🚀 go-pugleaf

----------- Original message below forwarded by NETTRAIN moderator ------------

Date: Thu, 04 Feb 93 00:57:23 CST
From: gbnewby@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu

A few quick thoughts especially relevant, IMHO, to people who
train people to use computer networks.  This is tangential
to the discussion about whether Proj. Gutenberg-related
posts should appear here.

       -- if you think that the only purpose of mailing lists
        and related forms of communication is to send short
        updates or have terse conversations, fine.  If
        you share that view with novice networkers, though,
        you are doing them a terrible disservice.

        What about "skywriting"?  What about electronic
        journals?  What about freedom to publish articles
        which are not quite ready for refereed journals?
        How about research reports, theoretical
        postulations, bibliographies, and conference
        reviews?

       -- Excellent free email software exists for Un*x and
        CMS at least. The VMS mail software is quite good,
        I think.  I am unaware of a good substitute in
        PROFS environments, but maybe there is one.  Many
        people are able to use free point-and-click software,
        such as Eudora, instead of learning to get around
        in Un*x or other places.

        If you're at a place where the email software
        sucks, then do something about it.  Get a group
        together, identify a low-cost or free solution,
        and get into the 1990s.  Here's an important
        news update:  advances in computer-mediated
        communication are NOT going to wait for you.
        If you're still wondering what "MIME-Version"
        means in email headers, you'll be surprised
        again when a larger proportion of the email
        you receive is not readable without the proper
        software.

       -- If you're worried about information overload
        and a high noise-to-signal ration, then you
        might as well deactivate your username(s)
        right now.  This is the way it is, this is the
        way it's going to continue to be:  you will
        ALWAYS need to wade through a number of
        messages before you find one you really want
        to read.

        Don't blame the medium, though.  You already
        suffer from information overload every day from
        television, newspapers, and conversations in
        the cafeteria.  The difference is you're better
        equipped mentally to deal with it.  The "hardware"
        (or "wetware") helps, too.  The type of complaint
        I usually see on the nets is usually of the
        mental sort -- whining about "I get too many
        messages."  Try making the same sort of statement
        about the Sunday newspaper, and spot where
        the real problem is.

        Some day, you'll have an artificial intelligence
        SDI (selective dissemination of information) system
        which will cull through the crap on hundreds of
        electronic discussions to select the things you're
        interested in.  You'll still have overload, unless
        you grab such a small sample that you're missing
        more of what you're interested in than you're getting.

      -- Get used to Newbies (no relation).  For the
        next 5 years, at least, there will more "new"
        people on the nets each year than old people
        (where "new" is people in their first year.
        I'm just guestimating here, but you know
        what I'm trying to convey).

        If you want to get frustrated at people who
        post "subscribe" messages, or say things like,
        'what is this list about," or who send an
        announcement of "crucial importance" to
        800+ mailing lists, then go ahead.  But
        don't think any amount of ranting and raving
        will solve the problem.  Even with the BEST
        training we can offer - telling students over
        and over again how to behave and what not to
        do (and how embarrassed they'll be if they
        make a mistake), it will still happen.

If you advocate a DECREASE in the length and frequency of messages to
CMC forums, and teach your students this, you are NOT helping people
to communicate via computer -- you're KILLING the parts with some of
the greatest potential for impact, social change, education, and
general usefulness.

One last comment which is in a less lofty mode: With almost no
exceptions, I believe that the job of a list moderator (or maintainer,
or owner) is to cull out those things which are totally inappropriate
to the list discussion, and NOTHING ELSE.  Any other role is that of
an "editor."  If you want an edited list, then fine -- it's a lot of
work, and produces a different (not necessarily better) quality of
output.  Voting on appropriate content is a waste of time.  Just post
the stuff.  If enough people object and communicate their objection TO
THE SENDER (preferably, but also to the list and / or to the
moderator), then some censorship might be in order.  Calling what
seems to be the essence of desired outcome from all this Gutenberg
stuff anything other than "censorship" is incorrect.  Before being
scared of a dirty word, grab your dictionary.

I own/maintain a list (virtu-l@uiucvmd), and have censored exactly
one message which was not a subscription request -- this was a recent
note which was sent to about 100 mailing lists announcing some
new list irrelevant to the virtu-l topic.

'Nuff said.

***** Greg Newby, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
***** Ass't Prof, Grad. Sch. of Library and Information Science
***** 417 David Kinley Hall, 1407 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL, 61801
***** Voice:  217-244-7365.  Fax:  217-244-3302
***** gbnewby@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu, gnewby@ncsa.uiuc.edu, gbnewby@uiuc.edu