On Feb 6, 2009, at 5:30 AM, Reia M. Chmielowski wrote:
Sumit wrote (in reply to my request for help creating a list):
Can't we just stick to Geo-met and see how much traffic there is, before we start another list to look at / stop mails from coming when we go to the field / start again when we are back, forget to turn off the auto-reply... and so on and so forth...you get the idea? I am sure all of us could survive, even benefit from, a small dose of being perplexed. If a threshold is reached, then one can always start a new list. My two cents worth,
The main reason I thought to do a separate list is because the only reply I received on-list to a question asking for help with Perple_x here was the suggestion that it would be worth bothering Jamie about it, and the only off-list reply I received was a request to share any answer I obtained. This implied to me that most folk on this list aren't interested in answering such questions, but that there was at least one other interested in hearing such discussion. Creating a dedicated list and advertising it with the program, to my mind, increased the odds of someone on the list actually having a go at answering questions, since, in theory, only people interested in the topic would be present. I also tend to use filters in my e-mail program based upon which list the mail is coming from, and when time is short, I look in the folders in order of priority (which is subject to change from one week to another), so an extra list makes it easier for me. However, I haven't yet had to change addresses since subscribing to lists via this server. Does one need to change address for each list one at a time? With Yahoo one changes one's address in one place, and all lists to which the outgoing address had been subscribed change at once to the new address. I would have expected that an academic list server would be as convenient. If it isn't then your concern about the hassle of changing addresses is a valid one.
Does anyone else have an opinion? I've had a few people say they'd join such a list, one suggestion to go with Yahoo (which tends to be a major target of spam robots and other nasty side effects of e-mail, which is one reason I'm happier to stay with an academic server if possible--it is work-aroundable, but requires extra effort on the part of the moderators), but no suggestions for ways to create such a list on an academic server.
P.S. I am waiting to hear Jamie's answer to your question.
Sorry, I spent today on the microprobe--I'll send that on next.
--Reia
Reia M. Chmielowski
PhD Candidate
Department of Earth Sciences/CODES
University of Tasmania, Australia
(03) 6239 6666
0408 238 590
