Bio-Link's Listserv

Direct link to subscribe

A listserv is an electronic mailing list application used to deliver group emails directly to an email inbox. When you subscribe, you can read messages sent to the list as well as post messages to the group. Many companies host listservs, such as Yahoo and Google.
 

Why join Bio-Link's Listserv?

To communicate via email for sending and receiving announcements, posting questions, etc.
 

Where is Bio-Link's listserv located?

Bio-Link uses Yahoo Groups to manage the listserv.
 

How do I subscribe to Bio-Link's listserv?

To subscribe to Bio-Link's listserv, click on this link. After you send your request, a confirmation email will be sent so you know you have successfully subscribed.
 

How do I post a message to Bio-Link's listserv?

You can use any email application to post a message to the Bio-Link listserv. Be sure you are sending from the email address you used to subscribe to the list. Address the email to: bio-link@yahoogroups.com

You can also login to Yahoo Groups to send a message.
 

How can I manage my subscription?

To make changes to your Bio-Link listserv subscription, login to Yahoo Groups. Click on Edit Membership. Examples of changes you can make on this page are: the email address you want to use for the listserv, and your delivery option (e.g., individual email, daily digest, etc.).
 

Image shows Edit Membership link.

How do I unsubscribe from the listserv?

If a new email window does not automatically open when you click on UNSUBSCRIBE, please send an email to: bio-link-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. For security purposes, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your choice.

Bio-Link on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69974178648

Why join Bio-Link on Facebook?

To share links, photos, and videos; for discussions, and to email those who can't get Bio-Link's Yahoo listserv emails.

How to get connected to Bio-Link on Facebook:

1. Create a free account on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com

   Tip: you need to provide gender and birthday information, but you can set the level of sharing you are most comfortable with in Facebook's Privacy Settings. Select who (Everyone, Friends of Friends, or Friends Only) you want to see your information.
    

2. After you create your account, go to Bio-Link's page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69974178648.
    
3. Click the Join button.

After you join, you will be listed as a member of Bio-Link. (This panel cycles through member photos each time the page is refreshed.)

To see all the members, click the See All link.

To return to Bio-Link on Facebook at a later date:

• Type Bio-Link in the Search box or
• Go to your profile page. Click on the Info tab. A link to the Bio-Link page is listed under the Groups category.

Facebook's Search box.

To post a new message on Bio-Link:

• Go to Bio-Link's wall.
• Type your message in the "write something" box. Click the Share button to post your message.
• To share a web site, image, event, or video, click on the appropriate icon and follow the screen prompts.
   

Image of the area where you type a message to be posted on Bio-Link's wall.

Icons from left to right: link, photo, event, video. Click the appropriate icon to attach to a wall post.

To reply to message on Bio-Link's Wall:

Locate the post you want to reply to.

Click on the Comment link.

Type your response in the text box that appears.

Click the Comment button.

Another way to respond to a posting is to click on the "Like" link. When you do this, your name will be listed as one (or more) members who liked the posting. When you do this, any future response to the posting will be mailed to you, which helps you stay connected to the conversation. If you would rather not be emailed when someone posts a response, you can change this setting:

• Click on Account (located in the right corner of your screen) and select Account Settings.
• Click on the Notifications tab.
• De-select any notifications you don't want to receive. To de-select notification of wall comments, go to the Wall Comments category and de-select "Comments after me on a Wall story."
• Click the "Save Changes" button on the bottom of the page.

Time-saving tips and other recommendations

• Some people say they don't want to join Facebook because it's a time waster. It doesn't have to be. Just like any tool, you control when and how much you use it. Decide certain times or days you will log into Facebook.
   
• If some of your Facebook friends post comments you think is a waste of your time, like "Now I am drinking a cup of coffee," or "Now I am walking down the street," you can keep them in your network but hide all their posts. There are a couple of ways you can do this. The easiest and fastest way is to place your mouse over the post. The word "Hide" appears to the right of the post. Clicking on Hide, will give you a Hide button with your friend's name on it. If you hide your friend's postings, you can always visit his/her wall to see postings. Your friend will not know that his/her posts are not appearing in your feed.

