The RGO email directory

"According to a Reuter telegram from Rome, the Italian postal authorities have examined a scheme submitted by an engineer, named Piscicelli, for the establishment of an electric postal service. It is proposed, by means of this system, to transmit letters in aluminium boxes, travelling along overhead wires at the rate of 400 kilometres per hour. A letter could thus be sent from Rome to Naples in 25 minutes, and from Rome to Paris in 5 hours." (Nature, 18 Sep 1902)

We compiled the first edition of the RGO email directory in 1988, prompted by a query from Paul Jorden, who wanted to email Lick Observatory. Email was much less friendly then; typical line speeds were 9600 baud (and email could take days to arrive), the syntax needed to propel messages through the gateways between the networks was awful, and the routes were strewn with black holes.

New editions were prepared each year 1987 - 1996 on the basis of replies to a questionnaire mailed to observatories and astronomical institutions worldwide. Each edition required about 50 man-hours of effort.

By 1998, the directory included ~ 14000 entries, and the web interface was receiving about 40000 hits a year.

In 1998, RGO closed, and management of the directory was taken over by Starlink / CCLRC. It was last updated in 2000.

A copy of the directory can be obtained by emailing crb@ing.iac.es

More information below:


Statistics from the 1995 edition

The 13th edition of the RGO email directory (May 1995) included 12000 entries, 60% of which were updated or confirmed for this edition (and 85% since 1994). 95% of the users have Internet addresses, with only 4% on BITNET and 1% on DECNET. The 11800 Internet email addresses break down by country as follows (the second column gives the Internet country code, the third column the number of sites with more than 4 users, the fourth and fifth columns the numbers of users in 1994 and 1995):

Country      code sites 1994 1995    % change   /IAU   women/total
                    >4  users users  94 - 95  
Argentina     ar    4     72   79       9       1.2
Australia     au    8    237  255       7       1.5       .15
Austria       at    2     39   43      10       1.5
Belgium       be    1     45   46       2       0.6
Brazil        br    2     25   29      15       0.3
Canada        ca   14    266  270       1       1.3       .08
Chile         cl    1      0   17               0.4
China         cn    1      1   72    7100       0.3
Croatia       hr    0      1    1       0
Czech Rep.    cz    2     11   22     100
Denmark       dk    5    126  142      12       2.9       .12
Estonia       ee    1     53   54       1       
Finland       fi    3     51   52       1       1.8
France        fr   12    522  619      18       1.1       .19
Germany       de   20    366  480      31       1.1       .06
Greece        gr    1     13   23      76       0.3
Hungary       hu    2     39   37      -5       1.0
Iceland       is    0      3    3       0       1.0
India         in    4    141  148       4       0.7
Ireland       ie    4     30   41      36       1.7
Israel        il    3     30   49      63       1.1
Italy         it   21    677  711       5       1.9       .22
Japan         jp   19    385  462      20       1.3
Latvia        lv    0      1    1       0       
Lithuania     lt    2      5   19     280
Mexico        mx    1     26   61     134       1.1
Netherlands   nl   10    341  391      14       2.5       .03
New Zealand   nz    1     20   22      10       1.0
Norway        no    2     52   56       7       2.7
Poland        pl    3     46   98     113       1.0
Portugal      pt    1      6    8      33       0.5
Romania       ro    0      1    1       0       0.0
Russia        ru    0      0   20               
Russia        su   16    552  554       0       1.3       .15
Slovakia      cs    0      8    5     -37       
South Africa  za    3     48   49       2       1.4
Spain         es   14    351  384       9       2.3       .18
Sweden        se    5    130  149      14       1.8       .07
Switzerland   ch    3     70   85      21       1.5
Thailand      th    0      1    1       0       
UK            uk   34   1909 1721      -9       3.6       .12
Ukraine       ua    9    280  291       3                 .20
USA           com   0     18   24      33
USA           edu  54   3044 3253       6       1.8       .13
USA           gov   3    303  381      25                 .10
USA           mil   2     81   85       4
(Yugoslavia)  yu    1      6    6       0       0.2
Eur. S. Obs.  org   1    348  406      16                 .10
The list is (at 1995) growing about 5% per year, partly reflecting increased coverage of smaller institutions, partly the extension of the Internet to new communuties, e.g. in China. (The small decrease in the number of UK entries since 1994 reflects purging of duplicate usernames.) 50% of the names included in the 1988 edition are still present in the 1994 or 1995 editions, suggesting an attrition rate of about 10% per year. About 20% of these names have changed institution between 1988 and 1994/5, suggesting that about 4% of the users (astronomers and support staff) change institution each year.

