##Welcome to the PLOTS research community##
By [signing up](/user/register), you've joined a diverse group of community researchers and tapped into a lot of grassroots expertise. We're excited to have your contributions! Feel free to introduce yourself and reach out to others in the community for collaborations or advice.
###Mailing lists###
These open discussion lists are a great place to float ideas, ask questions, offer help, and find collaborators.
* publiclaboratory@googlegroups.com is a general civic science community mailing list. Just email here if you aren't sure what to do!
* Also see our [other mailing lists](/wiki/mailing-lists), which include local event lists, tools lists (like balloon mapping or spectroscopy), and those for working groups.
###Using and contributing to PublicLaboratory.org###
The Public Laboratory website is where our community is developing [open-source](/licenses) documentation and literature around our DIY civic science research.
**Posting research notes**
[Research notes](/notes) are the easiest and best way to share (i.e. open source) your work in a more permanent form. [Post a research note](/note/add) about your work to solicit input, publish tests or prototypes, ask questions, or just to keep track of links and research documents.
##Post a research note »##
**Editing the wiki**
Wiki pages are collaborative web pages, and are a good way to add to our growing body of open source science documentation. To make one, visit: http://publiclaboratory.org/page/add. Tips for adding images [can be found here](http://publiclaboratory.org/wiki/how-add-images-to-your-notes-and-wiki-pages).
You can also edit any wiki page by clicking the "Edit" tab above the title. You'll only be able to see this tab if you are logged in.
**More links**
Here's our overall [sitemap](http://publiclaboratory.org/wiki/sitemap).
Here's a list of [useful pages](http://publiclaboratory.org/organization) in this site. Welcome!
###The PLOTS research community###
