Dear all,

this matter was solved on Sunday morning MEZ, but unfortunately Randy accused us, quite unethically, afterwards in the list as private eMail extractors and spammers.  As Randy did not include our exchange of eMails during the past weekend, I beg your pardon if my answer to the list is a bit longer than usual.

He (again) confuses
- EXPOTIME!
- our eMails concerning EXPOTIME! to the list and
- one eMail he got from us concerning EXPOTIME!, which had been a crossposted some days later.

Additionally, he apparently mixes magazines with newsletters, actions requiring approval and actions not requiring approval. His construction of MUSEUM-L as a "private list" is a bit funny because all active members are registered professionals and we are dealing here with facts and topics absolutely not on Facebook level, but on top level professionalism. The required registration to MUSEUM-L does not make the list private - it is nothing but a useful tool to keep the list open only to museum professionals  and museum topics.

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WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
EXPOTIME! is a scientific magazine which is increasingly read worldwide, and apparently loved in the United States. Museum specialists in the US play an impressive part in our readership. Many of them have already registered as premium readers of the magazine.

EXPOTIME! exists since over 5 years and is published by our publication company in Munich, Germany. The company is specialized in museum and conservation and is run by Dr. Christian Müller-Straten (the sender). After finishing his studies of history of art, science of communication and political sciences at Munich's Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU, a qualified elite university) with a thesis on the visual culture of British trade unions, he worked for more than 20 years for WELTKUNST Verlag, Springer and FAZ publishing groups. He started his own specialized publishing company in 1995 with magazines and books on museums, museology and conservation.
He is also a contributor to museological publications, magazine articles, and author and editor of the "Das Fachwörterbuch für Kunst und Architektur" (a German-French-English dictionary), "KONSERVATIV" (an special online dictionary, German-English, for conservators), "Inventarisation. Theorie und Praxis musealer Dokumentation" and of  "Fälschungserkennung" (2 vols.). Dr. Müller-Straten is a member of ICOM Germany and IIC Austria, a subdivision of IIC London.

Dr. Adelheid Straten finished her PH. D. also at LMU Munich in art history, archaeology and German philology. Before joining the publication company, she worked in museums and gained long-term experience as well as a researcher for a the largest cultural heritage conservation company in Bavaria and as chief librarian.

ARE WE EXTRACTING ALL MUSEUM-L LIST eMail ADDRESSES?
We are members of the MUSEUM-L list and, in contrast to other member-publishers (like Anne W. Ackerson or Robin) of the list, active contributors to the MUSEUM-L list on many museum questions since years. The MUSEUM-L list is for us an excellent means of specialized communication and we classify the list as the big ideal for the German MUSEUMS-THEMEN list.

Of course, we have not extracted all 5,123 eMail addresses from the list. If this would be true, it would be nonsense to inform the MUSEUM-L list additionally... In no single case we have willingly extracted private eMails from any source whatsoever.

As the museum community is devoted to international standards, international exchange of knowledge is important. Museum professionalism does not grow on secretiveness. Therefore, we are actively quoting in each issue museum discussions from the net (as also other modern publishers do). For example, in the recent EXPOTIME! issue, we were quoting selected discussions from TWITTER on the British Museum, from MUSEUM-L and (translated) from the German MUSEUMS-THEMEN list. The selection criteria is: is it more private or a discussion worth distributing worldwide to museum specialists, because important museum topics were discussed?

In order to quote scientifically, we have to mention the posting member and her/his contact data according to LISTSERVE if our readers wishes to dig deeper via the list or off-list. In many cases, posters outfit their statements with their public position information, phone numbers and postal addresses.

So it's  LISTSERV who extracts eMail addresses when sending the postings to MUSEUM-L members. It's in the nature of things that eMail addressses in discussions of professional character are public addresses. All members of discussion lists have generally agreed to receive both: all information spread via the list on MUSEUM-L topics, as well as direct answers and reactions to the eMail addresses made open by LISTSERVE.

We are forwarding the EXPOTIME! link also to some MUSEUM-L activists whose eMail addresses have been provided by LISTSERV, as they have shown a vital interest to exchange their knowledge. In return, we inform them personally since years on the recent outcome of a EXPOTIME! issues. We do this in return to their highly professional hints, in gratitude and respect, as a compliment and friendly gesture.

As EXPOTIME! is no newsletter and our direct notes on the event of publication are no newsletters but a hint to colleagues, the recipients can
1) either follow the hint by free own decision 
2) or discount the hint
3) or discount and delete the hint
4) or ask us to delete his/her eMail address generally from our lists. In fact, this happens about twice a year worldwide... As we have reacted in the past on such wishes properly without regard of form, we do MORE than all known laws demand. In this particular case, we have deleted Randy's eMail last Sunday morning from our list - even without his explicit wish when we realized that Randy is apparently at least not interested in our off-list notes.

ARE WE SPAMMERS?
Some spams are only made for distributing virusses. Most spam definitions equal the Wikipedia entry:

Electronic spamming is the use of electronic messaging systems to send an unsolicited message (spam), especially advertising, as well as sending messages repeatedly on the same site...( mass mailings)."

All three criteria (virusses, unsolicited advertising messages, mass mailings to the same address) do not apply. We are neither spamming MUSEUM-L, nor single MUSEUM-Ler. We are neither missionaries, nor have we commercial interests (as EXPOTIME! is free of charge worldwide), nor are we shelling MUSEUM-L or private accounts.

On the other hand, LISTSERV/MUSEUM-L runs an excellent working spam filter which hitherto, at no time, was directed against our postings.

As members of the same group MUSEUM-L (which was made for knowledge transfer und communication among all people interested in museums), neither Randy has to ask me if I want to receive his statements, nor I have to ask Randy if he wants to receive my statements.

WHAT IS EXPOTIME!'s "SUBSCRIBE"  and "UNSUBSCRIBE"?
The distribution of EXPOTIME! is different to other media. As reading is free of charge, therefore no typical subscription is needed. What we call "ADD ME AS EXPOTIME! READER" (in the ref. line of an empty eMail to [log in to unmask]) means that the respective person behind the eMail address explicitly wants to get informed each time a new issue has appeared, one week earlier than others. The same content, by the way, can be forwarded to us by phone, fax, letter or longer eMail. The so-called subscriber receives the link to the issue and some useful additional information. Viceversa, with a simple "UNSUBSCRIBE" or "DELETE ME AS EXPOTIME! READER" or communication by letter, phone, fax etc. of similar content (!) the recipient will be taken immediately from our list of premium readers, but keeps the possibility to read the magazine behind schedule free of charge in the future without our knowledge.

Best

[log in to unmask]">

Whoever these people are they should not be extracting list email addresses and sending people unsolicited OFF LIST emails.  

First because they are violating US Law (and several other countries) by not including an unsubscribe link.

Second, because I can't think of anything more unethical then exacting email address from a private REGISTERED ONLY mailing list that goes above and beyond to prevent list spam.  

 

Randy S. Little

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