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 in 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