>We REALLY need to be careful about how we all contribute to the
>proliferation of *information clutter*. Does the world really need
>ANOTHER gopher? IMNNSHO...(that's *In my not-necessarily-so humble
>opinion* 8-)...)
 
I think this is a REALLY good question.  It, luckily, has what I
consider to be a very simple answer.  The world does not need any more
sloppy, unorganized, cluttered gopher.  The world needs lots more
well organized and well maintained, specific, topical and useful
gophers.  In my opinion, more than half and closer to three
quarters of all gophers should be immediately removed from the Internet
and not put back on-line until they either have something useful to
say or until all the information is put into a cohesive format.   Jim Croft
often wonders why the written word, translated onto wood pulp, has more
weight than the electronic blips that get translated into words on your
computer screen.  The answer is organization; the packaging of information.
Whether a museum curator or contributor to museum-l, it is the PACKAGING
that determines the impact of information.
 
Cheers,
 
Robert Guralnick
Museum of Paleontology
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
[log in to unmask]
(510) 642-9696