   

• Some people use certain applications on Facebook that you may find irritating or a waste of your time. Farmville and Mafia Wars are two examples I find particularly irritating. There are a couple of ways can ignore these applications. The easiest and fastest way is to click the Hide button that appears next to one of his/her posts, as described above. One of the buttons that appears will have the name of the application. Clicking this button will hide that application but you will continue to receive other postings from this friend.
   
• Lists: lists can be used in a variety of ways. For example, you can decide who in your friend list can view your posts by using a list. To create a list, click on the Friends link located on the left side of your screen. Click on the button called "+ Create a List" at the top of this page. A window appears where you can give your list a name and select the people you want on this list.

  Lists can be used for: posting a message (click on the lock icon next to the Share button), sending an email (type the name of the list in the "To" field), or sending an invitation to an event.
   

• The difference between Top News and Recent Posts:
  

  "Top News aggregates the most interesting content that your friends are posting, while the Most Recent filter shows you all the actions your friends are making in real-time." - From Facebook's Help Center

• If you receive an email from "Facebook" asking you to reset your password, delete the email and don't click on the link! Facebook never sends out email asking you to reset your password.
   
• If you have a mobile phone such as an iPhone, download the free Facebook application. Using this mobile phone application can help you save time staying up-to-date while you are waiting in line at the grocery store, etc.
   
• To access Facebook's Help Center, go to: http://www.facebook.com/help
   
• Privacy resource: http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/facebook
  This site isn't functional right now with Facebook's new privacy settings. The web site indicates that it will be updated at some point.

Bio-Link on

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2367759&trk=hb_side_g

Why join Bio-Link on LinkedIn?

For professional networking and resumé posting. Great for job searches, finding where classmates are working, and staying in touch.

How to get connected to Bio-Link on LinkedIn:

1. Create a free account on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com
2. There are a couple of ways to locate Bio-Link on LinkedIn. The fastest and easiest way is to use the search box in the right corner of the screen. Because Bio-Link is a Group, you'll need to search under Groups. LinkedIn's default setting for searching is People. Click on the word People and you will see a drop-down menu of choices. Choose Groups and type in Bio-Link.

   
   Image of search showing the drop down menu under "People." Choose Groups to search for Bio-Link. Note: if you search for Bio-Link using "People," you won't find Bio-Link.

3. Bio-Link will be listed in the search results. Click on Bio-Link to go to the group page.
4. Click on the yellow Join Group button.

   
   Image of Bio-Link on LinkedIn. Click the yellow Join Group button.

After you join, you will be listed as a member of Bio-Link. To view the member list, click on More and choose Members. (There are 2 More links on this page. Use More under the Bio-Link banner, not the More next to LinkedIn.)

This image shows the More link that has the link to Members.

Bio-Link LinkedIn's Discussions:

• Go to Bio-Link (as described above).
• Discussions are grouped by tab: click on the tab that interests you (e.g., discussions, news, jobs.)
• Click on a posting and its thread appears. Use the comment box to post your message. If you want to be notified of a response in this discussion thread, click the "Follow this discussion" check box.

The links in the red box are areas for posting discussions, news, and jobs.

Returning to Bio-Link on LinkedIn at a later date:

• Click on the Groups link on the top of your home page screen and choose My Groups or select Bio-Link if you see it listed further down on the list.
• All of the groups you belong to will be listed. Click on Bio-Link.

  
  This image shows where to find My Groups. Either selecting My Groups or Bio-Link further down on the list will get you to Bio-Link.

Time-saving tips and other recommendations

• If you receive an email from "LinkedIn" asking you to reset your password, delete the email and don't click on the link! LinkedIn never sends out email asking you to reset your password.
   
• If you have a mobile phone such as an iPhone, download the free LinkedIn application. Using this mobile phone application can help you save time staying up-to-date while you are waiting in line at the grocery store, etc.
   
• To access LinkedIn's Customer Service Center, go to: http://linkedin.custhelp.com.You can type in a search phrase or browse their frequently asked questions.

Using RSS Feeds with Bio-Link

http://www.bio-link.org/home/rss.xml

Why use RSS Feeds with Bio-Link?

As a fast and easy way to read Bio-Link’s blog posts.

