[Web4lib] Are e-mail discussion lists still relevant?

[Louise Alcorn]

Though I get David's point, I have to agree with Karen in essence - I
"miss" more with RSS because it requires a deliberation that the more
passive email does not.  Yes, I'm admitting my laziness, what of it?
Like all of you, I have limited time and even more limited energy some
days.  I make the effort for those things - and lists - that are
important, like Web4Lib, but I'm more likely to passively pick up gems
from other sources if they're skimming in front of my eyes via email.
Like Thomas and others, I sort my email using Outlook, so I can be a
*little* deliberate about when I read my lists, but they're still just
at my fingertips.  

Someone mentioned SMS at one point.  I am not a technophobe, far from
it, but I despise when I'm talking to someone and their cell phone is
beeping/vibrating/ringing/being checked every 10 seconds because they
have all their twitter/friendfeed/rss posts going to it.  I think there
are better technologies for different situations, and they can vary
based on personal choice and inclination.  

Louise

Louise E. Alcorn
Reference Technology Librarian
West Des Moines Public Library
4000 Mills Civic Pkwy
West Des Moines IA 50265
(515) 222-3573      louise.alcorn at wdm-ia.com
http://www.wdmlibrary.org   


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of K.G. Schneider

If you are engaging with peers, colleagues, friends, family, etc.
(rather than simply having things "come to you"), then RSS is not quite
as effective. It may point you to ongoing conversations but you will
still have to use another tool to participate. 

I have found myself disengaging with RSS in some instances and going
back to email because it was a more effective tool. That even includes
some "read-only" behavior, such as commits for an open source project,
news flashes, etc. 

Karen G. Schneider