The /IAU column gives the ratio between the number of entries and the number of IAU members as given in the June 1993 IAU bulletin. The countries with more than 10 IAU members in 1993 but no entries in the directory are Bulgaria, Egypt, Korea (N and S), Taiwan and Turkey.

The sites with more than 100 entries are: NOAO (524), NRAO (375), ESO (354), GSFC (251), Meudon, Moscow (probably several institutions), STScI, CfA, IOA Cambridge, ROE, Caltech, RGO, Steward, UCL, Maryland and IAC Tenerife (102).

Names

The commonest surnames are Smith (45), Martin, Jones, Williams, Brown and Miller. The commonest non-English surnames are Wang (17), Lopez, Rodriguez, Schmidt and Garcia (12). The commonest five combinations of initial and surname are R Davies, D and R Smith, D and P Williams. The commonest first names are John (217), David, Peter, Michael, Richard, Robert, Paul, Andrew, Mark and Chris (66), very similar to the commonest first names on Starlink (Starlink Bulletin 4/93). The commonest women's first names are Elena (22), Maria, Laura, Susan and Andrea (16), different from the commonest women's first names on Starlink (Ann/e, Katherine, Helen, Susan and Janet). The commonest non-English first names are Vladimir (46), Hans, Jan, Jose, Yuri and Pierre (26).

Women in astronomy

The fraction of women users was calculated by inspection of first names, and is listed in the eighth column for countries with more than 100 users. The average in the UK and USA is 12%. The average for France, Italy and Spain is 20%, that for the 11 more northerly European countries excluding the UK is 7%. A similar difference between northern and southern Europe can be seen in the IAU membership statistics published in the 7/92 IAU bulletin. We couldn't calculate the fractions for India and Japan, not being familiar with common names in these countries (the IAU bulletin gives 3% and 1% respectively). The fraction of women users on the Internet as a whole is believed to be about 10% [as of 1995].

Usernames

The distribution of lengths of usernames (in characters) is:
   1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10   >10
   0   318  2252  1028  1505  1832  1772  1745   507   342   464
with 3-character alphabetic usernames remaining the most popular. Some institutions appear to be sticking to an 8-character limit. Only a few institutions have adopted the unwieldy `firstname.lastname' form of address.

Coverage

We receive regular updates from about 150 observatories and astronomy departments worldwide, including nearly all the large organisations. Our coverage is strongest in Europe, weakest amongst small astronomy departments in the United States. This is reflected in the fractions of first authors of papers included in the directory, for different journals:
  Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society  85%
  Astronomy and Astrophysics                         70%
  Astrophysical Journal                              50%

The above statistics were originally published in Spectrum no. 8, p. 27 (Dec 1995).


Eulogies

Comments on an early edition of the RGO email directory, circa 1992:
 "a really beautiful job"  Stanford Linear Accelerator Group
 "a very nice piece of work... a great idea"  Space Telescope
 "Brilliant!!!"            Cambridge IOA
 "fort utile"              Belgian RAS
 "just what I've always needed"  Mt. Stromlo
 "VERY useful"             Dwingeloo
 "a godsend"               Sussex
 "Splendid!"               Utrecht
 "very impressive"         Texas
 "Congratulations... very useful"  Tel Aviv
 "Congratulations... really useful"  Edinburgh
 "everybody here is very enthusiastic!"  Roden
 "Congratulations for this nice idea"  Crete
 "so popular that our copy has been stolen"  Aarhus
 "excellent"               CSIRO
 "a great idea!"           Berkeley
 "very much appreciated"   Uppsala
 "Truly amazing!"          NOAO
 "very useful"             VILSPA
 "excellent"               Durham
 "marvellous"              Heidelberg
 "so useful"               Geneva
 "valuable resource"       Hawaii IFA
 "your directory is great!"  Indiana
 "a very good job"         INPE, Brazil
 "valuable"                Nobeyama
 "we all appreciate your efforts very much"  Thessaloniki
 "excellent service"       Tokyo
 "very valuable guide"     USNO
 "informative and entertaining"  Berkeley
 "a nice compendium"       RHNBC
 "very valuable service"   New Mexico
 "Good work!"              Strasbourg CDS
 "You really need some award"  Lowell
 "Congratulations"         National Research Council, USA
 "much appreciated"        Oxford
 "very useful tool"        Brorfelde
 "extremely useful"        ESO
 "extremely useful"        Cambridge MRAO
 "good stuff"              Open University
 "extremely useful"        Padova
 "extremely useful"        UCL
 "highly estimated"        Zurich
 "excellent"               Madrid
 "excellent work"          Christchurch, NZ
 "very fine job"           Heidelberg Landesternwarte
 "extremely useful"        Keele
 "a real service"          Toledo

