| My Questions |
Mol's Answers |
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|
 "Are
you the driving force behind Microscopy-uk and Micscape Magazine? |
 "No. The people contributing are. If people didn't contribute articles to Micscape
Magazine, it would all end. Myself and Dave walker serve them." |
| "What
prompted you to try and start a Microscopy presence on the Internet?" |
"I had just really discovered enthusiast microscopy after creating some software to
emulate using a microscope. When I looked on the Internet 7 years ago, there was simply nothing there to support
the hundreds of people I knew were practicing microscopy as a past-time. There were one or two very professional
sites but nothing for the enthusiast. I approached one of the existing sites to ask for an area dedicated to enthusiasts.
The snotty, arrogant reply I received back angered me. I decided to try and create a presence that would be far
more helpful to those people like myself who were not professionally involved with microscopy." |
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| "So
you started it single-handedly?" |
"No. Not at all. I merely had the idea and motivation. I was fortunate enough to have
made contact with Dave Walker (long-term editor of Micscape) and Bill Ells (longest running contributor), who both
felt the Internet would offer a potential for Enthusiast Microscopists - where most other people could not see
the opportunity. We started with a few articles written by Dave, myself, and Bill. There were several other people
prepared to make contributions: Mike Samworth, Mike Morgan, Ken Jones, Andrew Syred, Marly Cain. |
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| "What
reaction did you get from the Internet community when you published Micscape for the first time?" |
"Not a lot: the internet was a completely different thing 5 years ago. Very few microscopists
were online. I remember when getting a hundred hits in a month was like winning a lottery. But we kept at it. It
is a remarkable fact that mainly through the enormous contribution of one man - Dave Walker - that Micscape has
been published on time every month since it first began in November 1995! But interest in the publication grew
and acted as a beacon to others interested in contributing to the project. I think it took 2 years before we could
really say it was established. |
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| "How
many people run Micscape & Microscopy-UK today?" |
"Micscape is mostly managed by just a few people: Dave Walker, Anne Bruce, Wim van
Egmond, and to a far lesser extent - occasional input from me. But these are only the few who actively update the
site, toil over other peoples contributions to organize material for web-publication. Many, many more people are
involved because they actively contribute articles, images, content, and comment. Micscape Magazine is the result
of everyone who either contributes material or visits the site and provides feedback. It is truly a collective
effort and in many senses - owned and steered by those who contribute most. |
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| "Has
Micscape changed much since it was first published?" |
"In the beginning - I had the desire to make its style far less formal than it is
today. I tried quite hard in the beginning to drive the style down my idea of what I wanted to see. I wanted it
to be very informal and untraditional - hoping this would encourage people to contribute and not be put off by
formality and tradition. With hindsight - this was wrong! I think the magazine works well now because it adopts
the style of those who contribute most. Today it seems nicely settled into a friendly almost-informal presentation.
Since it is the product of those people writing articles, it is also styled to their personalities and microscopy
perspectives. |
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| "Does
Micscape and Mic-UK take up much of your time?" |
"Anything to do with the Internet means ' time' - lots of it! I guess no-one truly
appreciates or understands the tens of thousands of man-hours and woman-hours that have been expended running our
site. Not just my time but everyone involved - in particular the editor - Dave Walker. Without doubt - Dave has
contributed the greatest amount of time of all of us. If there were no Dave, there would be no Micscape! His effort
has been, and still is - superhuman! |
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| "I
get the impression that behind the scenes of Mic-UK and Micscape is this big happy throng of people all getting
on together and agreeing with what is published. Am I right?" |
"Not quite. Its true to say - we all get on... but not without disagreement. With
any collective effort - due to the various perspectives and views of the different people involved - there are
bound to be differences of opinion. Sometimes small and sometimes very big indeed. If you work with other people
over a good length of time - you learn to respect their views even when they are completely different from ones
own.
Micscape has survived and prospered because it has taught each of us much about how to cooperate with one another
and overcome differences of opinion when they occur. Many of us are now friends. Where we are not good friends
- we are good colleagues to each other. I think this is how it works in professional organizations and certainly
we are fortunate that everyone involved looks at the good of the site and its resources and puts this before any
individual aim. |
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| "Is
Microscopy your number one passion?" |
"No! That might come as a surprise but microscopy is probably about 4th or 5th down
my list of passions and certainly a notch or two after some of the others things I really enjoy doing. I guess
you are going to ask me next - what is my number one so I'll pre-empt your question: it's my art... or should I
say - I love creating images and this is, without question, my top love! |
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| "I
see. What do you see as the long term position of Micscape and Mic-UK?" |
"That's easy to answer. Micscape Magazine will continue long into the future. I am
hoping to make arrangements so that it will belong formally to the people who contribute - much like charitable
organizations. If I can establish this then it is very likely to survive. Mic-UK is merely a holding site for microscopy
in general but it is Micscape Magazine which is the important thing. |
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| "I
can't think of any more questions right now so before we end the interview - is there anything you would like to
add here?" |
"Not really... er.. well yes... there is one thing..." |
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| "Go
on... what is it?" |
"I understand Larry and you have split up. Well.. I was wondering... what are you
doing tonight?" |
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