Webmaster’s Report

 

I am pleased to report that our home page comes up first when one searches for “System Dynamics” on Google. We are getting about 2600 hits per month.

 

The online membership directory is working, but Jen finds that she needs to keep pressure on MembershipClicks to maintain an acceptable performance. Wiley has responded to my inquiry about cooperating on updating our membership lists saying that our requirements were beyond their current plans for any online membership list. But they are offering some help in keeping our lists synchronized with theirs.

 

Our navigation scheme has been improved making it easier to find things. In researching elegant navigation schemes I found that Netscape Navigator failed to support some of the best.

 

Vedat Diker continues to support the collection and review of conference papers through our web site. As he is graduating, we must plan for his replacement.

 

Similarly Luis Luna maintains our job offerings and our list of courses in SD. He, also, is graduating in the near future.

 

I have sought help with the administration of a web site for models and WPI has expressed interest in that role.

 

While I feel that we serve our society members fairly well (if they are having problems, they rarely hesitate to contact us), I worry that we may not be addressing the requirements of the newcomers to system dynamics. On the average they may not know what they would like better and don’t ask questions or make suggestions.