Tracking down the origins of two very early Usenet newsgroups in astrophysics
Monica Marra (INAF - OAS)
Tuesday 10/12/2024 @ 14:00, Sala Antonio Sollima (IV piano Battiferro)
The foundation of two very early Usenet newsgroups dedicated to astrophysics and some milestones in their history have been tracked down from their origins at Princeton University in 1983 to 1994. To the best of our knowledge, accounts of these experiences haven’t been given before in the literature. The underlying research has combined multiple and different-type sources: mainly, (a) online archives of Usenet newsgroups and (b) human contributions. The latter have included (b.1.) individual interviews kindly given by four astrophysicists, two of which had a role in the maintaining of these newsgroups; (b.2.) the output from sixty-seven researchers who answered a purpose-built questionnaire administered to the personnel of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. Making sense of these experiences requires bearing in mind that changes have affected astrophysics in the second half of last century, mostly due to a broader interaction with society. Undoubtedly, a central issue around which these newsgroups seem to have revolved appears to have been that of a more vs. less restricted admission of non-professional people active in the field. Nevertheless, it has been chosen to refrain from attempting to test large-scale philosophical hypotheses on the basis of this research. Instead, an overview is proposed on how these early web venues have been perceived by the astrophysical community.