How to Choose Articles
for Aquarium Club Newsletters and Web Sites
by Howard Norfolk
Founding Editor, Aquarticles.com
For the first two years of Aquarticles'
existence the policy was to restrict the use of articles to printed aquarium club
newsletters only:
- I thought that authors would prefer to see their writings
in hard print (and so would I), and that if articles were "all over the
Internet" they would become too well known, which would cause editors to stop using
them.
- This policy worked fine. A couple of hundred articles have been
reprinted, in about thirty different club newsletters. People have mostly respected the
rule. By searching, I have found a few unauthorised uses of articles on web sites, and in
some cases I have given permission for articles to be thus used. Particularly gratifying
have been requests to translate articles into foreign languages. I have also given
permission for some clubs to copy the entire site onto disc for circulation amongst club
members who cannot afford Internet charges. (This has also been done without asking - when
I check my site statistics and see hundreds of hits overnight from one otherwise
inactive country I have to be suspicious!). Some articles have been linked to other
specialist sites, which of course is legitimate.
- But with over 400 articles on site I realised that none of them were being over-used.
The most any article has been reprinted is four times, and many specialist articles have
not been reprinted at all. Not that they aren't being read - Aquarticles
currently (March 2003) gets an average of over 1200 individual visits each day, making
about 7000 hits, and this figure is increasing by about 15% each month. (Again, newsletter
editors, don't imagine that all your club members have already read all the Aquarticles
articles - these visits come from all over the World, and most of them are probably not
even club members, which is why they're surfing!).
- I also noted that many clubs do not have a printed newsletter at all, and more
and more are relying on their web sites to spread information, some with static
information on site, and others with an on-line periodical which may be e-mailed to
members with computers.
- I decided that we're all in the information "business"! - So in
February 2003 the policy of Aquarticles changed:
Aquarticles
articles can now also be used on aquarium club and other non-commercial web sites,
providing:
1) The original author and club (if applicable) are credited.
2) Active links are made to Aquarticles and the original club (if
applicable).
3) Aquarticles is advised, so that we can inform the author.
These conditions are given in the "Article Information" for each article.
Everyone I consulted about this change
reacted positively. I have not been able to consult all article contributors however, so
should any authors or clubs not agree with this change in policy or these conditions,
please advise. Your preferences will gladly be stated in the Article Information for your
article/s.
The purpose of this article is to give
editors and web masters of general aquarium club newsletters and web sites some
suggestions as to the use of Aquarticles articles.
NEWSLETTERS
Articles may be used in your club's printed or on-line newsletter,
periodical, or journal:
For this, any article that might interest your members can be reproduced. All the articles
on the site deserve consideration and respect. They were written by fellow hobbyists
voluntarily, with the purpose of freely sharing their knowledge with others - lots of
knitted brows and hard work! The suggestions which follow are not necessarily a list of
the "best" articles - they are mostly "general" articles which might
be of use to the greatest number of people. There are many excellent but more specialised
articles, particularly in Fish Breeding/Keeping that
would be appropriate to use in your individual publication.
Some tips for article
selection:
- Choose an article that complements, but does not upstage, the topic of your next
meeting.
Or alternatively, use one that confirms, develops, or fills in the gaps from the
topic of your last meeting.
You can use the Search feature to look for articles
relating a particular topic or fish.
- Have a mixture of articles in
each issue: for beginners, for experts, and of general interest. As the club's editor, you
are no doubt one of the core clique of "experts" that run the club - but don't
forget the silent majority of novices who joined the club to learn from people like you.
The most mundane of beginners' articles may be just what they are looking for. For general
interest articles try the Humour, Travel, and Literature
Sections.
- Don’t just pick articles
that are of interest to you! Work out a schedule that regularly includes articles on
the main specialties other than tropical fish, such as ponds and coldwater fish, aquatic
plants, saltwater aquariums, travel.
- Relate articles to the
seasons: ponds in the summer, time consuming projects in the winter, equipment at
Christmas, travel at holiday time. Examples of these are:
For ponds: Five Easy Steps for the Perfect
Spring Pond by Sue Speichert
Getting Your Pond Ready for Winter by Sue
Speichert
"Time consuming": Kristian Adolfsson's masterpiece, Dry and Rainy Seasons in the
Tank
Any of the "How to Build a Fish Room" articles in the Aquarium
Management Section.
Technical articles in the Aquarium Management Section,
including, during storm season, one of the "Power Out?" articles.
Holiday season? - Are some of your members thinking of visiting the Amazon, or do they
wish they could? See the Travel section.
