John Muir's Birthplace

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Content updated Mon, 13 Apr 1998 00:32:03 GMT

DJMA/JMC Background... [home]

Second posting about JMC

K12 posting about JMC

This is the first posting I have made to this particular newsgroup
but I thought it appropriate to canvass opinion/facts/support from
this portion of the Internet community.  On reading further, I
hope you'll agree.  I am very keen to get feedback from educators
since a proposed John Muir Centre has as a core remit the
provision of educational materials available over the Internet.
Another angle being considered is involving the local Dunbar schools
in the project.  I would be delighted to here from other schools
with a view to setting up reciprocal arrangements.  If you think
that there are other appropriate newsgroups that may have an
interest in this could you let me know, too.

Although very few Scottish schools currently have the capability to
connect to the Internet this will (have to) change over the
course of the next five years or so.  In fact, the BBC - the
organisation that, in conjunction with Acorn, was the prime mover
in getting computers into British schools - is currently
broadcasting a series of programmes on the Internet and has
established a 'Networking Club' that has at its core a BBS and Web
server.  I guess that they expect that this will have the same effect
as the original BBC Micro series and will help to establish the
'network' as a core educational aid.  But I digress...

In effect, this article is a follow-up to an original article I
made to various *.environment newsgroups in late March/early
April.  That first posting outlined tentative proposals for the
establishment of a John Muir Centre in his birthplace of Dunbar,
Scotland.  My suggestion at that time was to incorporate an
Internet presence in any development at this type so that John
Muir's conservation message could be made available on a global
basis.  I encouraged everyone who saw that posting to send me an
e-mail message of (at least) 'I saw the posting' nature to provide
concrete evidence of the potential of this form of communication
medium.  I have, with the exception of a few bounced replies,
managed to reply with message of thanks to more than 275 people
who have responded to my appeal so far.

I would encourage *anyone* who is seeing this concept of an
Internet presence for a John Muir Centre for the first time to add
to my e-mail collection ;-).  Such evidence is a vital aspect of
getting the JMC off the ground.  I have been immensely pleased and
impressed by the quality of the feedback I have received so far.
Some have even followed up the e-mail with a postcard to the
address I gave in the original posting. The e-mail and postcards
will form part of an initial exhibition to show Dunbar residents,
the local council, and potential sponsors the degree of support
that John Muir attracts from the Internet community.  If you'd
like the address to send the postcard then just mention this in
your e-mail to me.

The purpose in submitting follow-up articles is to repay, in kind,
the help and advice that has so generously been given so far.  In
the course of these articles I hope to document the highs and lows
of attempting to setup an Internet presence for the JMC, in
particular, and progress in general.

I am pleased to report that the local steering group of about 30
Dunbar residents have elected a small task force of 7 people to
work closely with 6 members of the John Muir Trust.  The initial
remit of the task force is to coordinate a feasibility study for
such a Centre.  It has also been agreed in principle to establish
a charitable body to be known as 'Dunbar's John Muir Association',
the constitution of which will be put before a public meeting in
Dunbar in the near future.  The purpose of the Association will be
to raise funds and sponsorship for the proposed JMC and,
ultimately, be responsible for the day to day running of it. 
Future postings will contain details of these developments. 
Needless to say, if anyone on the 'net has experience of, or
advice for, such an enterprise, I would be delighted to hear from
them.  I am, of course, particularly interested in the
incorporation of the Internet into the final proposal.

You might like to know that the local paper - the East Lothian
Courier - has picked up on my use of the Internet and has recently
run a story with the headline 'World-wide Support for John Muir
Visitor Centre'.  Apart from the usual journalistic license and
the minor inaccuracies that crept in due to the lack of
understanding of what exactly the Internet is, the overall picture
is accurate.

Plans for the {near} future include setting up an experimental Web
service on a local departmental machine, and establishing
an FTP archive for past articles/postings and information on the
John Muir Trust.  Details of these will be given in subsequent
postings.

Thank you for reading this far and I hope to hear from you via
e-mail.  I cannot stress enough how important the Internet community
is going to be in influencing and deciding the fate of the JMC
initiative.  I would encourage you to circulate this posting as
widely as possible.

Many thanks,

Duncan Smeed
--
Department of Computer Science                 Tel: (+44) 41 552 4400 x3587
Strathclyde University                         Fax: (+44) 41 552 5330
26 Richmond Street                          E-mail: duncan@cs.strath.ac.uk
Glasgow G1 1XH
Scotland, UK
    "Do something for wildness and make the mountains glad", John Muir