I'm amazed, McMill!!! I followed your step-by-step instructions and, though have spent only a few hours studying what is there, a whole new concept of Lachlan's involvements has opened up for me.
Early in the 1990s Lachlan sent out a request for information about how to sep up an internet newsgroup. He must have quickly received expert answers for he was soon contacting individual groups in the scientific community for their interest in creating a newsgroup for sharing information among members all over the world. This was when he was at CSIRO in Australia.
It appears that by 1994 he had become the go-to-guy for establishing newsgroups for all fields of the sciences - oceanography, archeology, crystallography, math, astronomy, -- you name it.
He was then only 25 years old.
For me, the most astounding group he and a small team approached to set up a news group was
the petroleum industry!
https://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.petroleum/browse_frm/month/1998-02
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[Click the star to watch this topic] sci.geo.petroleum
FAQ: HOW WAS SCI.GEO.PETROLEUM ESTABLISHED?
1. James Huang
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More options Feb 1 1998, 2:00 am
FAQ: "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS"
HOW WAS SCI.GEO.PETROLEUM ESTABLISHED?
MONTHLY POSTING
First released: September 11th, 1994
Last modified: May 31st, 1997
HISTORY:
--------
This petroleum newsgroup was established with the cooperation of E&P
staff, petroleum researchers, data and computer specialists worldwide
on
September 6th, 1994. (apparently the internet was then callled
Usenet, which rules for setting us newsgroups.)
Formal project launch was on April 29th, 1994, following establishment of
a small coordination team comprising volunteers at ARCO (Alaska), ARCO
(Texas), BHP Petroleum Americas (Houston), BHP Petroleum (Melbourne), BP
(Houston), the National Centre for Petroleum Geology & Geophysics (NCPGG,
Adelaide), Oryx Energy Company (Dallas), Scandpower A/S (Oslo) and the
University of Edinburgh. Important new volunteer facilitators soon
emerged at Baker Hughes INTEQ (Houston), Chalmers University of
Technology (Gothenburg), CSIRO Division of Petroleum Resources
(Melbourne), Intera (UK), Petrocorp (New Zealand), Santos Ltd (Adelaide),
Schlumberger (Austin), Syncrude Canada Ltd (Alberta), the University of
New South Wales (Department of Applied Geology) and Victoria University
of Wellington (Research School of Earth Science and Department of
Geology).
A public vote was initiated in accordance with Usenet regulations on
August 1st, 1994. The public vote was required to maximise global access
to the network. The voting phase lasted for 22 days (standard). There
were 1284 YES votes (98%) and 18 NO votes (1.4%), for a total of 1302
valid votes. There were 4 abstains and 4 invalid ballots.
INDIVIDUAL VOTER SUPPORT (1.8.1994 - 22.8.1994):
================================================
OIL COMPANIES: (list the heavy hitters in the 'oil patch')
SERVICE COMPANIES: (oil service companies, i.e. Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger branches all over the world, etc.)
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS (shown here)
Alberta Research Council (Canada), Australian Geological Survey
Organisation (AGSO), Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory (Washington),
Bureau of Resource Science - Petroleum Resources Branch (Australia),
California Academy of Sciences,
CSIRO - Division of Petroleum Resources
(Melbourne and Sydney offices), David Taylor Research Centre (Maryland),
Department of Health and Human Services (Maryland), Geological Survey of
Canada, Institute for Petroleum Research and Geophysics (Israel),
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories (Berkeley), Los Alamos National Laboratory
(New Mexico), NASA -Johnson Space Centre (Houston), Naval Oceans Systems
Centre (San Diego), Nebraska Geological Survey, Northern Territory
Department of Mines and Energy (Darwin), Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(Tennessee), US Bureau of Reclamation (Denver), US Geological Survey,
Victorian Department of Mines and Energy (Australia).
ACADEMIC & PETROLEUM RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS (impressive list, including:
Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory (NY), MIT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Mass.), and major universities all over the world)
OTHER ORGANISATIONS: (computer systems, communicaions, ..HP, IBM, )
OBJECTIVES:
-----------
Sci.geo.petroleum was created for the more efficient dissemination of
public petroleum data. The aim is to provide an electronic communication
venue for specialists of varying backgrounds employed by, or associated
with the oil and gas industry who would not, normally, attend the same
conferences or short courses.
An important secondary objective is to encourage global communications
between technical experts, managerial staff, government and environmental
organisations and the general public.
The integrated approach to problem-
solving is aimed at accelerating advancements in global energy planning,
leading to the more efficient recovery and use of hydrocarbons, and
further improvements in health and safety and environmental protection.
FOR DISCUSSION: (subjects)
wANTED: (input on specific issues)
BENEFITS OF THE NETWORK

many listed)
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THIS NEWSGROUP PREVIOUSLY BY * (listed must be every oil related business in the world!!)
In every monthly report online for this sci.geo.petroleum newsgroup, Lachlan Cranswick is listed with his e-mail address. (1994-1997).
(my first thought upon finding this was,
"Oh, Lachlan, didn't your Mama tell you not to go into the water where there's alligators ??")
Thank you, McMill -- so much more to learn!!
dd2