr Peter Matthews (see details at foot of this page)

For free Co-op membership and use of our forums, please go to Registration/Log-in

Higher Education a Human Right?

2006-12-02T20:32:00.000+09:00

SideLines, December 2006

Etsuko Akuzawa in the Asahi Shimbun (26th July 2006) reported on discussions in Japan about the current high cost of university (college) education, and the failure of the government to fulfill a 27-year old commitment to make universities free.

According to Usui of Kyoto Tachibana University, "If society paid for education, university graduates would feel a greater obligation to serve society".

I agree, and the present Co-op website is my own personal attempt to return something, not just to New Zealand but to societies worldwide, since I have been a beneficiary of higher education in four different countries.

Sato, of Ryukoku University also said that "The right to receive higher education is a basic human right...we should seek [to provide] free college education here in Japan."

Obviously, there are practical limitations to what different countries can provide, according to economic circumstances, but there is no reason why Japan could not provide a free higher education, instead of providing welfare for construction companies and using precious natural resources for unnecessary infrastructure.

Online libraries, and more

2006-11-15T19:50:00.000+09:00

SideLines, November 2006

Copyright issues, technical glitches and set up costs have not stopped more and more books going online. Many organisations are putting libraries online. Important players at the moment include: Google Book Search, Open Content Alliance, Windows Live Search Books, and Gallica.

So many sources we have for downloading! And now the One Laptop Per Child Initiative is planning to give children in many countries the chance to upload as well as download.

When the whole world begins to upload, what will happen?

Perhaps that is when we will know the the real significance of the browser wars of today. Will browsers of the future be wide-open windows or half-closed shutters?

Archives, addition, and access. These are keywords for knowing the world through the internet. Hopefully, we will still have time to tend to our own gardens (real and metaphorical), and learn from direct experience.

Please send comments to our Viewpoints forum or Weblog (above), or contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com). Thank you.

Cab Call and Taxi Stand

2006-10-08T21:48:00.001+09:00

A driver with this kind of taxi might not have a lot of time for research or writing, but many drivers around are potential, active, or retired university students, researchers, professionals in various trades, writers, editors, translators, and so on.

So the Research Cooperative invites participation by taxi drivers who are looking for another kind of work to fill in time between customers, or for days off the road. At the same time, two complementary blog sites have been created:

- Cab Call Mobi (stories about using taxis), and

- Taxi Stand Mobi (practical information about taxi services)

Photo: Hanoi, 2006

Museums are not just archives

2006-10-03T20:45:00.000+09:00

SideLines, October 2006 (A cross-posting from New Zealand Science History) As in other countries, museums in New Zealand are not just archives or places for storing old things - they are also centres of research, and many are also historical centres of research. Many of the old things kept at museums are important records of early research in New Zealand (e.g. in collections of early letters, photographs, publications, plants, animals, rocks, and a huge range of cultural materials).

As venues for exhibition, museums are able to present the results of research in ways that are accessible for people from all areas of society. They are able to juxtapose old materials and new materials so that we can see how the world around us has been changing, over time.

Over the last hundred years or so, exhibitions have had an important role in the development of research in New Zealand. Research is never important in itself - it is only important if it it is effectively expressed in scientific journals, in newspapers or magazines, in school and university courses, in the continuous development of many different industries, and in exhibitions. Developng an exhibition can be a stimulus for new directions in research, as well as providing a venue for presenting the results of previous research.

At Auckland Museum, the representation of human scientific efforts extends to the 'prehistoric' period (before writing) - with a display showing how the earliest settlers from the tropical Pacific explored and came to understand the natural environment and resources that existed in temperate New Zealand.

Some of the the oldest museums in New Zealand are located in Auckland, Wellington, Whanganui, Christchurch, and Dunedin. Are there old museums in other places in New Zealand? Information from our readers would be welcome (plese click on the link for comments, below).

Photo: experimental toy canoe made from flax, as part of preparation for an exhibition on Vaka Moana (opening at Auckland Museum, December 2006)

All may register

2006-08-31T21:56:00.000+09:00

SideLines, September 2006

Actually, a spam attack on our forums has forced us to require that all forum contributors register.

