Frequently asked questions
- What are the origins of the AEJMC Network?
- Is Web space all that the network provides?
- How is server space paid for?
- Who maintains our Web site on the Network server?
- Is any special software required?
- How can we join the network?
- What kind of support is available?
- Questions not answered here
What are the origins of the AEJMC Network?
Answer: In an environment where organizational leadership changes regularly, several members of the AEJMC Council of Divisions expressed a desire at the beginning of the twenty-first century to have a permanent home for their Web sites. The AEJMC headquarters agreed to handle bookkeeping arrangements and the AEJMC Network launched with four members who agreed to share the cost of commercial server space. The network rapidly grew to more than a half dozen members, and in the spring of 2006 moved to a new server to accommodate even more bigger demands.
Is Web space all that the network provides?
Answer: No. Several groups expressed desires to manage e-mail discussion lists for their members, so that option was included in the original arrangements for a group Web server. Each member organization is entitled to a limited number of "aejmc.net" e-mail addresses as well. The server also supports server-side scripting and SQL databases. These options, because of security issues, are closely monitored.
How is the server space paid for?
Answer: AEJMC headquarters pays the bill annually for the server and for administrative support. The bill is then apportioned equally across all divisions and interest groups who are members of the network. Each group is assessed at the national level. At this writing, it works out to something less than $5 per month per group.
Who maintains our Web site on the Network server?
Answer: You do. Each member organization is provided a personal FTP access account to your area on the server. You are free to create more folders and as many files as you can get within your allotted space. You are allotted 100 MB of storage space – which is a great deal of room unless you plan to be serving a library of video files.
Is any special software required?
Answer: Yes, and No. Any Web-authoring software will do. This ranges from the free Composer portion of the Mozilla Suite Internet software (the basis for the current versions of Netscape) to more expensive high-end programs such as Adobe GoLive, Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia (now owned by Adobe) Dreamweaver. Many of these programs have built-in "publishing" utilities that move your files from your computer to the server for you. As an alternative method, you can create files with one program and then upload them with an FTP client. Our primary plea is that you keep all your software up-to-date. We recently had some security breaches enabled by the use of an older version of FrontPage.
How can we join the network?
Answer: Send e-mail to the AEJMC headquarters stating your wishes or go ahead and contact Gramps. Both places get involved eventually.
What kind of support is available?
Answer: A constantly evolving library of help files is available in the "Members only" section of this Web site. Beyond those files, Gramps is available for routine help now and then, as long as y'all don't abuse his good nature.
Questions not answered here
As more AEJMC divisions and interest groups join the Network, more questions will certainly arise. Once a couple people start asking the same general questions those questions will get added to this list. If you have other questions not answered here, please do not hesitate to ask Gramps. Who knows? Somebody else may be wondering the same thing.