Apologies for delay -mt

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 09:52:43 -0400
From: "McKee, Eileen" <E.McKee@BROOKLYNPUBLICLIBRARY.ORG>
Subject: Re: 10 Years: SERIALST's Anniversary

Well said Birdie - and congratulations.

Eileen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Birdie MacLennan [SMTP:bmaclenn@zoo.uvm.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 5:05 PM
> To:   SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
> Subject:      10 Years: SERIALST's Anniversary
>
> An editorial of sorts ...
>
> Dear SERIALSTers,
>
> As of about noon today, Oct. 18, SERIALST turned 10 years old!  As I
> recall, the list was born out of a sense of need to have other librarians
> and serials specialists around to ask questions, give advice, exchange
> information.  Since not everyone with something to say about serials could
> (or would want to) be Vermont, it seemed the next best thing was the
> virtual computer connection ... once BITNET (the old academic network),
> now Internet.
>
> I've always been grateful to those who developed early electronic
> communications models in the late 1980's and early 1990's, such as the
> Newsletter on Serial Pricing Issues, edited by Marcia Tuttle,
> (http://www.lib.unc.edu/prices/ or
> http://www-mathdoc.ujf-grenoble.fr/NSPI/NSPIe.html)  and PACS-L (Public
> Access Computer Systems list, pacs-l@listserv.uh.edu), which was started
> by Charles Bailey.  These resources and a handful of others served as
> early models for the style and format of SERIALST.
>
> I am grateful to co-moderators, Marcia Tuttle, Ann Ercelawn, and Stephen
> Clark, for their support and collaboration over the years.  It's a
> significant time commitment to vet incoming mail, answer questions about
> how the list works, sort through mail that bounces back or doesn't get
> delivered to subscribers because of network problems, screen out
> commercial postings and spams, etc., etc.  It's been wonderful having
> the opportunity to work with dedicated colleagues who have helped share
> the load.
>
> I would like to send a huge debt of gratitude to John Ryder, our
> Systems Programmer and the Listserv Manager at the University of Vermont,
> who has given us excellent technical support through all the list
> management updates and changes during the past 10 years.
>
> I'd also like to thank the library administration here at the University
> of Vermont, who see SERIALST as a worthwhile professional contribution and
> who have been happy to support us.
>
> SERIALST's subscriber base remains at ~2,650 subscriber in 40 countries
> (the subscriber base has stayed at this level for the past five years or
> so)
>
> Special thanks to all of you -- the subscribers who contribute messages on
> a daily basis and give all of us food for thought.  SERIALST, for
> me, has been a long and ongoing continuing education experience.  And yet,
> it doesn't feel like 10 years already!!  What once was a baby is now
> approaching adolescence!  Sheesh, if this baby was a dog, it would already
> be a senior citizen!! ;-)  Are we showing signs of age?
>
> Metaphor aside, I hope others who have followed this list for a while have
> had some interesting, maybe even some humourous moments in reading along.
> Maybe a few of you have had some angst and dread in reading some
> perspectives about difficult or controversial issues.  Given that SERIALST
> was set up to be a tool for learning, "talking" (albeit virtually),
> exchanging information, I certainly hope that readers have had the
> occasion to be enlightened about some aspect of the serials profession and
> the vitality of its presence in libraries around the world.
>
> If anyone had asked 10 years ago if I'd still have a hand in working with
> SERIALST today, I would have laughed and said "who knows?"  Doris Day
> might have sung, "Que sera, sera ... whatever will be, will be ..."  What
> seems most important is just to take one day at a time and have faith that
> those involved with serials will always find a way to keep talking,
> interacting, exchanging ideas and information.  Who knows what the years
> ahead will bring?  Only change is certain.
>
> So much for reflection.  So much for the first decade of this forum.
> Happy birthday SERIALST!!   -- Birdie
>
>         Birdie MacLennan
>         SERIALST Listowner/Moderator
>         University of Vermont
>         bmaclenn@zoo.uvm.edu