In a message dated 8/9/01 7:01:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> don't see a great deal of benefit in public archives. What I value about a
> list like this is its informality. I don't rewrite my postings over and
over
> before sending them, as I would if they were articles published in a
> magazine - it's more like chatting with friends in the pub. When archives
> are generally available, there is always a doubt as to whether this
> informality may catch one out. We may, for example, express opinions about
> the work of other poets which, while perfectly unmalicious and
> intellectually defensible, might hurt their feelings if they had access to
> them. There was the discussion a year or so back about Jo Shapcott, which
it
> eventually transpired she was reading and had been upset by. Public
> criticism has an important place, but when you know it *is* public, you
have
> to think that much harder about how you phrase it to avoid giving
> unnecessary offence, and some of the spontaneity is lost. If we want to
make
> public comments, there are plenty of magazines, both in print and on the
> net, which we can submit them to. I can't see what benefits can be set
> against that loss of spontaneity. There is no real need to submit our
> proceedings to public scrutiny - we're not a business or a court of law
that
> we have to show everyone our incorruptibility. All we do is talk about
> poetry, and those that don't like the company or the conversation have lots
> of other places where they can talk about it.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Matthew
Matthew,
I'm not sure your reasons are holding water. Almost anyone
(except for a very short list one hopes) can join this list, get
him/herself a password, and dive right into those archives...
however filled they may be with your/my casually dashed off
or too-late regretted ("Omigod, I wish I hadn't sent that")
missives...So it's really not a matter of our privacy as much
as it is an issue of "ease of access"by interested parties, those
beyond the password's admittedly lightly-constructed pale.
One reason an archive is kept is informational: information
is better served when readily available.
Finnegan
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