So you may - and you must - register to post messages and replies in the Co-op forums. Registering is not difficult and is still free (use the Registration link in the main menu, near the top).

Reading and using information from the forums is completely open to everyone. Our aim has always been to communicate offers and requests - for language services, for research - as openly and widely as possible.

To express any opinion about this matter, please use our Viewpoints column (see the website), or contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com). Thank you!

Kids may miss the wood of science....

2006-08-01T23:00:00.000+09:00

SideLines, August 2006

Kids may miss the wood of science if they are only shown the trees of maths, physics and chemistry.

The Asahi Newspaper of Japan recently ran the following headline in their English edition: "Firms take roadshows to schools to prove science is fun: Companies fear falling interest in science and math will leave them short-staffed in global rivalries" (July 2006).

Here is a list of all the companies and industries mentioned in the article, from first to last: Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. (pharmaceutical & biochemical manufacturing), Biofrontier Laboratories (biotechnology), Bayer Japan Ltd (medicines), NEC Corp (electronics), Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (electronics), IBM Japan Ltd (computers). The Japan Chemical Industries Association is sponsoring chemistry competitions in Japan.

How depressing! Young students should be introduced to the full universe of natural, social and physical sciences... through everyday opportunies in school and outside school. They need chances to learn from parents and teachers, in settings that encourage an organic and gradual development of scientific understanding.

Putting just a few selected school kids into pressure cookers designed for specific areas of science will fail to catch the interest of many potential thinkers.

All students - regardless of their apparent academic level - deserve opportunites to discover and follow their own personal scientific interests. This can be done by putting science into the curricula of all subjects taught in schools.

Give art students oportunities to learn about the chemistry of pigments, and give science students art lessons to teach them some tricks of observation.

Encourage students to test their abilities and stretch their imaginations, in any field, and of all kinds of science will naturally follow.

To express any opinion about this matter, please use our Viewpoints column (link above) or contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com).

The literary heritage of science

2006-07-03T23:28:00.000+09:00

SideLines, July 2006
William Rees-Mogg (Yomiuri Shimbun, 2nd July 2006) boldly declares that the 'United Scholars" of England are fighting back to raise support for museums, libraries and archives for the preservation of books and literary heritage.

He notes that although the English language is England's largest and most sucessful export, there is still a need to defend the preservation of important book collections that illustrate England's literary and scientific heritage (including for example, the Macclesfield Library of Scientific Books).

If the UK with all its experience and wealth cannot properly preserve its scientific heritage, what can other nations do?!

How well preserved is scientific heritage in India, China, Japan, or - perhaps more importantly - in countries that are only just beginning to develop their own modern scientific history?

Scientific writers in the past can help educate writers of the present and future... not just through the record of results but also through the play of ideas over time. Good scientific writing can be a pleasure to read even if the information is obsolete, and even the worst writing can become valuable - as an illustration of how not to write.

To express any opinion about this matter, please use the comments link below, or contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com.

Photo: an ornamental banana in Thailand, June 2006 (PJM). While bananas are best known as fruit plants, banana plants can have many different uses, depending on species and variety. Some kinds of banana have been used as fibre sources for cloth or paper.

Back up and write on

2006-06-12T21:59:00.000+09:00

SideLines, June 2006
Musicians encourage the speakers at the start of a research conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in June.

How many individual scientists, research facilities and universities have all their computer records (digital archives) backed up at a distant mirror site?

It may seem an obvious and feasible requirement among wealthy universities in wealthy countries, but in many parts of the world, there is probably very little real security for records that are stored at one physical location, even if there are multiple copies at that location.

Most active writers are keenly aware of the need to back up manuscript files frequently, and at more than one location. One benefit of sending out drafts for review is that the circulating copies can serve as distant back-up copies if disaster strikes (disk failure, theft, fire etc.).

Getting an almost-finished paper safely to an editor or other person should allow the writer to sleep more easily - and there is nothing better than a good sleep to discover that a paper has major holes and needs drastic repairs.

For any enquiries about this site, please contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com).

Synchronicity

2006-05-02T22:00:00.000+09:00

SideLines, May 2006

Consider the following stories.

