##Welcome to the Public Lab research community##


By [registering](/signup), 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. 

* <a href="mailto:publiclaboratory@googlegroups.com">publiclaboratory@googlegroups.com</a> 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 PublicLab.org###

The Public Lab website is where our community is developing [open-source](/licenses) documentation and literature around our DIY civic science research. 

###Posting research notes

[Research notes](/research) are the easiest and best way to share (i.e. open source) your work in a more permanent form. [Post a research note](/post) about your work to solicit input, publish tests or prototypes, ask questions, or just to keep track of links and research documents. 

<a class="btn btn-large btn-primary" href="/post">Post a research note &raquo;</a>

###The Public Lab research community

Below is a rough diagram of the community; also see:

* Staff: http://publiclab.org/wiki/plots-staff
* Organizers: http://publiclab.org/wiki/organizers
* Board: http://publiclab.org/wiki/board

<img src="https://docs.google.com/drawings/pub?id=1B0jkvNFpMGbmDHRl3NJQfBAgehbfnjBKwzRtOQ-HPPI&amp;w=600&amp;h=350">