Citation
(1999), "Internet news", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 14 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmp.1999.05014aab.008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
Internet news
In searching for some interesting sites across the globe a visit to the Belgian Psychological Society at http://www.ulb.ac.be.bps provided a link to an innovative and forward thinking approach: The 2050 Program, Psychology for the 21st Century at Wesleyan University's site http://www.wesleyan.edu/spn/2050info.htm
The 2050 Program is an intensive academic and career mentoring program for highly motivated students from under represented groups in psychology, for example, ethnic minorities. Useful information is provided at this site about ways in which such groups can be encouraged to follow studies in psychology. The significance of 2050 is that by that year in the USA, nearly half the population will be composed of ethnic and racial minorities. While providing information and a forum for debate, the hosts of the site are also seeking to provide a template of how to approach the program and seeking participants, contributions and observations. Anyone with experience or interest in the program can find all the details at this site.
Links to interesting psychology sites do tend to vary in their substance and quality. A new publication by Nicky Hayes, The Foundations of Psychology, has just arrived for review and the accompanying publicity directs the reader to the author's own web site: The Psychology Page at http://www.nickyhayes.co.uk/nicky/psych/psych.html
The site is simply set out with links to People, Resources and Events plus links from each of these sites. The People link provides a few key links to individuals including Nicky Hayes herself, Stanley Milgram and Edward de Bono. The Milgram Site is in French so it is all right for the bilingual but it would have been useful to mention this at the link point. All of de Bono's links can be accessed from his site, which is, interestingly enough, less colourful and innovative than one might expect. The Events link was way out of date this does highlight perhaps the time and effort needed to keep a site bang up to date and relevant.
For some insight into the work of Nicky Hayes, some articles and her personal interests, and in particular her rationale for her most recent publication, this is an easy-access site which is worth a quick visit.
Searching for sites can prove problematic and it was interesting to note that Nicky Hayes recommends the search engines Alta Vista, Info Seek and Excite as these accord with my own experience. If you have any other suggestions to add let us know.
The Belgian Psychological Society at http://www.ulb.ac.be/bps provides a basic introduction to the Society, its work and its membership, plus ways of finding out more about its services. This is a site which is easy to follow if not as innovative as some and it will provide useful contacts in Belgium and in the universities in particular.
In a similar vein the construction of the British Psychological Society's site http://www.bps.org.uk can be described as functional, simple to follow and up to date with news about activities.
It seems to be organised to tell one what it does in detail before explaining its mission and strategy, which gives a rather piece-meal effect to the home page. Regular browsers may find it a little basic in design terms but there are details on their publications and forthcoming activities, including the annual conferences in 1999 and 2000.
Turning now to something completely different a brief look at some sites providing information on travel. Many of you, as readers of the Journal of Managerial Psychology will need to travel across the globe and it seems worthwhile looking at how useful the Internet might be in helping you to find information and even arrange travel to business and conference events.
The Cyberhub for Business Travel Needs at http://www.business-travel-net.com looks promising. There are links to railway networks, travel information, hotel listings and business news and the home page gives the impression of a total service provision. The reality was, of course, different. Following the links to Eurostar for information, the site could not be found, nor could the link to Norwegian railways. However, a detailed guide to the subways of the world was available and easy to access. The offer of a free Travel and Expense Management Manual could not be resisted but as it would not down-load it could not be evaluated. A possibly useful site if everything is in working order.
For a detailed look at facts, sites to visit, weather conditions etc. visit the site at http://www.openworld.co.uk Easy to follow, it provides links to specific cities and provides maps, details of transport and accommodation plus useful hints about local customs and practice.
If you want up to date weather forecasts the site to visit is Weather Underground at http://wunderground.com/global/stations/48698.htm, a com-prehensive and well illustrated site which gives you a detailed reading of every aspect of weather with some hints about how to manage in different climates and a long-range forecast across the globe.
If you have found any useful Internet sites offering essential support services please let us know. You can send any contributions by email to the News Section Editor at m@mccourtt.co.uk