"Liberal economist Galbraith dies at 97... In 1999, a panel of judges... picked "The Affluent Society" [for] its list of the century's best English-language works of nonfiction.... Galbraith's prose won admiration at the very top"

and then, in the same issue of The Japan Times (1st May, 2006)

"Professor plagiarized overseas paper... A Nihon University accountant has plagiarized ideas from a ...research paper published... in the 1950s, a university official said Saturday... The professor, who has authoured numerous books on accounting and bookkeeping, has declined to reply to an enquiry...".

Co-op comment: The contrast is sad, and makes Japanese research look pitiful, but think again - the entire world is plagued with plagiarism!

See:

"The so-called 'secret spy dossier' published last week by the [British] Government as a crucial plank in the argument for... war [against Iraq] was largely cribbed from an American postgraduate's doctoral thesis - grammatical mistakes and all... There are scornful mutterings in French political circles... that they cannot be expected to back a war on Iraq until Britain produces something more compelling than a 'failed doctoral thesis' (02.09.03 Guardian)

Co-op comments: So even a failed thesis can become famous - but isn't it better to do good research and writing, even if it does not attract fame?

Opportunities for plagiarism may seem too great to ignore, for some - but the opportunities to detect plagiarism must be even greater, since there are more readers in the world than writers - and detecting plagiarism is another way to become famous (if becoming famous is important).
Please contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com).

Kiwi academic in China

2006-04-01T23:15:00.000+09:00

SideLines, April 2006
The North Shore Times, a local newspaper in Auckland, New Zealand, reported (29th Dec 2005) the travails of Mr David Speary, a North Shore academic and writer who has been teaching at the Huangang Teachers College in Hubei Province, China.

Here are some key points:
"China has a very strict grading for tertiary institutes, and Huangang Teachers/Normal College is only a third grade one. However, apparently it has the largest number of students learning English in any tertiary educational institute in China. Thirty percent of the 10,000 teachers in training are English majors..."

Many of his students do not want to be teachers but have their eyes on a career in business. The financial rewards for bilingual workers are supposed to be better.

Co-op comment: Presumably, the business world offers a similar lure to bilingual scientists and research students.

Maybe language services for researchers and research organisations have also become an important business area in China. Do many companies in China focus specifically on academic customers?

Can any of our readers offer ideas or information about this?

Please contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com).

Machine Translation

2006-03-07T20:31:00.001+09:00

SideLines, March 2006

In the March 2006 issue of Scientific American (pp. 70-73), Gary Stix has reviewed the history of machine translation and recent attempts by varous online services to use statistical methods and rule-based systems to translate between many different languages. Kevin Hendzel, a spokesman for the American Translators Asssociation is quoted on the subject. He does not seem overly concerned with the competition...

As an instant test, and for the amusement of our readers, we have submitted the phrase

"Machine Translation"

to a rule-based Google/Systran translation from English to Portugese and from Portugese back to English.

Here is the result:

"Translation De Máquina"

Perhaps the real value of machine translation in the future will be the creation a universal hybrid language (??)

Contact The Research Cooperative (NZ): info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz )

Absurdly popular catch-phrases?

2006-03-07T19:42:00.001+09:00

Recently, at our main website (The Research Cooperative NZ), three recent postings have been attracting unusually large number of visitors.

Is this an absurdity, some kind of scam, or simply the result of using good catch-phrases?

Our Co-op member has used phrases that clearly identify the services offered, as follows:

1. English-Chinese translation (464 visits in one month)
2. English editing (302 visits in one month)
3. English proofreading (192 visits in one month)

As a rough test of why these offers have attracted attention, I present results (hit numbers) for the following exact search phrases, using Google:

First set
English-Chinese translation - 52,600
English-Chinese - 2,160,000
English to Chinese translation - 138,000
English to Chinese - 1,900,000
Chinese-English translation -- 66,300
Chinese-English - 2,700,000
English-Mandarin - 228,000
English-Cantonese - 158,000
English-German translation - 1,250,000
English-German - 10,500,000
English-Spanish translation - 194,000
English-Spanish - 12,700,000

Maybe more people (especially English readers) are seeking translation from Chinese into English than from English into Chinese - and maybe it is better for translators and writers to avoid being very specific about which Chinese language they are working with, when designing a catch phrase, unless they are working with Cantonese (which I guess has a smaller speech community than Mandarin).