Sample from 2000 edition

Beletic, James         ESO      I jbeletic@eso.org                          95
Beletsky, Yu.V.        Odessa   I yuri@deneb.odessa.ua                      00
Belian, Dick           LosAlam  I belian@essdp2.lanl.gov                    95
Belkus, Houria         BrusUni  I hbelkus@vub.ac.be                         00
Bell Burnell, Jocelyn  OpenU    I s.j.b.burnell@open.ac.uk                  00
Bell,  Roger           AAO      I rb@aaoepp.aao.gov.au                      00
Bell, Barbara          CfA      I bbell@cfa.harvard.edu                     00
Bell, Eric             Steward    ebell@as.arizona.edu                      00
Bell, James F.         Cornell    jimbo@marswatch.tn.cornell.edu            00
Bell, Jeff             Hawaii   I bell@kahana.pgd.hawaii.edu                94
Bell, Jon              ATNF     I jon.bell@atnf.csiro.au                    00
Bell, Jon              Jodrell  I J.Bell@jb.man.ac.uk                       00
Bell, K. Robbins       ARC      I bell@cosmic.arc.nasa.gov                  97
Bell, Kenny            Belfast  I Kl.Bell@qub.ac.uk                         00
Bell, Morley           HIA      I morley.bell@nrc.ca                        00
Bell, Morley           Ottawa   I mbb@hiaras.hia.nrc.ca                     95
Bell, Roger            Maryld   I roger@astro.umd.edu                       00
Bell, Steven           CambIoA  I sab@ast.cam.ac.uk                         00
Bellas-Velidis, Ioan.  NOA-IAA    ibellas@astro.noa.gr                      00
Bellazzini, Michele    Bologna  I bellazzini@bo.astro.it                    00
Belloni, Tomaso        MilanMe  I belloni@merate.mi.astro.it                00
Bellot Rubio, L. R.    TenIAC     bellot@ll.iac.es                          00
Belmonte Aviles, J. A. TenIAC     jba@ll.iac.es                             00
Beloborodov, Andrei    Stockhm  I andrei@astro.su.se                        00
Belokon', Elena E.     AISPbU   I bel@astro.spbu.ru                         00
Belov, Igor            Kazan    I Igor.Belov@ksu.ru                         00
Belskaya, Irina N.     AOKhNU     irina@astron.kharkov.ua                   00
Belton, Mike           NOAO     I mbelton@noao.edu                          00
Belvedere, Gaetano     Catania  I gbelvedere@alpha4.ct.astro.it             00
Belville, Ralph        OhioSt   I belville@astronomy.ohio-state.edu         00
Bely, Pierre           STScI    I bely@stsci.edu                            00
Belyakov, Constantine  Kazan    I kl@mi.ru                                  00
Belyakova, Elena       Kazan    I kl@mi.ru                                  00
Belyanin, Alexei A.    NizhnyN  I belyanin@appl.sci-nnov.ru                 00
Bem, Jerzy             Wroclaw  I bem@astro.uni.wroc.pl                     00
Bemmel, I.M. van       Groning  I i.m.van.bemmel@astro.rug.nl               96
Ben-ezra, Menahem      Givatay  I menbe@freud.tau.ac.il                     97
Benacchio, Leopoldo    Padova     benacchio@pd.astro.it                     00
Benayoun, Jean-Jac     Grenobl  I benayoun@laog.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr         97
Bendinelli, Orazio     Bologna  I bendinelli@bo.astro.it                    00
Bendlin, Cornelia      Wuerzbg  I bendlin@astro.uni-wuerzburg.de            96
Benedict, G. Fritz     Texas      fritz @astro.as.utexas.edu                00
Benetti, Stefano       ESO      I sbenetti@eso.org                          95
Benetti, Stefano       Padova     benetti@pd.astro.it                       00
Benevides Soares       SaoPaul  I pbs@iag.usp.ansp.br                       94
Benford, Dominic       GSFC     I dominic.benford@gsfc.nasa.gov             00
Bengoechea, Beatriz    Oxford   I b.bengoechea1@physics.oxford.ac.uk        96
Benit, Jean            IAS        jean.benit@ias.fr                         00
Benjaffel, Lofti       ParisIA  I benjaffel@iap.fr                          96
Benko, Jozsef          Konkoly  I benko@konkoly.hu                          00
Benn, Chris            LaPalma  I crb@ing.iac.es                            00
Benna, Carlo           OATo       benna@to.astro.it                         00
