My question is about the daily threshold and what happens to the messages that are held by LISTSERV once the daily threshold has been reached: I have the extreme misfortune to own a large (3,800 +) academically-oriented list. In the past, most discussion on it has been relatively academic and relevant to the stated purpose of the list, and the average of postings each day was about 25 - 30. However, two things have happened recently: the number of postings has increased explosively and their pedagogical value has declined precipitously. In fact, about 85% of our postings are worthless. (Please do not suggest a moderated or edited list....that is out of the question for reasons of philosophy and time) Which brings me to the daily threshold. Ours has been at the default (50 a day). The recent activity on the list has caused us to hit the threshold and significantly exceed it about 3/4 the time in the last 3 weeks. I have always issued a "FREE" command and the held messages have been released. But supposing I DON'T issue the "FREE" command? What happens to the held messages? Do they get held over to the next day (and added to that day's total)? Do they get discarded at the end of the day? If the held messages are simply discarded when no "FREE" command is issued, I think that I might have the solution to our "list-pollution" problem! I would like to hear from owners who have some experience with this. Here is my idea: Rather than RAISE the daily threshold to accommodate the increased traffic, how about LOWERING it? Since many of our members complain bitterly about the large message traffic and the low level of substance on the list, I feel that lowering the threshold and announcing it to the members might cause people to think more carefully before posting and then to post only that which will add to our knowledge or understanding of our field. I am hoping that people who use up the low threshold will be flamed into compliance! One additional note: the situation with my list is complicated further in that it is supported by a large federal grant, so continued postings of totally irrelevant garbage can easily jeopardize the continued financial support of the list. I personally wouldn't mind because I am ready to throw in the towel anyway, but I think that it would hurt many members who have legitimate academic interest in the stated purpose of the list and who are pained by its current gutter level. Peace, Anthea Tillyer City University of New York [log in to unmask]