On Fri, 23 Oct 1992 02:27:18 EDT Roger Burns said:
>I've been warned about how the nature of our list discussions may
>change and that there may be troublesome flames, etc.  With this
>in mind, I'm thinking of setting up some simple rules for the
>list (which is and shall remain unmoderated).
>
 
There isn't much you can do to make people follow whatever rules
you have.  It still depends on some gentle or not-so-gentle
persuasion via email and sometimes to the list.
 
>Where can I find discussions and/or examples about rules that have
>been tried on other lists?  If this has been discussed a lot beforehand
>I would appreciate anyone suggesting when this may have been discussed
>in depth, in order to help me in doing a search of the LSTOWN-L archives.
>
 
I think it was last Feb or March here, there was some discussion
(I asked the same questions :-)  )
 
>Any other advice about linking a list to a USENET newsgroup will be
>appreciated.  BTW I'll mention that 1st we will be setting up a
 
It seems to depend on the list topic.  A technical, tightly defined
list is probably less inclined to nourish flames than one that, by
the nature of the topic, just begs for flames.
   One of my lists on Southeast Asian studies just finished another
battle over independence for East Timor, for example. But with
passionately held, although not always informed, beliefs, that
seems to be endemic to a list like that.  And there is also
a tendency to go completely adrift of the list parameters.
As Eric says, some people believe they have the right to post
anything to any list.
    I try to follow the list closely and send mail whenever
*I* think it appropriate.  I do consider myself an "editor"--
not in the sense any real editing is done, but I try to keep
the desires and interests of the subscribers, as well as the
list topic, in mind.  It is not heavy-handed and dependent on
what I happen to like or agree with--it's just an attempt to
keep the list valuable to the discipline and serious subscribers.
    This list also has a great number of students from the
Southeast Asian area, so they are very senstitive to what anybody
says about their homeland.
 
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Elliott Parker                   Bitnet: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM
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