BIOS and
borderlines:
Overview of Changes and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
En
Español
What
happened to BIOS & borderlines?
Can I still access old issues of borderlines and the borderlines
UPDATER online?
Why did you stop printing borderlines and moved
to a web-only format?
What about my paid borderlines subscription?
Why did you expand your coverage beyond border affairs
and U.S.-Mexico relations?
Do you still research and write about the border?
What exactly does your new Americas Program do?
I don't want to have to remember to check your website
all the time to see what new writing you've produced. What can I do instead?
Will you still produce networking tools like your
Action Kit directories and your Border Contact Database?
What if I want paper copies of an article or brief to
use at conference, distribute to others, or make copies of?
Will you still be producing analysis and information
in Spanish?
How can I send you feedback regarding these developments?
What
happened to BIOS & borderlines?
Beginning Feb. 1, 2002, the IRC merged the U.S.-Mexico and border work
which we conducted through our Border Information & Outreach Service
(BIOS)--including publication of borderlines and distribution of our eZine,
the borderlines UPDATER--into a new initiative, the Americas Program.
We will continue to produce information, analyses, commentaries and other
materials on border and U.S.-Mexico affairs, but will also be expanding
our coverage to look at other transnational issues in the Americas, such
as crossborder citizen organizing, structural adjustment in Argentina,
the FTAA, or U.S. antidrug policy in Columbia.
As part of this change, we have stopped publication of borderlines and
are now offering all our analyses, policy briefs, and articles online
in printer-friendly format.
Our email based supplement, the borderlines UPDATER, is still available,
but has been renamed the CROSSBORDER UPDATER to reflect our new expanded
scope of focus. Subscribers receive select full-text Americas Program
articles as well as short excerpts announcing when new materials are available
for viewing online.
Alongside these changes, we will continue to provide online access to
our Border Information Clearinghouse and will occasionally produce publications
like our Nonprofits' Guide to Fundraising on the Border, special reports,
or networking directories.
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Can I
Still Read Old Issues of borderlines and the borderlines UPDATER online?
Yes. All back issues of borderlines and the borderlines UPDATER can be
accessed online:
borderlines online archive
UPDATER online archive
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Why
did you stop printing borderlines and moved to a web-only format?
There were a number of considerations behind our move to a web-based
format:
Going to a web-based presentation gives us more flexibility to respond
to important developments in border and U.S.-Mexico affairs as they happen,
and will let us do even more-and better-work than we've been doing. Under
the old format, in fact, there were instances when we missed an opportunity
to weigh in with good, unique analysis on an issue because we were constrained
by the monthly, print publication format. Shedding that framework gives
as a lot more flexibility in terms of how we work and what we can do.
Our efforts were becoming increasingly defined by the recurring, monthly
deadline of pulling together the various pieces of print borderlines--front
page article, inside article, the Action Kit directory, the border briefs--all
at once and in two different language versions. With a web-based format,
we can edit, translate, and post individual articles as we get them.
The print format presented other restraints that we felt limited our
work: locked word counts for articles, set numbers of articles for each
edition, etc. Publishing on the web allows us to run as many articles
as we want, at whatever length seems best.
Getting the print edition out took a long time. First, after finalizing
articles, there was a delay at the printers (sometimes up to 10 days).
Once printed, we had to label and mail it--a time consuming activity as
anybody whose helped out with mailing at a nonprofit knows. Finally, there
was the lag time involved while borderlines was in the mail.
This situation was even more problematic in Mexico. Print borderlines
could take as long as four months to arrive to readers in Mexico. Oftentimes
in arrived in damaged condition (many times it didn't arrive at all).
Add to that lag-time the fact that it took 2-3 weeks to translate, edit,
and lay out the Spanish version, and you're talking about people getting
information and analysis anywhere from 3 to 5 months after it was generated.
Magazine readers in Mexico don't subscribe via the mail but rather buy
the publication of their choice at a local news kiosk--or get it online.
Not printing not only allows us to reduce our use of paper products, it
saves us money in paper supplies and printing costs-savings that are not
a small consideration for a nonprofit of our means.
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What
about my paid borderlines subscription?
We are offering several rebate options to our paid subscribers, regardless
of how many issues you have pending in your subscription. Please contact
us if you did not receive a rebate sheet in the mail by Feb. 1, 2002 either
by calling (505) 842-8288 or by emailing borderlines@irc-online.org
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Why
did you expand your coverage beyond border affairs and U.S.-Mexico relations?
In conducting our border work we have always believed that the issues
and problems that concern us here on the border are not necessarily specific
to the border, but rather are most noticeable here. Many of the underlying
dynamics contributing to the border's reality are directly tied to the
nature of North-South integration in the Americas, and are hemispheric
in scope.
