ACS Network - An introduction

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What is the ACS Network?

The ACS Network is a social collaboration tool that ACS has licensed for the chemical community.  It is a place where groups can share documents, discuss topics  of interest, announce events, and seek advice. Some content is available to the public and  while some exist in access-controlled groups. 

Do I need to login? 

Users must login in order to interact with any content or to see content that may have controlled access. Users can create an ACS ID to register for the ACS Network.  ACS membership is not required. 

What are the types of content? 

Currently, content exists on specific board types. 

• Forums are discussions and meant facilitate the asking of questions and discussion of topics. Most forums allow logged in users to ask questions. 
• Blogs are usually created by a blog owner. They are usually recurring and can be thought about as an online newsletter or means of making regular announcements. Readers are able to comment on each post. 
• Knowledge bases (KBs or TKBs) are the boards that contain documents. These documents can be uploaded PDFs or Office docs, or they can be like wiki documents like the one you are reading which are created and read within the browser.  PDFs, Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents can be previewed if you click on them . You may also download them. 
• Ideas are a specialty content type which allow for users to post ideas which other users can vote to show their approval. Users may also comment on this content as well. 

These content types/boards reside within group hubs and categories. Group hubs and categories not only serve to organize the boards, but to provide context and access control. 

How is the Network organized? 

All content is placed in categories or group hubs within the navigation structure: 

• General information about the Network is available in the ACS Hub. Users can ask questions about the Network and ACS here. 
• Local Sections, Technical Divisions, Regional Meeting Boards, have group hubs in the Component Group, some which are public facing and act as an electronic communications tool (i.e. like a website) while some have private spaces for them to collaborate. 
• ACS committees, task forces, working groups, etc. have their group hubs located in Governance. Most of these group hubs are access limited and you need to be invited to access or in some cases, even see them. 
• Resources, Science, and Special Interest categories include a various group hubs that may be open to the public or community members. Some may be access controlled. 

How can I get more help? 

You are encouraged to check out other posts in the ACS Hub or you can check out more detailed help in the online FAQs. We have tried to update these FAQs to reflect our specific community but they were provided by the vendor and may be a little generic. 

If you can't find what you want to know, you can always post a question on this document and someone will either answer it or update this document. Or you can send us an email at ACSNetworkFeedback@acs.org< but you may need to give us a few days to respond. 

We hope this is helpful.