Saturday morning insomnia has allowed me to catch up with the last 24-48 hours of LstOwn-L traffic ... (Why is it so easy to wake up early on Saturday and Sunday but so difficult on weekdays?) This coming week I'll have the honor and pleasure of guest lecturing a graduate "Computer Communications" class on the Internet, ListServ, Usenet and related topics. Not having done much guest lecturing yet, I'm doing some serious prepping this weekend :-) To this end, the discussion of computer-user-to-novice-ListServ-list-owner transition and of interaction between users and technical support folks has been quite timely. And as LstOwn-L coordinator, it's served as a useful (and possiibly overdue) reminder to me to be mindful of how I deal with public and private inquiries, and to remember that no matter how much I still feel like a novice, it wasn't so very long ago that I knew even less than I do today. (A pretty scary thought :-) The gist of my comments on ListServ this coming Wednesday will be that it has literally revolutionized global electronic communication. Often (if poorly) imitated but never duplicated, ListServ has brought true human level interactivity to the global village. Under Eric Thomas' stewardship and through his impressive technical skill and responsiveness to user needs and desires, ListServ has continually grown in both functionality and user friendliness. Because life is often unfair, talented, involved, net-visible folks like Eric often are rewarded less with the praise their work deserves than with complaints and demands for more. Despite this, Eric keeps plugging away, constantly improving the product and addressing endless questions on several lists (LstSrv-L, LstSrv-M and, luckily for us, LstOwn-L -- these are just the lists that come to mind at the moment). To my mind, ListServ is a work of art: it lives, breathes and changes our lives for the better, individually and collectively. Apart from his postings on this list and LstSrv-L, and a handful of very helpful, pleasant private e-mail communications, I do not know Eric Thomas, but I consider him a serious and talented artist, and I very much appreciate his continuing presence and participation on LstOwn-L. (Having asked him more than my share of ill-considered or less-than-fully-thought-through questions, I also appreciate the patience he has shown me.) Regarding suggestions for a 'junior LstOwn-L,' it strikes me that (a) most basic questions posted to LstOwn-L get answered fairly quickly and well and don't seem to be resented by anyone on this list (in fact, we seem to collectively be a pretty friendly lot, anxious to be helpful to one another), (b) informal individual mentoring through private e-mail may be the most effective and efficient means of assisting our newest colleagues, and (c) creation of a 'junior LstOwn-L' list might dilute the resource we already have by denying the 'junior LstOwn-L' subscribers of the experience represented by longer-term LstOwn-L subscribers *and* by denying those longer-term LstOwn-L subscribers of the fresh insights provided through apparently 'naive' questions about how ListServ and list ownership work. It seems to me one list for all ListServ list owners should be able to suffice -- especially if the service offered by the existing list is enhanced to meet changing and growing needs (through offering more FAQ -- Frequently Asked Questions -- files for individual retrieval from the LstOwn-L Filelist, facilitating the informal mentoring desired by several subscribers, etc). I'm very willing to make whatever changes and improvements LstOwn-L subscribers feel would assist and enhance their activities as list owners, and I would hope we can accomplish this under one roof where we can all learn from each other, rather than segregating ourselves according to what are bound to be subjective judgments regarding our own levels of expertise. Your LstOwn-L list coordinator, John B Harlan [log in to unmask] Send postings to [log in to unmask] Send commands to [log in to unmask]