First of all, a question for Mr. Chadwick: how old is MUSEUM-L? It has clearly grown very rapidly and, like any growing process, has had its painful moments. I don't think they should be considered as indicative of much beyond that...glitches such as duplicate messages are exactly the kinds of things to which I am refering. The plethora of misdirected SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE, where unintentional, reflect the relative technological innocence that exists in so many insitutions where someone with a desktop computer suddenly discovers the Internet, and the listservs, and sallies forth. Like fledglings, they should be encouraged...not flamed by some who are not all THAT much more proficient. Comments and questions by some who appear to feel themselves to be 'Net-mavens give clear evidence that they themselves do not know of what they are speaking. In particular, the recent discussions about the use of the World Wide Web is an especially excellent example. The guilty know who they are...may their mailboxes be truly clogged by junk e-mail. (SPAMFEST!!!) Which brings up a second area of comment: this isn't THAT active a list. I monitor 8 lists, several of which are as busy if not busier than this one. I'm not bragging -- atleast three are for professional reasons ( I edit a column about one of those three lists for a professional organization and the other two lists are content-related to the first), so I do have a reason for doing this. I've had to learn a lot of UNIX arcana along the way and it hasn't killed me yet. If this list seems to busy, then reconsider the reasons for being subscribed to it. It isn't de riguer to be monitoring it. The world won't end if you don't. You might actually have time to get some work done. (On the other hand, I wind up doing most of my reading at home...so, I've had to make my compromises, too!) ...and segue to point three: this has certainly been one of the most FRACTIOUS lists I have ever read! ...and as I have already said, my experience is not limited to 1 or 2 lists. About a year or so ago, there was a long running discussion on the ARCHIVES-L (ARCHIVES and ARCHIVISTS) about whether or not Listserv membership was representative of the membership of the SAA, the Society of American Archivists, considered to be THE national professional organization, comparable in scope to the museum world's AAM. I will spare the details, but the truth finally emerged that the list was NOT the SAA. HOWEVER, and this is important, a significant number of SAA officers were on the listserv and they did not hesitate to speak up on issues. There are several regional professinal archives organizations and they have the effect of making the SAA a surprisingly vigorous organization. What I am not seeing is that same kind of involvement and vigor on this list. What I see is too much of the insular behavior that museums have been accused of for far too long. I would have thought that there would be more of an effort to open up the institutions, atleast to their peers. But then, I also know that there are far too many institutions who see themselves without peer. Such attitudes (and egos!) should be checked at the keyboard -- on the Internet, no one knows you are a dog, to quote a New Yorker cartoon. Well, I'm only on my second cup of coffee and it's going to be a full day, so I'll end this diatribe. I would just ask members to be a little more patient and understanding AND GENTLE in their use of the list. This is a precious communication resource and we should use it responsibly, intelligently, and constructively. End of sermon...flame me personally, not on the list. (UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD OF INTEREST TO THE WHOLE LIST!!). *********************************************************************** Dennis Moser (313)271-1620 x 657 Project Photo Archivist Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village Send E-mail to one of the following: [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] (w/ subject line="Dennis") "Blessed are the Flexible...for they shall not be bent out of shape..." ***********************************************************************