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Dear All In a busy life, I very much welcome the specific issues raised (and answers)which stimulate my overall archival views and help keep me up to date with current thinking in action. It is all too easy to keep one's head down over the latest set of boxes to come into the office. We shouldn't underestimate the great silent majority who read, print out and delete without necessarily joining in each debate. Cheers Anna Greening Archivist, The Fawcett Library On Mon, 10 Jul 2000 23:44:59 +0100 Aidan Jones <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Schofield, Richard <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 12:34 PM > Subject: Replies to archives-nra > > > > Dear All > > > > While I can appreciate that people do not want their in-boxes filling up > > with mailbase messages all day, it does concern me that an increasing > number > of requests for information ask for replies 'off list'. Obviously, > not all > > enquiries are relevant to all subscribers (and many are repetitive) but > > surely part of the point of the listserv is to generate discussion and > > illuminate pertinent issues. > > > Sorry if this is not something that meets with any support, or is 'old > hat', > > but I had to get it off my chest! > > I entirely agree ... in fact I had been considering a posting along very > similar lines. It is not, after all, very difficult to delete messages > where the subject line suggests content which is not relevant to one's > needs - nor is there any necessity to spend time reading them. (The > majority of messages to this list probably suffer this same fate from most > of the members!) > > In recent weeks the list seems to have been dominated mainly by > announcements regarding different jobs and meetings. No doubt these have > their place - but they don't make for especially stimulating reading, nor > offer much scope for people interacting and exchanging ideas online. > > Surely there must be more people out there who can think of some things > about the archive profession which they would like to change - and who could > offer suggestions as to how we might at least begin doing so. Or how about > filling in some answers to at least one or two questions like: > > * The things I least like about the Archive profession are ... > * The thing about Archives which I most wish I had known earlier is ... > * The most difficult members of the public are ... [wouldn't necessarily > have to name names, but it might be interesting to hear how you have handled > them] > * The reasons why we ought/ought not to be paid more are ... [I know these > issues have been raised before - but surely that one will still get people > going!] > * The best thing that we've achieved this year is ... > * The most curious item I ever discovered was ... > > Any others? Some people might ask why I'm not so far offering any answers > for my own part - but for the moment let it suffice that I am raising the > issues. > > Finally - let no-one try to say that questions like these should only be > raised in the newsletter, or at archive meetings. If they are worth > discussing (and I think they are) then it doesn't particularly matter which > venue is chosen - or if they are raised in several different places. > > Aidan Jones, > Cumbria Record Office, Barrow. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anna Greening Archivist, The Fawcett Library London Guildhall University [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%