In regards to my earlier request asking everyone to please respond to
the list...

I encourage and support active discussion on these lists, but I also
respect each subscriber's personal decision to participate in any way
they feel comfortable.

Thank you for letting me share.  Have a great day :)

Karen Yacobucci, MLS
Serials Librarian
New York Medical College
Health Sciences Library
95 Grasslands Road
Valhalla, NY 10595

Tel. 914.594.4213
karen_yacobucci@nymc.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Patricia Thompson
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:23 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Replying to a "Discussion" list [RANT]

At 09:12 AM 7/16/2008, Yacobucci, Karen wrote:
>Could everyone respond to this e-mail by replying to SERIALST.  I am
>interested too.  Thanks!!

I do not understand why people have to ASK to have responses posted
to the list. Isn't that what a discussion list is for? The name of
this list is: "SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum." The
word "discussion" has two meanings in the online Merriam Webster
Dictionary:
1 : consideration of a question in open and usually informal debate 2
: a formal treatment of a topic in speech or writing

I would venture to suggest that an email-based discussion list fits
into the first definition.

There are a few times when there may be identities or sensitive
information involved that people are reluctant to post to a public
list, but most often that is not the case.

When I subscribe to a list, I expect to see both questions AND
answers, not just questions with no answers because the answers have
all been sent privately. Also, when I post a question to a list, I do
not want to have to "summarize" all the private responses I have
gotten to report back to the list. I do not have time for that.

I understand that some people are "shy" or are afraid to "flood the
list" with their posts, but in my opinion this private messaging
thing just dilutes the usefulness and efficiency of having a
discussion list, because a discussion requires participation.

This is just my opinion. Thank you for reading.

Pat Thompson

Patricia R. Thompson
Assistant University Librarian for Resource Management Services
Jessie Ball duPont Library
The University of the South
Sewanee, TN 37383
Phone: 931-598-1657
Email: pthompso@sewanee.edu