What are RSS Feeds?

The acronym RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is used for publishing frequently used media such as news, blogs, audio, video, etc. When a site is set up to syndicate information using RSS feeds, this icon is used.

How to use RSS Feeds with Bio-Link

There are several ways to receive RSS feeds from Bio-Link. Choose one that works best for you:

• Read the feed directly from your web browser: On the Bio-Link homepage, click on the RSS icon.

• Read the feed from your email application: Copy this link: http://www.bio-link.org/home/rss.xml and open your email application. Each email interface is different, but the logic will be similar. I will describe how to do it using Apple's Mail Program:
  • Under the File Menu, choose "Add RSS Feeds ..."
  • Choose the URL option and paste the URL in the box.
  • The Bio-Link RSS Feed appears in the left column at the bottom called "RSS Feeds."
     
• Read the feed using an RSS Reader. There are several RSS Readers to choose from. Here are a few:
  • Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader
  • My Yahoo: http://my.yahoo.com
  • BlogLines: http://www.bloglines.com
  • NetNewsWire (Mac only application): http://www.newsgator.com/individuals/netnewswire
     
• Read the feed from your mobile phone. Here is one free RSS Reader for the iPhone and iTouch: http://code.google.com/p/mobile-rss. The free version has ads; the pro version is not free, but does not have ads.

Bio-Link on

http://twitter.com/bio_link

Why join Bio-Link on Twitter?

To share links and short anecdotes from conferences and talks.

How to get connected to Bio-Link on Twitter:

1. Create a free account on Twitter by clicking on "Let me in." http://twitter.com.

   
   Image of Twitter's account creation button.

   If you already have an account, sign in using the link in the upper right corner.

2. To locate Bio-Link, click on the Find People link in the upper right corner. An even faster way to find Bio-Link is to click on this link: http://twitter.com/bio_link
3. Once you get to Bio-Link's page, click on the "Follow" button.

   
   If you click on Follow, posts (tweets) to Bio-Link will appear on your Twitter timeline. (Click on Home to get back to your timeline.)
   
   After clicking on Follow, the button changes to a green check mark indicating you are now following Bio-Link.

   
   Image shows you are following Bio-Link.

4. If you click on the icon next to Following, any posts shared by users following Bio-Link will not appear in your timeline. For more about retweets: http://bit.ly/whatisretweet
5. All posts to Bio-Link will now appear on your Twitter homepage (timeline).

Privacy settings

Before beginning to use Twitter, go to Settings (link is in the upper right corner). Review your settings to be sure they are set the way you want them.

Following and Followers

Bio-Link will now be listed as a "person" you are following. In the upper right corner under your name, the number of the people you are following is listed with a link. Clicking on the "following" link will take you to the list of those who you are following. This is one way to get back to Bio-Link's timeline.

On Bio-Link's timeline (http://twitter.com/bio_link), you can see who Bio-Link is following as well as who is following Bio-Link.

How to "Tweet"

On your home page (timeline), there is a text input field called "What's happening?". This is where to type your message (your "tweet"). Your message will go to everyone who is following you.

Tweets can't be more than 140 characters. The number 140 will count down as you type your message.

Image of text input box to post your message (your "tweet.")

For more information: http://bit.ly/postatweet

What is a hashtag? (#)

Placing a hashtag (#) before a word in a tweet provides a way to easily search for incidences of that word. The use of hashtags emerged from the community of Twitter users to provide additional context as well as metadata. If you search for #biotech, you will find all tweets that placed a hashtag before the word biotech. If you save your search, a link to it will appear in the right column.

Image of search box.

Image of search result. Click on "Save this search" if you want to return to it at a later date.

Image shows one saved search.

For more information:

http://bit.ly/hashtaginfo

http://twitter.pbworks.com/Hashtags

Time-saving tips and other recommendations

• If you have a mobile phone such as an iPhone, download one of the free Twitter applications. TweetDeck is one of many free mobile Twitter applications. Using a mobile phone application can help save time staying up-to-date while waiting in line at the grocery store, etc.
• To access Twitter's Help Center, go to: http://twitter.com/help/start. Type in a search phrase or browse their categories and popular topics.