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

Tue Jun 30 13:32:09 EDT 2009

For me it is very easy to set up Microsoft Outlook to divide things up into folders and use rules to automatically send things into the folders I want to find them in by senders address or subject line content.  I have all my folders in the left pane of the Outlook Window and I can see how much info I have from each list that way in one view.  Of course what works for me may not work for other people.  We each need to find a workflow that works for us.

Of course I have a network news folder that combines everything from Network World, Info Week and Redmond Report, and I am three weeks behind in reading that news.

Thomas Edelblute
Public Access Systems Coordinator
Anaheim Public Library

-----Original Message-----
From: Frances, Melodie [mailto:mfrances at gtu.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 10:18 AM
To: Thomas Edelblute; James Day; web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Are e-mail discussion lists still relevant?

Actually I DON'T like listservs - everything is all in one pile (who has
time to set up folders and even if I did I would never read them lol) -
I actually finally signed off of autocat even though I need the
announcement type stuff because it has too much traffic.

I would rather have a kind of news thing with announcements separated
from discussion - personally I think we still use listservs because we
are familiar with them and with most of us having to constantly learn
new 'harder' stuff we just stay with stuff we do know. Plus, god knows I
do NOT want to subscribe to a blog or another social sight or anything
else - I'm amazed the brain can hold as many logons that it does but I
do not want to add more.

Time is the mitigating factor here - the time it takes to get the
information that YOU want, the time it takes to learn one more frickin
system - and of course, the time it takes to do 2-3 jobs.

Interesting that this discussion is happening on a listserv ...

Melodie Morgan Frances
Head of Cataloging
Graduate Theological Union
mfrances at gtu.edu
510-649-2521

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Edelblute
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:16 AM
To: 'James Day'; 'web4lib at webjunction.org'
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Are e-mail discussion lists still relevant?

Due to my workload, I have to make priorities of what I have time to
read.  E-mail is the first and foremost.  It is always up and in my
face.  My RSS feeds I might get to once or twice per week.  Blogs I
might look at once per month or less often than that.

Maybe you have time to look at other things, but I had four down
machines yesterday so everything, including e-mail, took a back seat
yesterday.

Thomas Edelblute
Public Access Systems Coordinator
Anaheim Public Library

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of James Day
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:01 AM
To: 'web4lib at webjunction.org'
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Are e-mail discussion lists still relevant?

I have wondered over the years as to why librarians still like their
email
lists.  In Libraries, online discussion forums (or bulletin boards) are
a
completely overlooked Web 2.0 service.  Within many other industries and
communities, forums are much more prevalent.  Forums can be thought of
as a
collection of mini blogs where everyone is equal and free to start a
discussion and get comments.  They have the following advantages:

* Forums are Web-based rather than email-based.

* Forums are instant archives and searchable immediately without having
to
try to find out where the email archives are located.

* Forums can be subscribed to so that you will receive an email
notification
when a new comment has be made; the emails can even include the post
content
so you have, in effect, an email list built in.

* Forums are still asynchronous, yet can provide the ability for
real-time,
instant message-like communication.

* Forums can be as public or private as the administrators and members
wish.
Individual forums can be hidden unless the person is registered and
belongs
to an appropriate group.

* Forums do not display your email address when you post but allow for
the
sending of email or private messages via the forums.

Forums (or bulletin boards) ARE social networking sites: they allow
avatars
and profiles and friends and such.  But forums are FOCUSED services and
discussion content is the main draw.  They don't have to be as general
as
Facebook or even Ning, but small Web "silos" which can have more
exposure
than an email list.  Much forum software (such as phpBB and YaBB) is
open
source and is even included as a module in Drupal.

I'm willing to test whether librarians prefer email lists or are ready
to
try online forums.  Recently I built a website with a blog and
discussion
forums for just this reason (and nicely integrated WordPress with phpBB
for
a seamless look).  It is a GENERAL librarian discussion site, not
specifically for just the tech geeks among us.  The website is called
LibraryPros with the blog at http://librarypros.com and the discussion
forums at http://librarypros.com/forums.  Let me know what you think,
via
forum or email list.

James Day

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