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.