Listowner Reflections on SERIALST's 7th Anniversary
Dear SERIALSTers,
I don't know if anyone else out there is sentimental about anniversaries,
but I feel somewhat remiss in my role as listowner for not having informed
you sooner that SERIALST recently passed its seven year anniversary mark.
So indulge me, and let me take a few moments of your time to reflect on
where SERIALST has been and where it might go in the future.
You can see the first few tentative moments of SERIALST's beginnings if
you review the archives of October 18, 1990 and scratch your head (in
puzzlement? wonder? or stupification?) at the tedious string of "test"
messages, "list updates" and "<no subject>" lines that marked the birth of
the list. Message #11, on Oct. 25, 1990, from Bernard Katz (University of
Guelph) has the distinction of being the first pithy topical message in
its consideration of possibilities for handling electronic journals.
Over the years, SERIALST has grown from a small, open & unmoderated
discussion list of 28 subscribers on the BITNET academic network to a
moderated Internet forum comprised of a discussion list, web pages, and
fileserver/database that serves out ASCII text- and web-based discussion
archives and other documents germane to list maintenance and/or general
serials information.
As far as subscriber composition: The list is approaching the 2600
subscriber mark, with readers in 37 countries world-wide. While the
overwhelming majority of subscribers (~76%) are based in the United
States, SERIALST is seeing an increasingly healthy influx of international
subscribers (~22%), with approximately 170 subscribers (~6%) from Internet
domains in countries where English is not the primary language. We are
currently averaging somewhere in the proximity of 10-15 messages per day
and have posted a total of just over 8200 messages since the list began in
October 1990.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, the body of
subscribers who have contributed your thoughts, ideas and insights to the
forum over the years, for giving SERIALST content and substance, for
making it the useful, vital, and thought-provoking medium that it has
become.
Special thanks and acknowledgements go to: SERIALST's associate
moderators/listowners, Ann Ercelawn (Vanderbilt University) and Marcia
Tuttle (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); to John Ryder, list
manager at the University of Vermont; and to the University of Vermont
Libraries and the Division of Computing & Information Technology who, in
joint cooperation, have supported SERIALST and made it possible, free of
charge and free of any granting program or agency, for all these years.
Long live freedom of information!
What of the next seven years? Or even of the next seven months? For some
time I have been considering the possibility of broadening the breadth and
scope of SERIALST's moderated/listowner constituency. What is involved in
the day-to-day tasks of a moderator/listowner? You can read about them in
some detail in an article, "SERIALST and the Global Serials Community: The
Five Year Evolution of an Electronic Discussion Forum", published in
_Serials Review_ 22, no. 3 (fall 1996): 1-21 -- and also available on the
WWW at: http://www.uvm.edu/~bmaclenn/serialst5.html
But to give a brief summary:
SERIALST is currently structured so that all incoming messages are
reviewed by a group of academic librarians (currently the trio comprised
of Ann Ercelawn, Marcia Tuttle, and myself) who scan for appropriate
content (according to the Scope & Purpose guidelines that are distributed
to all new subscribers and posted on the web at
http://www.uvm.edu/~bmaclenn/serialst.html).
The moderators take rotating shifts in assuming primary responsibilities
for forwarding appropriate messages to the subscriber list, answering
general questions (e.g., "How do I subscribe?" or "How do I
unsubscribe?"), and performing light maintenance tasks (e.g., removing
subscribers who cannot unsubscribe on their own because of address
changes; or processing bounced messages/ error message returns that seep
through the error-processing program).
Care, feeding, and timely distribution of messages for a moderated list
with the size and volume of SERIALST takes about an hour a day, on an
average day. (We do not work on weekends, which are a time when we've
found the Internet to yield a higher volume of undelivered mail and error
returns for the listowner to process because of systems that are offline.
We also need to take a break!). It is not a large task -- but the work is
as steady as the daily influx of messages.
Requisites for list moderation and maintenance include broad-based and
non-partisan knowledge of the serials industry; dedication to serials
librarianship and serials librarians; reliable access to e-mail and the
ability to read, forward (i.e., "redirect" or "bounce" mail to the list),
and respond to messages on a timely basis -- at least once a day, if not
more often; interest in evolving electronic media and electronic
communications technologies (particularly e-mail applications in relation
to LISTSERV software) is also important.
Seven years may not seem like a long time to some ... but sheesh, if one
counts in canine years -- or (for more acceleration) in the timespan of
developments in the electronic era -- it amounts to middle age! No, I'm
not resigning -- but I think SERIALST would benefit from the talents and
dedication of new and evolving energies in its
moderated/listownership/decision-making functions.
'Nuff said. If you think you have something to contribute, or just have
general ideas or constructive criticism about current and future direction
and evolution of SERIALST, please contact me, preferably before December
8. And don't be shy if you are situated outside of the U.S. One of the
great benefits of the Internet is its lack of borders! I am interested in
having some new folks (one? two? or whatever this query yields??) on board
at the start of the new year.
Thanks again to all who have contributed ongoing support, enthusiasm and
ideas over the years.
Kind regards, -- Birdie
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| |
)* | Birdie MacLennan http://www.uvm.edu/~bmaclenn/sig.html
/ / Bailey/Howe Library E-mail: BMacLenn@zoo.uvm.edu
) | University of Vermont Voice: 802-656-2016
| | Burlington, VT 05405, USA Fax: 802-656-4038
|__| Coordinator, Serials & Cataloging, SERIALST Listowner, etc. ...
p.s. to revisit the delightful ASCII-art sentiments of Mario
Rupps, on the occasion of SERIALST's first anniversary in 1991:
()
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SERIALST
FROM
ONE OF YOUR MANY ADMIRERS...
