John, You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on the issue of private, off list emails. You write that "I would hope that you would be even more uneasy with being sent off-list abusive email." No, that would not make me more uneasy than the forwarding private messages to the List. If I choose to put my opinions out there, on the List, then I should be prepared to handle whatever response they elicit. Actually I haven't received many abusive messages, fortunately. But I never would forward one to the List. People say things in private correspondence that they might word differently in a public forum. They might also display more emotion. I would take that into account. I understand why you believe that no email is private, but I disagree. In its intent, email might contain what one might have said in a letter. Yes, once sent, you never know to whom an email will be forwarded. But I think there is an intent in private exchanges that is worth honoring. If nothing else, you lack the consent of the sending party to share the information. I guess in the old days, if you handwrote or typed a letter to someone, it too could be copied. Or referenced. And its content shared somehow. But it admittedly would have been much harder to share than electronic mail. As archivists, in screening collections, we consider what information warrants restriction and what is appropriate for disclosure. So, one can argue that the way we handle messages related to the List has some relevance. I say, why not err on the side of privacy in the case of List generated private exchanges? Consider it good practice for when you may work in the future for a governmental or private sector employer who will trust you not to circulate internal institutional or corporate email outside the employing body! I would hope that in such a situation you would not believe that "emails are NEVER private. Once you hit send, that's it. It's out into the world forever and could end up anywhere." Because your employer will be counting on you and everyone else handling the institution's email to live up to the trust they place in you. Believe me, in any workplace, there will be plenty of messages where someone hits send and the note never should end up "anywhere" except in the in-box of the recipient. Freedom of Information Act specialists and lawyers screen government emails that are responsive to FOIA requests received by the public. If you are their colleague, they, not you, will be deciding what is disclosable. They are trained to consider case law and precedents, etc. As an employee, you could never just share internal emails with the public. Maybe I'm not going to convince you. Nor do I have to persuade you or anyone of anything on this List, of course. If nothing else, this shows that you and I have differing perspectives on this issues. Just as you and Dana have differing perspectives on archival education. That's the way it goes, sometimes. Can't we just leave it at that? Maarja ________________________________________________________________________ Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free. A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>