Benneker, Charles      LaPalma  I benneker@ing.iac.es                       00
Bennett, Charles L.    GSFC     I bennett@stars.gsfc.nasa.gov               96
Bennett, Chris         Bradfor  I c.m.bennett@bradford.ac.uk                96
Bennett, David         Swindon  I David_Bennett@pparc.ac.uk                 98
Bennett, Jane          Swindon  I Jane_Bennett@pparc.ac.uk                  98
Bennett, Keith         StAndST  I keith@mcs.st-and.ac.uk                    00
Bennett, Kevin         ESTEC    I kbennett@astro.estec.esa.nl               00
Bennett, Linda         Jodrell  I lbennett@jb.man.ac.uk                     00
Bennett, Michael       ASP      I mbennett@stars.sfsu.edu                   00
Bennett, Richard       ATC      I rjb@roe.ac.uk                             00
Bennett, Richard       CfA      I rbennett@cfa.harvard.edu                  00
Bennett, Stephen       CambIoA  I sbennet@ast.cam.ac.uk                     00
Bennie, Paul           Leicest  I pbe@star.le.ac.uk                         00
Beno, Larry            NRAO     I lbeno@nrao.edu                            96
Bensby, Thomas         Lund     I thomas@astro.lu.se                        00
Bensch, Frank          CfA      I fbensch@cfa.harvard.edu                   00
Bensch, Frank          KOSMA    I bensch@ph1.uni-koeln.de                   00
Benson, Andrew         Durham     A.J.Benson@durham.ac.uk                   00
Benson, John           NRAO     I jbenson@nrao.edu                          96
Bentley, Bob           MSSL       rdb@mssl.ucl.ac.uk                        00
Bentley, Mike          Jodrell  I mikeb@jb.man.ac.uk                        00
Bentley, Robert        RAL      I rdb@ast.star.rl.ac.uk                     94
Bentum, Mark           Dwing    I bentum@nfra. nl                           00
Benum, Hallvard        Oslo     I hallvard.benum@astro.uio.no               00
Benvenuti, Piero       ESO      I pbenvenu@eso.org                          95
Benvenuto, Omar        LaPlata  I obenvenuto@fcaglp.edu.ar                  00
Benz, A.O.             Zurich   I benz@astro.phys.ethz.ch                   00
Berczi, Szaniszlo      Budapes  I bercziszani@ludens.elte.hu                98
Berczik, Peter         Kiev     I berczik@mao.kiev.ua                       96
Berdnikov, L.N.        Moscow   I berdnik@sai.msu.su                        96
Berdyugin, Andrey      Crimea     berd@crao.crimea.ua                       00
Berdyugina, Svetlana   Crimea     sveta@crao.crimea.ua                      00
Berdyugina, Svetlana   Oulu     I sveta@ukko.oulu.fi                        98
Berendse, Frederick    Maryld   I berendse@astro.umd.edu                    00
Berera, Arjun          IFA      I aber@roe.ac.uk                            00
Berezne, Jean          Grenobl  I berezne@laog.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr          97
Berg, Maurenn C.van denUtrecht  I M.C.vandenBerg@astro.uu.nl                00
Berg, Solveig          Oslo     I solveig.berg@ub.uio.no                    00
Bergamini, Roberto     BolRA    I bergamini@ira.bo.cnr.it                   00
Bergeat, Jacques       Lyon     I bergeat@obs.univ-lyon1.fr                 00
Berger, Beverly K.     AnnArbo  I berger@astro.lsa.umich.edu                96
Berger, Birgit         JenaAIU  I berger@astro.uni-jena.de                  00
Berger, David          GeorgSt  I berger@chara.gsu.edu                      00
Berger, Jean-Phill     Grenobl  I berger@laog.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr           97
Berger, Mitchell A.    UCL      I m.berger@ucl.ac.uk                        00
Berger, Thomas E.      LMATC    I berger@lmsal.com                          00
Bergeron, Carol        Ottawa   I carol@hiaras.hia.nrc.ca                   95
Bergeron, Jacquelin    ParisIA  I bergeron@iap.fr                           96

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Chris Benn (ING)
(crb@ing.iac.es), Ralph Martin (RGO Cambridge)

2001 Nov 11, last updated 2003 Sep 26, 2006 Apr 29, minor corrections 2014 Dec 15

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