Also, there is more English-language communication about translation between European languages, than between English and Chinese, which is not surprising. It would be of interest to have comparable figures for Chinese-language areas of the Internet.

Second set
English editing - 55,200
Chinese editing - 809

i.e. Not many English readers seek to write in Chinese.

Third set
English proofreading - 25,100
Chinese proofreading - 305

i.e. Not many English readers seek editors of Chinese.

Comments? Please tell us - what do you think these numbers mean?

Comments on the Origins of Science, Art, and Writing

2006-02-28T18:21:00.000+09:00

The following images are from a summer camp in Kyoto, Japan, in 2005. Children began imitating an adult who was grinding and smoothing pebbles on boulders, and then began imitating each-other. The children discovered different colours using different stones, and left their markings on the boulders.

The markings seem to be natural answers to unspoken questions, and signs of science beginning. Is this Art? Is this Writing?

Is this Humanity in Nature (In a Concrete Ditch)?!

With thanks to all the children!

24 trillion yen

2006-02-05T18:27:00.000+09:00

SideLines, February 2006

That's the five-year spending target announced last week by Japan's General Council on Science and Technology.

The Japan Times of Thursday, Feb. 2, ran a good editorial on the plan, noting that women are greatly underrepresented in the sciences in Japan. According to the new plan, 25 % of newly hired researchers should be women.

Where will they come from?!

Policy suggestions from the Cooperative: spend more on improving scientific writing and publication in Japan, and create courses and job opportunites for professional technicians, so that graduate students and researchers can do their research more effectively.

Subscribe to our electronic newsletter for occasional reports from the Cooperative.
Contact Peter, c/o The Research Cooperative (NZ): pjm (at) gol (dot) com).

The Find-it Page, Japan Times

2006-01-23T22:09:00.000+09:00

Incredibly, it is possible in Japan to advertise the Research Cooperative at no cost nationally, in a major English language daily (The Japan Times).

The following ad (26 words) was submitted as a free ad under Service, in The Find-it Page, on 23. Jan. 2006:

Research Co-operative (www.researchco-op.co.nz), an online meeting place for research writers, editors, translators, and others. Offers and requests for volunteer and paid services. All languages and subjects.

The email address for submission is weekendscene [at] japantimes.co.jp, and the subject line required is "The Find-it Page".

(Publication is on Saturday; deadline is Friday, 5 pm).

Note: This message has been posted to provide a record of promotion activities at The Research Cooperative. In this way, users of Co-op services can see we that we view promotion as a major task of our Co-op administration. It is also a task for which we always require help (volunteer, and financial).

If you can help us help others (and you), please contact Peter (email - pjm at gol dot com.

Newsletter created

2006-01-18T08:28:00.000+09:00

SideLines, January 2006

'Back-to-Back', an electronic newsletter, has been created for the Research Cooperative. Please subscribe here

Our newsletter will provide occasional reports on:

- use and development of Research Cooperative services

- other topics suggested by newsletter subscribers

- contributions by invited authors (please ask to be invited!)

Subscription is free and can be cancelled at any time, no advertising will be sent, and your contact details will remain private.

Back-to-Back subscription

2006-01-09T21:20:00.000+09:00

'Back-to-Back' is an occasional newsletter of The Research Cooperative and is intended primarily for registered users of Research Cooperative forums and weblogs (see weblog list on the top page of the present site, and our online forums for research writing, editing, translation, and other research-related activities). The newsletter title refers to our Cooperative logo, which symbolises human contact, communication, and cooperation. A detailed explanation of the subscription process (and the cancellation or 'unsubscribe' option) follows after the form.

----------------------- SUBSCRIPTION FORM -----------------------

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The newsletter will provide occasional reports on:

- development and use of Research Cooperative services

- other topics suggested by newsletter subscribers

- contributions by invited authors (please ask to be invited!)

Subscription process
A double opt-in (two step) method is used to ensure that genuine subscriptions are received. 'Double opt-in' is also referred to as 'confirmed opt-in.'

When you have entered your e-mail address, an automated verification e-mail is sent with a link for you to click on. The e-mail address will only be added to our subscriber database if the owner of the address clicks on the verification link.

