You've hit the nail on the head there Aidan. I stopped posting to this
list after receiving some really rather unpleasant messages off-list
(not for the first time) for daring to express my opinions a few years
ago. It's not about needing a thicker skin, it's about getting fed up
with receiving snide remarks privately from people who apparently don't
have the courage to post those remarks to the list at large. I've never
had that problem with any other list I've been on - people are usually
perfectly happy to post their opinions on-list, so I'm not sure why the
problem exists here. Could it be because we're a small community and
people are worried that if they express their views publicly then it may
cause them problems in their career? I very much got the impression that
many people on this list have a problem with any sort of opinion being
expressed, particularly one that may be vaguely controversial. 'Rocking
the boat' seems to be seen as something that archivists shouldn't do -
maybe we really are just too insignificant and invisible and a lot of
people think we should stay that way?!
I'm aware of the SoA forum, but I don't like them very much. One has to
actually log onto a forum to read and post - it's much easier just to
receive posts by email in real time without needing to be on a
particular website at the time. I don't think they are or should be a
replacement for email discussion lists.
James
James King
Senior Assistant Archivist
Modern Records Centre
University of Warwick Library
Coventry
CV4 7AL
Tel: +44 (0) 24 7652 4493
Fax: +44 (0) 24 7652 4211
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http://modernrecords.warwick.ac.uk/
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>>> Aidan Jones <[log in to unmask]> 08/04/06 08:35am >>>
I have expressed broadly similar views on this list in previous years,
e.g.
(Nov 2002 & May 2005): "Many valuable contributions are very probably
being
largely lost through not being posted directly to the whole membership
...
It didn't used to be like this, and it's easy enough to skip topics
where
they have no obvious personal relevance ... Wouldn't some extra
controversy
be more stimulating, and be a healthy trait within any profession?
Or is
life in most other repositories absolutely idyllically perfect - in
which
case, would anyone care to account for their remarkable success?"
One or two people subsequently suggested to me that they had been
discouraged from further posting after receiving unsympathetic replies
off-list - sometimes from complete strangers. A need to develop a
thicker
skin, perhaps? Another suggestion was that the unwelcome intrusion of
external political issues in the past had tried the patience of a
number
of former members.
Having an SoA forum is all very well (for those comparatively few
people who
are aware of its existence). However, it seems to me a pity if
non-SoA
members wishing to contribute were then to be prevented from
explaining
their particular perspectives. Furthermore, some individuals simply
prefer
the written medium to "getting a group of people in a room as part of
a
facilitated discussion group". It needs to be recognised that each
medium
has both its advantages and its disadvantages.
For those who dislike receiving a lot of postings at work, I would
suggest:
(a) If possible, use your mailing software to set up a separate folder
into
which Archives-NRA messages are automatically filtered, or
(b) Use the delete key ruthlessly to quickly remove all messages you
are
not 100% sure that you want to read. If you subsequently change your
mind
about a particular message or topic, you will still be able to read it
all
via http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/archives-nra.html.
However, I suspect I'm probably flogging a mainly dead horse (or
whatever
the appropriate metaphor is).
Aidan Jones,
Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow.
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