On Mon, 10 Apr 1995 20:23:47 UTC Robert Moss said:
>I am very interested in your thoughts.  Is it common practice to force
>lists into a moderated status?  Can you share some of the general
>guidelines you use when determining which lists to allow and which
>to deny?  Any requirements by which the List-Owner must abide?
 
   We don't have any official policies set, but we try to encourage the
   use of semi-moderated lists.  By that, I mean that the list members
   are free to post and the 'moderator' deals with them in a reactive
   manner.
 
   As far as fully moderated lists (where all list mail is sent to the
   moderator for possible distribution), I've found that they tend not
   to work well unless the list is extremely low volume.  All of my
   experience with list moderatorship comes from entertainment-type
   lists, so I'm not sure what the situation would be with professional
   lists.
 
   As to which lists to allow/disallow, we pretty much only accept
   lists which are educational in nature or lists which are politically
   expedient for us to offer.
 
   The issue of List Owner requirements is a personal irritation of mine.
   For the most part, we allow the moderator to run his list as he sees
   fit, at least until we start getting complaints.  At that time, we'll
   review the situation and act accordingly.  My own problem is that I
   feel too many list moderators don't encourage the use of proper
   netiquette, although it would be much easier if someone would write a
   comprehensive document on the subject.  I have done so for the list
   which I moderate.
 
   Anyway, I hope this rambling will prove of some use to you.
 
                                                Brad Samek
                                              [log in to unmask]