After clicking on this link once, there is no need to do anything further (the ymlp website will be shown, but there is no need for you to do anything there).

This method is the safest, and is becoming standard practice. Double opt-in guarantees a clean subscriber list, so we can be 100% sure each subscriber has intended to sign up.

The subscription is free, no advertising will be sent, and your contact details will remain private. Each issue of the newsletter includes an 'unsubscribe' link.

Please subscribe!

New Zealand Science History

2005-12-20T23:17:00.000+09:00

A new site for commentary on New Zealand Science History has been added to our Cooperative weblog community.

By highlighting the efforts and writings of previous scientific generations in New Zealand, we hope that this weblog will complement the present role of the Research Cooperative NZ, which is to promote interest and higher standards in current and future scientific writing.

As the above picture by Donovan Govan indicates (courtesy Wikimedia Commons, 2005), the field of New Zealand Science History is fairly wide open. There may be a few fences to cross, and the occasional angry bull, but there is no telling what might turn up in some distant paddock or bit of forest.

Volunteer Match

2005-12-04T18:30:00.000+09:00

The following description of our Cooperative has been submitted to Volunteermatch.org in an attempt to raise awareness of the volunteering aspect among potential volunteers around the world.

The Research Cooperative

A collection of online forums open to volunteers with language and writing skills, and to research writers and organisations around the world who require help to get their work published. This is NOT intended for ghostwriting services, but for legitimate and transparent language services. Volunteers may identify themselves as learners, experienced or professional. The Cooperative encourages international volunteer collaboration to raise the standards of academic research writing in all countries. The Cooperative recognises the important role of language services in helping to build academic and research communities at the local and international levels. The Cooperative also reocgnises the need to build communities that reach across economic and linguistic boundaries, so that poor and wealthy nations alike can benefit from research.

For listing on the Volunteer Match website, the following title and statement were provided:

Volunteer language and writing services

Join our online forums to provide support for researchers and research organisations around the world, regardless of their economic and linguistic circumstances. Volunteers may be learners, experienced or professional as editors, translators, proof-readers, website checkers, illustrators and so on. By volunteering, you can gain experience, meet people with similar research interests, and perhaps help raise standards in academic research and research publishing internationally. Volunteer for any topic of interest to yourself - from archeology to zoology (A to Z)!

Greetings and best wishes for the Year End.

2005-11-30T18:03:00.000+09:00

SideLines, December 2005

Our thoughts are especially with those who have received the rough end of the stick, through natural or social disaster.

As a gift to present and future Co-op members, we have created a new family of blogs. These are centered around a blog called "The Research Cooperative Community" (see www.researchco-op.blogspot.com). The subsidiary sites are all free, courtesy of blogger.com, and could be useful for individuals, groups, or companies that wish to promote or discuss research writing or language services online.

Blogger.com provides free hosting for simple blog sites that are adequate for many purposes. The sites are easy to use because the instructions are all online, and because blogging systems have improved rapidly in recent years. The system offered by blogger.com is highly refined and is designed for first-time users. No previous internet experience is needed to set up your own site.

What I have done, in effect, is reserve a goodly number of relevant addresses for the use of Co-op members. Since no cost is involved (other than my time), these can be maintained indefinitely on the zero budget of our Co-op.

The new blogsites are listed in the menu at www.researchco-op.blogspot.com (visit the blogsite and the links menu to see them). If you have registered at our main Co-op site (www.researchco-op.co.nz) to use the forums, then you are automatically a Co-op member and can apply, by email to me, to use one of

For editors, translators and others who have limited financial resources, or who are trying to get themselves known and established in their chosen field, these free blog sites may be very attractive. Because they are linked to the main Co-op website, they form a family closely-related sites that has the potential to become highly visible on the internet.

Do not expect these sites to be highly visible immediately - their visibility will depend on the combined efforts of all persons involved, over time (for members with suitable financial resources, a single blog could be given greater visibility through paid advertising).

Please visit our new Network site, consider, and apply! If you have questions about how to use the sites, or what can be done with them, then ask me, or use the online Help system at blogger.com.

Thanks, Peter J. Matthews (for The Research Cooperative), with the assistance of Jules Verne of the Wikimedia Commons, 2005.

