Groups R Us is a site devoted to the study of the role of groups in human evolution and social development. The site is fully open to visitors and completely free.

The propensity for humans to belong to groups developed very early on and is a pronounced feature of the human psyche. There are countless groups in human society, ranging from very large ones like nations ('we Russians . . .') to small ones like families ('we Micawbers of Sleepy Hollow . . .').

Each individual human being belongs to many different groups; and people don't have to know each other to belong to the same group. Thus, a lawyer in Bucharest could have much in common with a milk herd in Botswana - both could be mothers, pacifists, chess players, animal lovers or……

Much human behaviour, good and bad, is linked to group membership, which often expresses itself unconsciously as well as consciously.

In a general way, the growth of the State as an institution has tended to vitiate the role of groupishness in human affairs, with mostly poor consequences. The decay of the family in Western societies is just one, obvious example.

A better understanding of our 'groupish' nature could help to build a more inclusive society and lessen the isolation felt by minorities. The purposes of the Groups R Us site are:

• to present information on the evolution of 'groupishness' and its expression in human affairs,
• to encourage discussion of and research into the role of groups in society;
• to develop prescriptions for social and public policies which will appeal to the human groupish instinct and will counter the anti-social tendencies that are so marked in modern civilization.

Relevant information is presented under a number of headings:

• News: news stories drawn from current research and publications in relevant fields such as evolutionary biology, anthropology, economics and cognitive psychology will build up into a searchable, classified resource. Outside news contributors are welcome: please submit stories to editor@groupsrus.com with the word 'groups' in the subject line. All submissions will be acknowledged.
  
• Resources: feature-length essays on various aspects of the group. Outside contributors are welcome: please submit proposed features to editor@groupsrus.com with the word 'groups' in the subject line. All submissions will be acknowledged.
  
• Glossology: we have identified more than 50 academic disciplines which are relevant to the study of groups. The 'glossology' lists and briefly characterizes some of these disciplines, to aid newcomers to this very cross-disciplinary field.
  
• References: there are many hundreds of relevant sources; the references section of the site lists references adduced in Resources essays plus additional sources.
  
• Profiles: we have made an experimental classification of about 700 human groups under sixteen category headings such as 'Lifestyle' and 'Politics'. It is possible for a user to compile a private and anonymous group profile by selecting among the groups that are listed. Users are encouraged to add new groups. Once you have a profile, you can always return to it in future to view or change it. At a later stage it is planned to encourage wide, popular use of this profiling facility, generating sufficient data to allow robust conclusions about the role of group memberships in the expression of individuality in social situations.
  
• The Groups Forum: the GroupsRus site is meant as a serious contribution towards humans' understanding of themselves. By registering you will have access to the Groups Forum, which invites participants to contribute their personal experience of groups to a co-operative vision of the meaning of groups in our society and to inform its future development. The Forum will be available shortly. Registered users will also receive a newsletter with information about developments on the GroupsRus site and relevant news stories from academia.