"Invisible College"

"Invisible College" describes a community that shares an interest in a common subject or discipline and communicates informally about it. The "college" is made up of generally no more than 100 individuals who function as the scholarly in-group within a given specialization; and most of the significant research within that specialization is usually produced by its members. This research is facilitated by the informal exchange of information through contacts within this social/professional network at conferences, by e-mail, during hallway conversations, and in other forums.

The Internet is making some of these communications accessible. Important sources are listservs, e-conferences and Internet bulletin boards. These are either e-mail or World Wide Web-based files containing messages posted by psychologists and other scholars and practitioners in closely related fields.

Example: sci.psychology.research (Professional discussion of those topics directly related to the issues of research, academia, theory, and the science of psychology. Psychology is broadly defined as the study of individual behavior.)

The following web site provides access to listservs and electronic conferences and discussions:

• Google Groups