Welcome

2005-11-16T21:43:00.000+09:00

Through a combination of websites and blogs, the Research Cooperative network provides online support for academic research and research writing, editing, translation, proofreading, web design, illustration, and other work. The present blog links our network and serves as an archive for the SideLines monthly commentary at our first site, The Research Cooperative NZ (see menu at left)

The present blog will eventually provide the following:

(1) ) an email list subscription service for registered members of the Research Cooperative.

(3) an archival service for The Research Cooperative NZ

Support Universities in Pakistan and India

2005-11-02T18:42:00.000+09:00

SideLines, November 2005

Three to four million people were made homeless in the South Asian Earthquake just one month ago. In Pakistan, entire villages and more than 7,000 schools were destroyed.
Local universities in the region will feel the impact of this earthquake for decades, and many are involved in the immediate relief efforts. If you have colleagues in Pakistan, please contact them to offer help in some way. The Research Cooperative is attempting to collate information on affected universities in Pakistan, and the relief efforts being carried out by universities in that country.

If you can offer any relevant information, please contact Peter at the address below. See also our pages for this subject at http://researchco-op.net/universitiespk.html

Contact The Research Cooperative (NZ): info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz ).

An evolving plan

2005-10-03T17:41:00.000+09:00

SideLines. October 2005

Higher education, academic research, and applied agricultural research have all been important for society and the economy in New Zealand. While there has been much debate about how universities and other research institutions should be managed, there has been fairly consistent support - across political parties and social groups - for maintaining strong education and research systems in New Zealand.

As a result, there are probably a relatively large number of people in many different professions who have sufficient experience to be either research writers, or to offer language services of one sort or another.

It is a founding premise of this research cooperative that many people's talents - internationally - are underused and under-recognised, to the detriment of good communication. This may be especially true in New Zealand, where the number of obvious job opportunities does not match the large number of graduates emerging from universities.

There is no particular reason why there should be any close match - a very predictable world would also be a world with few opportunities and little interest.... but it does mean that a special effort to promote the Research Cooperative in New Zealand may be useful.

In the near future this website, at .co.nz, will be re-orientated with a focus on New Zealand (while remaining internationally accessible). At the same time, an international website, at .org, will be developed, using a different computer operating system. Users will be invited to use either or both websites.

The main difference between the two websites will be in how they are promoted in order to attract new members and the ettenti0on of research writers. More later, as news comes to hand on this evolving plan...

Contact The Research Cooperative (NZ): info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz ).

Advertising costs - information needed

2005-09-03T17:37:00.000+09:00

SideLines, September 2005

In order to reach research writers more effectively, we need to advertise our cooperative in research newsletters and journals worldwide, in multiple languages. For a simple text advertisement of 20 words, how much would it cost to advertise in journals you (the reader of this advertisment) are familiar with? Please investigate the costs in journals you regard as interesting, and send the information to Peter:

Science writer responds...

2005-08-03T17:35:00.000+09:00

SideLines, August 2005

In the Weekend Beat column of the Asahi Shimbun (English version, 30-31st July 2005), K. Fujimoto reported on Keiko Yanagisawa, a science writer living in Tokyo: 'Yanigasawa feels there are endless things a scientist must talk about, yet laments that there are not enough writers'.

We can only agree!

Co-op contact: info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz

In transit

2005-07-03T17:34:00.000+09:00

SideLines, July 2005
Greetings from Terminal 1, Singapore Airport. Free internet access is provided for weary travellers in this sprawling aeropolis. It is a nice thought, but we have to stand at the screens, and it might be better if we could all have couches for a quiet kip. This is no place for work.

Co-op contact: info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz

Own-goal in the academic field?

2005-06-03T17:29:00.000+09:00

SideLines, June 2005

Many academic meetings In Japan are organised in haste with invitations being sent out at the last minute to local and international participants. This haste often reflects budget-balancing efforts in administrative departments around the end of each financial year. The academic organisers do not know exactly what money will be available until very shortly before their spending deadline.

The result is that many participants do not have time to prepare full papers for presentation, and this in turn means that the work of writing, editing and translation must continue after the meeting in order to produce a set of publishable papers.
The whole process is rather back-to-front, and not cost-effective. More importantly perhaps, it gives the Japanese academic world a bad image locally and internationally, and makes it less likely that good people will be found to attend academic meetings.

