Having now had the time to examine the new List setup (without yet having 
subscribed), I see a link to the List archives (1993-2006) at 
http://forums.archivists.org/read/?forum=archives .  I should have known that you guys in SAA 
wouldn't let an Archives List's archives disappear, LOL.

I'm still mulling over your request that we start labelling our postings to 
enable users to filter what they read.  While I understand that there are 
people who want to set rules to limit what they receive in their inboxes from a 
Listserv, I myself liked having a list where, as Jeff O'Brien once noted, we all 
sometimes gathered in different corners but stayed within the same large 
virtual conference hall.  (See
http://shrinkster.com/gfk )  I like the sense of one large, divergent and 
sometimes even a little unruly community.  Given what some observers criticize as 
an echo chamber effect of some other Internet communities, I would hate to 
see the A&A List become a series of walled off communities.  I find I've 
benefited greatly from reading about experiences of people whose work histories are 
very different from mine.  

I recognize that except for asking that we label our postings, the stated 
rules for posting on the new Archives List are not that different from what SAA 
has urged us to follow in the past.  However, I note that the labels you 
suggest relate mostly to format (questions, discussions, media postings, calls for 
paper) rather than substance (preservation issues, description issues, access 
to records, historical research).  Like anyone else who subscribes to the List, 
I'm not sure how your labels will work out in terms of people filtering what 
fellow subscribers post. 

It's hard for me to explain why I'm struggling a little here.  For reasons 
I'd rather not get into, I have "issues" with overly conforming forums, where 
community standards seem to require that humor and OT type personal observations 
become ritualistic.  I myself like being exposed to a very broad range of 
humanizing aspects of handling archives and records.  In my experience, such 
exposure requires spontaneity and tolerance in List discussions.  I'm fascinated 
not only by processes and procedures but also by people and why and how they do 
what they do.  Maybe that's why I gravitated to working as an historian.  Of 
course, I recognize that not everyone is interested in what I'm interested in, 
not do they have to be.  I don't think your rules intend to squelch 
spontaneity, not at all.  It's just that reading them has started me thinking about the 
different things that people look for from discussion lists and how people 
such as I fit in.

At any rate, it's good to see your Archives has been preserved and remains 
accessible.

Maarja


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