LGM gives a big hearty thanks to our friend Kathleen Craven for mentioning the Pronetos launch in Boise State’s campus wide publication, The Update. Here’s the full release:

PROFESSORS INVITED TO JOIN NEW WEB COMMUNITY

A new Web-based community for scholars has debuted at www.pronetos.com. Pronetos, the Professors’ Network, is the brainchild of Chris Blanchard, a graduate student in history. While working as an undergraduate student to publish a paper with social work professor Dan Huff in 2003, he became frustrated by the cumbersome process of peer review and publishing. As a certified Web developer, he knew the Internet could solve a lot of his problems.

Fast forward to 2007, where MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites attract millions and building a site has become easier and cheaper. With the assistance and support of Huff, economics emeritus professor Larry Reynolds, and other faculty and students, Pronetos finally became a reality, going public earlier this week.

The site allows registered scholars from around the globe to collaborate on research, review one another’s work and ultimately get published with less hassle. Pronetos gives academics a robust set of tools such as blogs, forums, wikis and more, and is organized by academic discipline.

Boise State faculty are encouraged to register so they can help test the site over the summer.

In addition to furthering research, Pronetos will increase or improve collaboration between faculty members interested in doing multimedia projects and providing online materials for students, said Reynolds, who over the years offered many of his class materials online.

“I had a lot of students who said it was really great that I provided them with online text and peripheral matter for free,” he said. But posting that content can be difficult for professors who don’t have the technical support they need. Pronetos will simplify that process for instructors and students.

The Pronetos project was launched with advising assistance from the Boise State TECenter and a marketing plan authored by the fall 2006 GB450 class. In addition, Pronetos’ software was created by MenloPrk, a company led by a Boise State alumnus.