Research is not a just-in-time factory process, and the presentation and publication of academic results is not like putting food into cans to fill orders for a supermarket chain. A lot of good research is done in Japan, and there are many good meetings. It is a pity that the funds that are available cannot be managed more flexibly and efficiently.

If you have had any experience of this, as a Japanese or as a guest in Japan, please tell me. I would like to collect some relevant reports (contrary reports are welcome). Please contact:

Dr Peter Matthews, Research Develepment Center, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka 565-8511, Japan (email pjm at gol dot com).

Research writing in New Zealand

2005-05-03T17:27:00.000+09:00

SideLines, May 2005

Research writers - and especially academic research writers - are often unwilling to part with money for help with editing or translation, or do not have anything other than their own pocket money to pay for it. If writers are lucky, journal referees will do some editing, but this partly explains why journals have trouble finding good referees. Referees do not want to lose time reading rubbish.

The end result is that academic editing payments are less on average than commercial payments. Fortunately, the volunteer spirit of many researchers, and promises of mutual assistance, mean that most research papers are given at least some reading by a second person, before going to a journal.

Volunteer and mutual assistance have long been important New Zealand research. Through good teaching, volunteer efforts, and a sense of professional obligation, our small research population has been maintained relatively high standards of research, writing, and publishing - despite very limited budgets for these activities.

Research writers need help in a very wide range of subjects, and there is also a general need - worldwide - for paid professional editing and translation. Volunteer and professional editors or translators can usually find work that is close to their own interests, and valuable for their professional development.

When a good match is made, then the writer, editor or translator, and reader all benefit. The aim of this website is to help make the triple benefits more common.

Contact: info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz

Academic societies in crisis

2005-04-02T23:31:00.000+09:00

SideLines, April 2005

In November 2004, the Business Center for Academic Societies Japan (BCASJ) was declared bankrupt (International Herald Tribune, 26.11.04). One role of the Center was to collect membership fees used by academic societies for their conferences and publications. This financial crisis has affected some 300 academic societies in Japan, and may have continuing consequences for academic writers, editors and translators (fewer publishing opportunities, fewer editing contracts?). It may also be a wake-up call for improvements in academic publishing and distribution. Please send comments on this matter to:

Peter Matthews email: info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz

Reaching out to research writers

2005-03-02T23:24:00.000+09:00

SideLines, March 2005

Help is needed to encourage research writers to make active use of our forums. Anyone can help by mentioning this site to writers they know, or by posting notices about the site on university noticeboards (any city, any country). Copies of notices prepared for this purpose can be obtained by contacting Peter Matthews at the email address below.
Thank you.

Peter Matthews email: info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz

SideLines, February 2005

2005-02-02T23:15:00.000+09:00

Research writing conference

A Conference on Research Writing in Japan was held at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, 15-16th March, 2003. The conference report, a fully edited book published by the museum, can be obtained for free by contacting Peter Matthews at the email address below.
See http://www.researchco-op.net/conference.html for details about the conference and publication.

Peter Matthews email: info (at) researchco-op (dot) co.nz

Photo: an 11th C. Syriac text (Wikimedia Commons, 2005). Maybe the maker needed a layout editor.

SideLines, November 2004

2004-11-02T22:58:00.000+09:00

Training needed for PhD supervisors?

How is it possible for PhD students to submit entire pages of text that is obviously not their own, that is from no acknowledged source, and that can be easily located on the internet? How can PhD supervisors let their students devalue their own work, and make this kind of mistake? There is not just a knowledge divide in the world, but also a divide in how to report knowledge, in basic writing skills, and in attitudes towards previous texts and their authors. Perhaps, for some writers, it is an honour to be quoted at all, even without acknowledgement, and perhaps some people believe it is a right to bestow such an honour on others. Or is it no honour at all, and no right at all, from any perspective, no matter how philosophical or relativist one tries to be?
These are questions I direct to any students, teachers, and research writers who may be reading this column. If you have an opinion on the matter, or experience to report, please contact me. In my role as an occasional PhD examiner, I need moral support. I would also like to report back to this Cooperative on what I learn from this call for the Defense of Good Writing and Self Respect.