About this Website

Welcome to the “first edition” of PRSA’s new website. It is part of a new, broader communications and development strategy to make PRSA a more effective professional organization.

Bringing PRSA into the 21st Century

The new website’s project, and the deployment by PRSA later in 2011 of other information technologies, aims to expand and improve the exchange of information between PRSA’s Executive Council and its membership, as well as with the broader public interested in the study and teaching of any and all matters concerning Puerto Ricans.

This edition (version 1.0) represents only the first phase of the website project. In the coming weeks and months we will be adding not only new content, but also new functionalities, including the online submission of 2012 conference proposals, online payment of membership dues, and a special project to develop a new, more comprehensive database of PRSA’s current, past and potential members. Additional future expansion plans for the website include an online registration system for the 2012 conference, as well as special content and services available only to PRSA paid members.

Our goal is to take advantage of the latest information technologies and capabilities of the web to disseminate information and forge a closer community of experts, students and others interested in Puerto Ricans and Puerto Rican Studies.

“El Noticiero” blog

Puerto Rican Studies Books and Films covering a wide variety of topics related to Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans

Our masthead books will change frequently. Check from time to time to see if your book is there.

A crucial component of this new website is “El Noticiero” blog. Overall, it will function similarly to the printed newsletters mailed to members by major scholarly organizations with a far larger membership base and operating budgets than PRSA. In more than one sense our goal is to transform the traditional, printed newsletter into a dynamic, online publication.

In “El Noticiero” blog we will publish, on an on-going basis, a wide variety of news and articles on scholarly and other topics, for example:

  • announcements of events, call-for-papers and conferences;
  • notes on the publication of books and journal articles in Puerto Rican Studies and related fields;
  • retrospectives on the development and evolution of Puerto Rican Studies as an interdisciplinary field;
  • interviews with senior and junior scholars, public policy experts, artists, community activists and students whose work is focused on Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans in the United States, or both, including those working in related fields, such as Latino / Latina Studies, Caribbean Studies, Latin American Studies, and American (U.S.) Studies.

Distinctions Between “El Noticiero” Blog and the Rest of the Website

While reading and using our new website, it is important to keep in mind important distinctions between blog pages and pages in the rest of the website.

Articles that appear in “El Noticiero” blog will be posted also in the “static” or more traditional sections of the website, specifically within their appropriate sections or sub-sections.

Several articles in this first edition appear in both places because they fall within the definition of announcements or are the type of article on Puerto Rican Studies research teaching, public policy, or address the cultural creativity of Puerto Ricans, for example, which are the principal types of articles we plan to publish in the blog.

“El Noticiero” articles will also include op-ed and editorial-type articles that are likely not appropriate for posting in the other sections of the website, which function as PRSA’s official archive.

In addition, blog articles appear on “El Noticiero” front page in reverse chronological order from when they were posted. With time, one or more of those that appear on the blog’s front page will recede onto a second page, and so forth, as we keep posting new articles. This is another reason for also archiving certain blog articles in the more “static” sections of the website.

Blog articles are assigned categories and tags that work virtually like subject headings in a library catalog but which are accessed differently from each other: the former through a category drop down menu, and the latter through a so-called “cloud tag,” both of which appear on the right-hand side bar on each page.

Blog articles also have a form at the bottom that allows you to post comments. In this first edition (version 1.0) of our website, you have to supply your name and email address when submitting these comments. The comments go to a comments “basket” where they will sit until publication is approved by the website’s editor or editorial board members.

We will monitor comments very closely for both inappropriateness and spam. Only comments deemed appropriate in content and form for the website of a professional, scholarly organization will be published. We will be very judicious in applying this publication standard, attempting to balance the goal of fostering lively dialogue among our website’s visitors with the propriety standard defined above.

Feedback and Contributions Welcome

We welcome feedback on this new website, as well as suggestions of items to include in the new “El Noticiero” blog. You can send these comments by using the “Contact Us” page.

We also welcome the submission of contributions to “El Noticiero” blog by current PRSA members. “El Noticiero” blog will be updated regularly.

Publication of such contributions is contingent upon the content and form being relevant and appropriate for a scholarly professional organization focused on the study of Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans. All submissions are subject to review and approval by the Editor and Website Committee. If you are interested in submitting a contribution, please contact the Editor using the form found in the “Contact Us” page, making sure that you select as message type “Website” and fill out all the requested contact information.

Colofón / Colophon

This website is hosted by Trinfo.Cafe, a unit of Trinity College’s Center for Urban and Global Studies. Trinfo.Cafe provides information technology services for non-profit organizations, families and individuals in Hartford’s neighborhoods, especially those immediately adjacent to Trinity’s campus (located between the Frog Hollow and Barry Square neighborhoods). We are immensely grateful to Carlos Espinosa, Trinfo.Cafe’s Director. For more details, see: http://www.trinfocafe.org/.

The website Editor is PRSA’s Treasurer, Luis Figueroa-Martínez, Associate Professor of History at Trinity College.

The site is based on the WordPress Content Management System. It uses a slightly modified version of the Thesis theme. Future versions of the website will include additional content, extensions, style enhancements and functionalities that will be deployed in a phase-by-phase approach.

Muchas gracias por su visita.

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