- Auction coming up? - then
consider. How to Bring Your Fish to the Club Auction by
Howard Norfolk
Or include articles about fish that you know members have bred and will be
bringing to the auction. (That's if you can't persuade your own members to write
articles about their own fish!).
- Show coming up? - consider Things to Know Before You Show by Rick Bolger, or one
of the other articles about fish shows to be found in the Aquarium
Club Affairs section.
- Have you some space to fill?
Consider one of the short poems or "Lists" in the Humour
Section.
Or insert a cartoon: one of Pia's Fishy
Cartoons, or one of Susan Schauer's Fish
Schticks.
Some articles lend themselves to cutting and pasting to make fillers of any size. Ed
Katuska says you are welcome to do so with his Wacky
Fish World Part 1 and Part 2, and his
Wacky Fish Laws. The article Some Tips for Beginners by Bill
"PegasusNZ" has a list of tips that Bill agrees may be cut and pasted as needed.
Check Aquarticles' What's New Section. Occasionally we get an article about a
"new" fish, gadget or technique which you can be the first to let your members
know about.
WEB SITES
There are three levels of web site development:
- Some are a simple permanent page advising of the club's existence and containing contact
addresses and details of where and when meetings are normally held. These function much
the same as a publicity leaflet, and some excellent wording can be seen on The Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society's publicity
leaflet.
- Other web sites are more ambitious in that they are updated each month (in theory at
least) to give details of the next meeting and some club news.
- The most worthwhile kind are those which might include a periodical newsletter, a
collection of articles, photos of past meetings or members' tanks, a Links Page, and other
information about aquariums.
The Articles/ Information section may have
articles of various kinds:
a) Articles by club members, reprinted from past club
newsletters or written specially for the site.
If you already have articles on your site I would be very pleased to enter them on Aquarticles - please e-mail
Aquarticles. We would be happy to copy them directly from your site, credit the
author and your club, and provide links to your web site. Your members might
be more motivated to write if they know that their efforts will reach a wider audience and
perhaps be reproduced in other clubs' newsletters or web sites.
There are two articles in Aquarium Club Affairs which could be placed on your web site for
encouragement and reference:
Giving a Talk or Writing an Article about
Tropical Fish by Robert Schaarschmidt and
Writing an Article by Ed Katuska.
b) Reference articles for beginners
and others: Lots of your members will be beginners, and others visiting your
site will be prospective new members looking for any information they can find that will
help them with their new aquarium. Aquarticles contains many
articles for them to read, but some of the more significant general reference articles to
which members may want to repeatedly refer, are:
Setting Up a Tank for Dummies by Grant
Gussie, and other 'setting up' articles to be found in Aquarium
Management/Setting Up.
So You Want to Grow Plants in Your Aquarium?
by Olga Betts, Setting Up a Planted Aquarium
by Karen Randall, or one of the other 'introduction to plants' articles in the Plants section.
Setting Up a Reef Tank, Parts I-IV by Marty
Ziegler
My First Reef Tank, an inspiring
article by Andrew Blumhagen, or some of the other Saltwater
articles.
Lighting Quality, Quantity and Duration
by Bob Fenner.
Sick Fish - What Do I Do? by Kent Cannon
Diseases
Transmitted to Humans by Dr. Adrian Lawler
Fish Food for Dummies by Grant Gussie
Breeding Fish by Cheryl Miller
Some of the articles mentioned in the newsletter discussion above would also be
ideal permanent additions to a club web site. Members could look them up when needed.
Particularly:
Things to Know Before You Show by Rick Bolger
How to Bring Your Fish to the Club Auction by Howard
Norfolk
Five Easy Steps for the Perfect Spring Pond
by Sue Speichert
Getting Your Pond Ready for Winter by Sue
Speichert
c) Store listings:
When I was editor of my club's printed newsletter I produced a feature called "Store
Listings," which listed most of the aquarium stores in and around town, together with
their addresses, contact names, size, and specialisations. I also arranged discounts for
club members. Such a feature would be a valuable addition to your club web site, not only
for club members but also for visitors to your area - if only every club did this! More
info. about this can be found in my Store Listings
article.
d) Graphics: 'Pia'
would be very pleased if you used one of her original little Fishy Cartoons when you need a small
graphic.
- If you have articles
on your club web site which could be entered on Aquarticles,
please advise.
- Do you have any helpful comments or
suggestions about this article?
- If you are an executive member of an aquarium club, are you aware of the Yahoo Group
'Fishadmin'? - "A mail list for administrators of fish and aquarium related
organisations."
Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fishadmin
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