Hello Essex and all

Your message and the energetic discussion it has generated are very timely, as work is finally due to begin on a new, more usable GEM website.   

Incidentally we are looking for a couple of people interested in helping, so if you can offer some of your time (editorial, rather than technical) please email me off list.    

One point that has emerged from this discussion thread so far is that the GEM list should be highlighted more prominently on the website, as well as at events and in other ways, since even some GEM members are not actually aware of it.           

Another is that the list should continue to be, as it always has been, open to all working in or around museum learning, rather than an exclusive fringe benefit of GEM membership.   As you put it Essex, the list itself is an excellent advertisement for joining GEM, as it shows "in a practical way, the wider benefits of membership."    Or expressed in market-oriented language, the GEM list can be viewed as offering a Freemium model (start with free, move to Premium), by illustrating the value to individuals and the sector to be gained by joining and strengthening GEM.

But the main value of the GEM list is not that it will encourage people to join GEM (although that certainly is a good objective) or even that there are lots of subscribers (currently 1864), but rather the ways in which it is used, which are a direct result of the openness of the list.  

The GEM list reflects the ethos that pervaded GEM around the time the list was created, when everything was done on a voluntary basis and there was a real sense of 'helping each other learn our way to helping other people learn'.     In recent years, GEM's operating costs have increased significantly, unfortunately coinciding with periods of decreasing funds and staffing levels and hence GEM membership.   This has led to various attempts to monetise things considered of value.  

An unfortunate example was the GEM Freelancers list which, against strong advice from its users, was restricted to those willing to pay a significant fee.   The number of freelancers on the list is now down to 8, making it a not very useful place to look for a freelancer, and therefore not a very good place to advertise!   On the other hand the recently created GEM jobs page is doing well, which is good to see.  

The GEM list was set up in the late 1990s by Roland Jackson, my line manager at the time in the Learning Unit at the Science Museum.   I have managed it for the last 15 years or so, and along with others have resisted attempts to replace it with a fenced-in, perhaps even charged for 'forum'.     Imagine if what happened to the freelancers list, happened to the GEM list…

A useful comparison is with the Digital Learning Network DLNET list (previously called ELEARNING list), which was created more recently.  It has 578 subscribers, so is smaller than the GEM list.   But the key difference is that the DLNET list is still almost only used for announcements (as GEM was at first) and there are not many sustained exchanges.   Those of us involved in DLNET have tried various ways of stimulating discussion, but it does not yet have the same ethos as the GEM list.  

The number of subscribers to the GEM list makes it possible to share and gather information to and from lots of people, but its main value (in ILfA language) lies in the activity, behaviour, attitudes and values that are expressed and shaped via the list itself.    It takes a long time and lots of very positive people to create that kind of atmosphere.  I agree wholeheartedly with those who say that we should look after it and promote its wider use.

Incidentally, for anyone who is interested in digital technology being used to encourage learning, please do join the DLNET list, and start using it in a 'GEM list' way.     

In case it's useful, here is some info on how to join or leave email lists,  and how to suspend mail while on holiday:

How to change settings on JISCMAIL lists (including GEM and DLNET)

You don't need to create a password.   You can do almost everything by just sending emails to the 'listserv'.     For example:

To join or leave the GEM list just email this message to [log in to unmask] :

subscribe/unsubscribe GEM Yourfirstname Yourlastname

Q. How do I stop messages when I go on holiday?     (Especially if you use an 'out of office' auto response…)

A. If you are going away, and want to temporarily halt email from a group, change your 'mail status' setting from MAIL to NOMAIL. To do this send the following command to [log in to unmask]

set * nomail
--

and when you return, send:

set * mail
--

These and other _even more exciting_ bits of information are at:

www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/subscribers/faq.html

Martin Bazley

--

GEM and DLNET lists owner

On 06 May 2015 at 21:10 Susan Pope <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Very good points and yes as a convenor I'm always trying to share what's going on and encourage more members. The benefits of being a member, with access to fellow professionals, information and training is so valuable and has always been so throughout my career.

 

I have spoken to many education officers over the years who have heard of GEM but for one reason or another cannot afford to join, budget cuts, personal circumstances etc. I agree that more marketing might help but I totally agree with Jenni's point that interdepartmental communication in some organisations between learning and collections teams is stilted. GEM being what learning people do. It is lovely to see people attend GEM training days from archives, libraries and collections too - all are welcome! 

 

I think we can all help each other here by spreading the word in true GEM fashion.

 

Sue

Www.merrienoyse.com

Sent from my iPad

On 6 May 2015, at 20:42, Jenni Waugh < [log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hello Essex

 

Nice to hear from you – it’s been quiet lately...

 

Most odd observation.  When out and about, I always encourage colleagues, volunteers, interns and students to sign up to the GEM list at the very least, as I have found it to be extremely useful in my work.  I also love the robust discussions that we have here, and the generous way in which GEM members (online and offline) share their knowledge, skills and experience.

 

However, might the blank response you received depend on the employment level of the people you asked?  Might GEM be regarded by senior managers as not strategic enough? Maybe operational staff are not sure they are welcome on list without invitation/paid-up membership?  Both of these statements are erroneous, but it’s amazing what preconceptions make a person dismiss a good thing...

 

Might it be affected by institutional membership?  If your organisation is a member, the connections might be pushed harder internally.  Given the number of museum-focussed organisations that we can subscribe to (MA, AIM, GEM, county or regional federations and any number of SSNs) individuals and organisations have to make tricky economic choices and they might not have clocked that the GEMlist is free...

 

Or their job title?  From time to time, I still encounter the ‘glass wall’ between curatorial departments and learning/development teams.  The deliberate internal distinction between ‘department’ and ‘team’ is often the giveaway that, although both groups of people are there to promote learning, they often do so in different ways and in separate rooms...

 

Feel free to shoot me down on this...  I feel a profile-raising survey and campaign coming on...  Follow Essex to the barricades!!!!!