HASTAC is a virtual network of networks. You can join simply by registering to the site.

There are no dues. We hope you will participate by blogging, posting events of interest, or responding to other posts.

Here, for those new to HASTAC, is an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about How To Join the HASTAC network:

Q: How Can I Join HASTAC?

A: Register on this site. Observe the normal social networking protocols. Welcome! You are now a HASTAC member.

Q: What is HASTAC?

A: HASTAC is a network of networks, a virtual organization. That's why you join simply by registering and participating. HASTAC is an acronym that stands for the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory, and is pronounced "HAYSTACK" (as in a "needle in haystack"). It is dedicated to three intertwined goals: creative design/critical thinking/participatory learning.

HASTAC is dedicated to seeing and analyzing the human dimensions and implications of technologies that we also help to conceptualize, design, develop, and implement.

HASTAC works across all disciplines, inside and outside the academy, and is a loose network of networks. We publicize one another's work, we network and serve as informal consultants or referees, we act as a forum for finding collaborators on projects, supply an information commons (NEEDLE) where you can announce your projects and events, offer a blogging space for any relevant topics, and have a cadre of regular bloggers who post ideas and commentary on a range of topics in new media, media arts, design, visualization, semantic web, multimedia archiving, social networking, net neutrality, electronic publishing, intellectual property, collaborative thinking, participatory learning, neurocognition, games, mobile technologies, education (K-12 and far beyond), and other topics.

We have a secondary network HASTAC on Ning primarily but not exclusively of educators and community activists. We shape the organization by our own collective designs and desires and have a leadership team (now expanding) and soon will have many more interactive features plus a cadre of HASTAC Scholars, students around the country and the world who report and comment on new media in their region or area of interest.

Q: So, once again, how do I Join HASTAC?

A: Register on this site. Observe the normal social networking protocols. Welcome! You are now a HASTAC member.

Q: What happens when I register?

A: You will receive no more than one or two messages a month from HASTAC letting you know about events, about new publications, about the DML Competition, and about important items to share virally with your networks. We don't share any information with anyone else, with other organizations, and we have no corporate sponsors. And the registration is very simple and non-invasive. No advertising. No profit. No business.

Q: How much does membership cost?

A. Nothing.

Q. I'm suspicious. If it's free to join HASTAC, who is making money off this?

A. No one. We are very fortunate that our organizational infrastructure is supported by two visionary and generous institutions, Duke University (the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies and the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute) and the University of California's Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI). Member institutions support the HASTAC Scholars Program as well as their own events and, in the future, national and regional conferences. The two central infrastructure sites--Duke and UCHRI--also co-apply for grants and gratefully acknowledge support from Digital Promise, the National Science Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that has offset the costs of specific HASTAC projects and research.

Q. So, really, I sign up and that's it

A. Yes, HASTAC is a network of networks, a virtual organization. It is not a conventional professional association.

Q. What privileges do I have as a HASTAC member?

A. You can post to the blog page, comment on others' blogs, participate in forums, and upload information about your events to NEEDLE, our HASTAC ("haystack") Information Commons. You can use the forums to connect with others who are doing similar kinds of projects, and you can find like-minded interdisciplinary researchers and teachers and interested others---and they are very interesting and interested in what you are doing, too.

Q. Does HASTAC ever meet? How often?

A. We've started having annual meetings but also encourage regional meetings and workshops, with calls to all HASTAC'ers to participate in your events (again, via NEEDLE)

Q. How do I host a regional meeting?

A. First, write to HASTAC Program Coordinator Jonathan Tarr (jonathan dot tarr at duke dot edu) or post a blog about your interest. Describe your event. If it seems "HASTAC-like," you can list HASTAC as one of your co-sponsors, send us information about your event, and then we will publicize it on the HASTAC site and the HASTAC list serve.

There's lots more too, but that's plenty. Travel around the site. Check it out. Look at the information about the two previous HASTAC conferences and our conference publication, available from Lulu, Electronic Techtonics: Thinking at the Interface, and also available on line on this site in a multimedia format.

Your participation in this virtual network of networks shapes the network. JOIN US! Share your ideas. (And, remember: to join, all you do is register to the site.) WELCOME!