Friends,
A thread that originally involved a post on a specific issue raised
by Don Norman has given birth to a new thread on what (and how)
different languages label designers.
Clearly this is a new thread.
Subject headers enable us to use the features of Listserv technology
and the excellent JISCMAIL web interface to track our thoughts, go
back to them -- even years later -- while conducting an informed and
informative conversation.
From time to time, I write offlist to some of my friends who post
to this list asking them to consider such issues as subject headers,
trimming replies, and the like. I get back bague mumbling apologies,
"Oh, yes, right. I forgot."
Being that we're a voluntary list, I certainly cannot require that anyone
demonstrate the common sense and simple netiquette that one would
expect in one's doctoral students. Even so, I find it hard to see that
professors cannot remember, internalize, and act on the simple kinds
of issues that we teach our research students with respect to thoughtful
scholarly communication. Admittedly, this list is not always a medium of
scholarly communication, but it is a medium of communication among
scholars, researchers, research students, and even a few scientists.
If it seems that I'm in my grumpy mode on this, it is because I am grumpy.
Listserv does a good job. The UK and JISC spend millions of pounds a year
providing us with a rich service. It seems shameful to me, a matter
for real embarassment, that the senior scholars on this list can't manage
the kinds of basic communication skills that my first-year students used to
master in a semester.
If I were preaching to doctoral students, I suppose I would try to show
greater empathy, but I'm addressing people who actually get paid to work
as scholars, engaging in scholarly and scientific communication for their
bread and butter. You people know better. You ought to do better. If you
don't demonstrate relevant expertise with respect to the tools of your
trade -- and JISCMAIL is such a tool -- why should research students
presume that you possess the expertise to offer the presumably expert
opinions you offer in so many posts?
My two cents.
Ken Friedman
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