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 [log in to unmask]