The Asterisk is seeking someone to help coordinate an online slide series. Now these slides might typically start out in Powerpoint format, but since there are many similar types of slides currently, I don't think the slides should be restricted to Powerpoint only. The idea is that once a week (say Wednesday), a new slide set on a topic of interest to astronomy enthusiasts and/or Asterisk readers would be posted to the Asterisk by the author. This author then promises to be available for questions over the next week, picking out at least three (3) questions that (s)he will answer, if at least that many are asked. Questions may also be answered by others on the Asterisk as well, and productive dialog may ensue.
After a week, a video of the author actually giving the lecture might be uploaded, if it exists. The reason that the video would not be uploaded immediately is because it might discourage people from going through the slide set, thinking that it would only be fair if they watched the entire video before commenting, and many people don't have time for that. Also, many of the most interesting talks have slides but no video.
The general idea is to build up a useful slide library housing the best and most interesting slide presentations about astronomy of our time. If such an online slide library presently exists, I am currently unaware of it. This would take the place, for example, of a good weekly seminar series for people who are not at a major astronomical institution and hence cannot easily attend good weekly seminars on astronomy. For example, if a new result is announced in astronomy, a person from the discovery research group might be asked if they would post a slide set about it on the Asterisk.
The work for the organizer would involve seeking out good slide sets on the web and requesting that the author of the slide set post them to the Asterisk on a set date. The organizer might also help the presenter put the slides in an Asterisk-friendly format. The coordinator would then moderate the discussion trying to maintain politeness and focus. If this might interest you, please send me an email to me at nemiroff at mtu.edu .
- RJN