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

[Roy Tennant]

I'm not sure where this idea that email discussion lists are "silos" any
more than blogs, wikis, Twitter, etc. Web4Lib has been browseable and
searchable by anyone since shortly after its debut in 1994. The fact that
individual posts are easily located in Google has been a point of contention
for some. 

I welcome diversity of communication channels, which allows people to
participate in professional discussions however they wish, but I don't seen
any of these communication channels going away any time soon, and as Leo
points out, list subscribership is very healthy -- Web4Lib has never had
more subscribers than it does today, some 4,790 hardy souls who apparently
are either too lazy to unsubscribe or continue to find value in it.
Roy


On 6/30/09 6/30/09 € 6:50 AM, "Leo Robert Klein" <leo at leoklein.com> wrote:

> You know, it's funny:  At the time I put together the Drupal4lib list
> (way back in 12/2007), a few people commented that it was 'old school'
> and that I was creating/perpetuating yet another 'library silo'.
> 
> Within a couple hours of the announcement, we had over 100 subscribers.
>   We doubled that within a couple of days.  I should really check but I
> think we're over 500 at the moment.
> 
> Just because it's old doesn't mean it's worn out.  Either that, or
> librarians love their silos.
> 
> LEO
> 
> -- -------------------
> www.leoklein.com (site)
> www.ChicagoLibrarian.com (blog)
> 
> aim/msn/yhoo/goog: 'leorobertklein'
> -- -------------------------------
> 
> 
> B.G. Sloan wrote:
>>>> Young, Jeffrey R. Change or Die: Scholarly E-Mail Lists, Once Vibrant,
>>>> Fight for Relevance. Chronicle of Higher Education. June 25, 2009.
>>>> http://beta.chronicle.com/article/Change-or-Die-Scholarly/46962/
>>>> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 

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