Trickster Research Group
If you are a scholar or a person interested in trickster research, you are invited to join this group by sending email to C. W. Spinks, Moderator (cspinks at trinity.edu) indicating your research interests in trickster and how you might like an international online research group like this to function.
 
This research group is a closed and private group of scholars and individuals who are interested in sharing their research and ideas about Trickster.   It will be set up on a class management software called Blackboard at Trinity University and adapted for an organizational group rather than a class.
 
The software allows members of the Research Group to use a number online tools for communication and discussion.  For example, not only is the a place for announcements, documents, links to resources, and such, there is also a place for  a bulletin board discussion forum, online chat rooms for conferences, a drop box for exchange papers, email connections, personal profiles, etc. And it does all of this without filling your mailbox and without regard to geographic limitations.  You log onto the site at your own convenience and schedule.
 
The software, for security purposes, would be limited to people who are authorized to link to the site.  It calls for entering a user id (usually one's name) and a password.  It allows users to
  • place a profile with contact numbers and to contact other members easily
  • maintain an address book and calendar if you chose,
  • post email to members of the group,
  • post to a discussion forum,
  • drop off drafts that could then be reviewed by other members of the group,
  • place announcements about conferences, publications or calls for papers,
  • consult with the scholarly community about projects,
  • have conferences via a chat room,
  • conduct online symposia that are truly international in scope, etc.

It even has an online Chalkboard for sharing of diagrams or materials during online discussions.
 
I have used this software successfully in classes where I do lots of group work, and although to be effective with some of the interactive devices it needs good bandwidth, I think this software has the potential to be a valuable resource to the scholarly community outside the classroom.  My university has allowed me to try this experiment because they are interested in seeing how successful the software can be for off campus groups.
 
My goal with this project is to make a real interactive clearing house for trickster information, research and resources.  This is not something I can do alone easily, and other scholars and trickster aficionados can help spread trickster information widely, quickly and securely.  I know this will not be the cup of tea of some folk, but some of you might find this very useful, and if so I invite you to send me email requesting to join the group, with some information about your interests and affiliation.   I will then pass those names on to the system administrator who will set up an account for you so you can access the site through http://bb.trinity.edu/

Please come join me for a rather interesting and exciting experiment in scholarship, computer networking, and trickster research.


C. W. Spinks, Moderator