Accordingly, in addition to U.S.-Mexico border affairs we will also begin
to look at policy issues that resonate across every border in the Americas,
such as: Cross-border networking and policy advocacy by civil society;
economic integration and transboundary migration; the proposed FTAA; trade-environment
linkages; and U.S. leadership in the hemisphere. This enhanced scope of
analysis is not a stretch for us; well before we formally established
a U.S.-Mexico/border program in the mid-1990s the IRC was looking at transnational,
inter-American policy issues like these.
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Do You
Still Research and Write about the border?
Yes. The border is our base, and because of our long-standing institutional
interest in and commitment to sustainable development and social justice
in the Mexico-U.S. borderlands, as well as to a healthier U.S.-Mexico
relationship, we will continue to lend particular attention to the same
policy issues that we covered in borderlines and will be generating the
same quality writing and analysis on U.S.-Mexico affairs and border issues
that you've come to expect from us.
We've assigned a whole section of our new website to U.S.-Mexico and
border issues, and we are confident that readers who relied on the border-focused
analysis and information contained in print borderlines will continue
to rely on our online materials. We'll just be producing additional information
analysis on other topics related to U.S. foreign policy, economic integration,
and public policy issues in the Americas.
We'll also stay firmly grounded in border issues and will maintain our
relationships and involvement with groups and events in the region-for
example, the Annual Meeting on the Border Environment (www.encuentrofronterizo.org)
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What
exactly does your new Americas Program do?
The IRC established its Americas Program in order to explore policy options
for development, integration, and international cooperation in the Americas
that are both workable and firmly grounded in the principles of sustainable
development and environmental protection, equitable economic development,
multilateralism, and respect for human rights. We're particularly interested
in helping to shape U.S. policies in the hemisphere in ways that make
the United States a more responsible regional leader and partner.
Toward that end, under the Americas Program, we will:
- Produce policy briefs, in-depth analyses, commentaries, investigative
articles, special reports, think pieces, citizen guides, and other publications
on a wide range of policy issues related to hemispheric integration
and inter-American affairs.
- Maintain and make available our U.S.-Mexico / border information
clearinghouse, a one-stop shop for finding information on U.S.-Mexico
relations and U.S.-Mexico border affairs and policy issues.
- Engage with partners, colleagues, and NGO networks in strategic dialogues
and activities aimed at strengthening citizen involvement in policy
debates related to hemispheric integration and inter-American affairs.
We are also evaluating the possibility of hosting online, cyber-forums
to convene thinkers, analysts, scholars, and activists from across the
Americas to discuss and evaluate various policy issues.
For more information about the activities, goals, funding, and governance
of the Americas Program, visit the About Us page on this website.
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I don't
want to have to remember to check your website all the time to see what
new writing you've produced. What can I do instead?
Subscribe to our email network. That way you'll be sure to not miss out
on the release of new articles, briefs, commentaries, special reports,
think pieces, citizen's guides, and other publications on a wide range
of policy issues related to hemispheric integration, U.S.-Mexico/border
issues, and inter-American affairs. To sign up use the form in the left-hand navbar.
As an email subscriber, you will only be getting certain select full-text
articles and short announcements of additional articles available for
viewing or download at our website. Accordingly, the amount of email you
receive from us will be moderate and the materials you receive from us
via email will always be low-bandwidth, concisely presented for easy scanning
and reading, and printer-friendly.
Additionally, the IRC will never share your email address with any other
group or individual. Any information collected on our sign-up page (geographic
locations, language preferences, etc.) is used strictly "in house"
to better serve you.
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Will
you still produce networking tools like your Action Kit directories and
your Border Contact Database?
The work of BIOS--providing empowering information, networking tools,
and analysis to civil society in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands--will be folded
into the work of the Americas Program. We will continue to offer contact
directories for networking, although the frequency with which we produce
them will be reduced. We will continue to produce information and analysis
on border issues. We will still make our border contact directory database
and our border information clearinghouse available online, and individual
articles and briefs will also be accompanied by short lists of contacts
and websites.
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What
if I want paper copies of an article or brief to use at conference, distribute
to others, or make copies of?
First, all the materials we post online will be in printer-friendly HTML
format and will also be available in Adobe Portable Document format for
easy download and quality copy-making.
At the same time, we will certainly make select articles, issue briefs,
and other materials available on paper for nonprofits, NGOs, and activists
at their request [email: americas@irc-online.org]--although we may ask
for assistance in defraying the costs of doing so. Additionally, in cases
where we feel an article, policy brief, or commentary is particular noteworthy
we will proactively mail and fax it out to individuals and organizations
listed in our contact database.
Finally, we will continue to produce occasional paper-based publications
such as our pending special report on Mexico's maquiladora industry, our
Fundraising on the Border guide, or collected packets of information and
analysis on specific topics.
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Will
you still be producing analysis and information in Spanish?
Yes.
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How
can I send you feedback regarding these developments?
We welcome any comments you may have regarding these developments to
our work. You can use our online feedback form or drop us an email at
americas@irc-online.org
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