On Mon, 12 Sep 1994, Peter Rauch <[log in to unmask]>
commented on the proliferation of email lists of relevance to the museum
field, prompted by the opening of CIDOC-L and the announcement that a
NAGPRA list will very shortly go online.  Peter concluded by remarking,
 
> I am not arguing territorial issues here. I just find it confusing to have
> several lists which do not distinguish their mission adequately to permit
> subscribers to easily (most of the time) know to which list to post a
> particular message. Basically, it means that most people will have to
> subscribe to both lists, and that there will be lots of cross-talk
> between them.
>
> Can anyone help clarify my confusion with some criteria for selecting
> to which list to post?
 
        I appreciate Peter's comments, but I, for one, admit to somewhat
narrow interests.  As it happens, documentation and NAGPRA issues are
among the most prominent of those interests, so I welcome the new lists,
although I shall continue to lurk on and occasionally contribute to
MUSEUM-L.  We should recall that fragmentation and balkanization seem to
be endemic to both the Internet and Usenet--trying to resist is probably
hopeless.  I suspect that the respective missions of the new lists will
take more solid form in the weeks ahead, assuming they do meet a real need
in our community.
 
Mike Jacobs * Arizona State Museum * University of Arizona * Tucson AZ 85721
           tel: (602)621-6312 * email: [log in to unmask]