> I hope this clarifies matters a bit. So far, the reponse has been positive,
> and I hope to move forward soon to get the gateway established.
 
On a cautionary note, gatewaying a mailing list to a newsgroup is like
opening your house to the public. Where before your house guests came by
invitation only, now *anyone* from *anywhere* on Usenet can wander in. The
majority of visitors will be quiet, polite and seek edification even if
they make no active contribution to the proceedings (the so-called Lurkers).
 
The risk is that some of the visitors may be bent on mischief or even
vandalism. I have seen some newsgroups fall prey to the ravings of fools
and annoying people. Plus, the signal to noise ratio is usually much lower
on newsgroups. The majority of MUSEUM-L subscribers are museum professionals
or students, or interested parties. The much bigger potential subscriber base
of Usenet will bring *many* others. Usenet is sometimes vibrant, in places
peurile, but the best newsgroups are good places, with many helpful
subscribers. The new museum newsgroup will hopefully be the latter.
 
Maybe John Chadwick could post the Request for Discussion (RFD) to the list
for our collective perusal.
--
Michael J Comiskey - [log in to unmask] - At home in Belfast, NI