IMS Bulletin (24 March 2005)

Index

1. Tip: Refresh
2. Reminder: contact details for deceased authors
3. IMS questions of the week

There will be no Bulletin next week because of the public holidays on Friday, 25 March and Monday, 28 March 2005

Happy holiday!

1. Tip: Refresh

Remember to use the 'Refresh' in the IMS 'View' menu and not in your Browser's menu to view changes you have just made to the IMS.

2. Reminder: contact details for deceased authors

You should retain the name, institution and country that were correct before they died, delete the rest of their contact details and put '(Deceased)' as the first word in the institution field.

3. IMS Questions of the week

(a) Question: Is the review authors' email list generated from the email addresses held in the IMS?

Answer: No. The email addresses of contact authors for the review authors' email list are currently taken from the Parent Database. The list is updated every quarter based on the information submitted through CRG modules.

The review authors' email list was established in 2001 - see minutes of the Steering Group meeting on 18/19 February 2001. The list was established so that the Steering Group and its advisory Groups could communicate directly with contact authors. It is therefore not a discussion list but is used to pass on information. Only the Cochrane review author representative on the Cochrane Collaboration's Steering Group can send emails directly to the list; all other messages go to the author representative for 'moderation'. The current author representative, Mark Davies, usually sends a message shortly after each module submission and copies it to the Adminors list. The Secretariat collates any bounced email addresses and forwards them to Rasmus Moustgaard at the Nordic Cochrane Centre, who will notify the appropriate RGCs so that they can amend them before the next module submission.

(b) Question: Is it only RGCs of CRGs who can contact the IMS CRG Support person?

Answer: No. We are happy to answer questions from any CRG Super User. CRG editorial Standard Users should refer their question to their RGC or other CRG Super User.