Dear list members
a big thank you to all who contributed to the
lively 'defining and scoping of the lis-pub-libs mail list' discussion,
which I now declare officially closed. There were 34
mailings on the topic, which beats the great 'date stamp' debate
by 10 (24 postings). 3 people left the list during the debate - but this
may have been coincidental - several new members joined by way of
compensation.
The general feeling seems to be that the list
should retain a fairly broad remit, as this gives members the freedom
to discuss a range of issues.
However, some expressed the view
that multiple postings e.g. advertising courses, should be
discouraged, especially when the courses have little relevance to implementing
networked services. 'Swamping' did not seem to be much of a problem, although
the 'out of office' automated replies are a nuisance - I'm looking
into this one.
I am also aware that there is a certain
amount of overlap with the People's Network discussion list. The
PN list states that it is for: 'news, info and discussions relating to the PN
project and related networking initiatives.' I will discuss
this further with the PN team in future.
I would therefore advocate that, for the
present, lis-pub-libs continues to be defined quite broadly, as its title
suggests, but with a networked services focus - as far as possible. I
suggest: 'a forum for discussing issues relating
to implementing the current public library agenda' would cover
all the current issues relating to e-government, social
inclusion, marketing services, UKonline/learndirect centres/ lifelong learning,
attracting new users etc. as well as the more to day to day issues
relating to systems and services.
I hope you all continue to benefit from being a
member of this list. One way forward, which I've seen work well with US based
lists, is to set themes for discussion during a pre-defined period.
However, this need moderating and is time consuming. It would also
have to run parallel to the general fact finding and knowledge sharing function
of the list.
Please email me personally if you wish to
comment on any of the points I've raised here and I will summarise for
the list. Thank you.
Penny Garrod
Public Library Networking
Focus
UKOLN
University of Bath BA2 7AY