MSNBC Column on David Burt

[Pilon, Danielle: IHAB]

I can't believe I'm coming out of lurk mode for something this trivial,   
but I do feel very strongly about what constitutes good netiquette on   
mailing lists...

Christopher Locke wrote:

>>At 06:26 AM 8/21/97 -0700, CMUNSON wrote:
>>     Believing one's press does not a revolutioon make, as any seasoned   

>>     political activist will tell you.
>>
>>     Does anybody else find David's self-promotion annoying?
>
>what I really find annoying -- and I've seen it several times here and
>been the object of it once myself -- is this talk of so-called
>"self-promotion."
> <snip>
>I wonder whether, if David Burt (whom I do not know at all)
>hadn't posted a notice of this article himself, it would have
>shown up here at all.
> <snip>
>Just for the record, none of this should be taken to indicate
>that I place myself in the pro-filtering camp.  I just dislike
>power-tripping and intimidation from *any* quarter.

Well, I dislike having my disk space hogged by anyone. Mr. Burt is   
entitled to post his citation to this list, as many other subscribers do.   
But they are usually polite enough to email _only_ the citation (paper or   
web). Sending the whole article, as he did, is **rude.** It's especially   
annoying to anyone who receives this list in digest form (like me) and   
had to scroll down past lines & lines of it in order to read the next   
message.

It's not that I don't appreciate Mr. Burt's messages -- indeed, I'm   
thankful that he keeps us informed of his one-man crusade ;-)  But   
providing us with a pointer to his interview, in case we feel inclined to   
read it, is sufficient. Assuming that we all want to see it right away is   
a little presumptuous.
</lecture>

Thanks for listening to my Emily Post impression....

Danielle Pilon // pilon.danielle at ic.gc.ca
LibraryNet
Industry Canada
Phone  613-941-8230
Fax  613-941-1296