On         Wed, 1 Nov 1995 Richard Rinehart <[log in to unmask]>
said:


>OK, OK, enough of a plug (perhaps I *could* be a board member for MCN in
>charge of "shameless plugs division" :) Anyway, in my opinion, it's easily

>worth $50 a year.

Naturally I agree with Richard. MCN has widened its appeal to practitioners
of many facets of museum computing and has evolved considerably beyond what
had been its mainstay years ago.  This truth can easily be verified by
looking at the contents of the sessions and workshops offered at its annual
meeting and at the broader appeal of Spectra, its newsletter-journal.

While this new diversity has had beneficial effects in terms of broadening
its appeal, at the same time, I believe, the new MCN has made it more
difficult for like-minded members to form and sustain sub-communities.  If
the MCN listserv ever develops into a busy forum for communication like
museum-l or vra-l, it may be possible to sustain the kind of specialized
discussions appropriate to groups sharing narrow interest areas.

In this regard, I disagree with the policy of limiting the listserv to MCN
members only.  Were it completely open, I believe, aside from informing
members of MCN affairs, it would serve a double duty as a means of
communication with non-MCN individuals and institutions.  Through their
involvement in the listserv, they may discover causes for joining MCN.

Because listservs tend to be difficult to start and suffer from initial
inertia, the more open and inviting, the better.  Only if such an open
policy eventually proves to be destructive to the goals of the sponsor
should a closed policy be enforced.
--
______________________________________

Robert A. Baron
Museum Computer Consultant
P.O. Box 93, Larchmont, NY 10538
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