On Fri, 14 Oct 1994 13:56:56 EST Tom DeLoughry said:
> Dear List Owners:
>
> The Chronicle of Higher Education is planning an
> article on the role that Internet mailings lists
> are playing in scholarly communication.
>
> I would love to hear from some of you who can
> report on the role you think your lists are
> playing in your respective disciplines.
>
> Please write to me at the address below.
>
> I'm interested in knowing why people take
> on the responsibilities of managing lists?
I was a subscriber to the list when the announcement
was made that the University of Vermont could no longer
host it (it was the largest list they had) so that a new
home and a new listowner were needed. I knew the Network
Coordinator here at the University at Buffalo and knew that
he provided a home to numerous lists so thought Buffalo might
be willing to take over. As for myself, I had been a volunteer
editor on DorothyL (the mystery lovers list hosted at KENTVM)
so I had some idea of the work involved. It seemed a good
way to expand my own horizons and to learn new skills. So
I checked with the library administration and the computing
center and offered to take over the list. There were about
half a dozen offers from other sites but we got it and took
over about a year and a half ago, in April 1993.
> How do you find the time?
While I do some of the work from home there is no getting
away from the fact that management of a large list does
require time that cuts into one's other activities. I have
had to cut back on other activities.
The first time I had to be away (to attend the American
Library Association annual conference) I found myself a
co-listowner. All I was looking for was someone who could
watch over the list when I was away but I really lucked out
and got much more. Douglas Winship, my co-owner, lives in
Texas and we have never met in person. He is not a librarian
but his wife is and he had been a long-time subscriber to
Autocat to monitor it for his wife who did not have a
connection at work. He is quite knowledgeable about the
Internet (more so than I am) and shared his knowledge with
the subscribers. Since he is not a librarian he doesn't
go to library conferences and thus is available to manage
the list when I am not. He has taken on the complete
responsibility for the Filelist and has a knack for coming
up with creative responses to changing network conditions.
A jewel!
> Do you get any professional rewards for doing it?
Wider name recognition. Invitations to speak at meetings.
> Do you include your role as a list owner on you CV?
Yes. How much it counts I don't know.
> Are your universities supportive or do they grouse
> about the burden the listserv puts on their computers?
>
As I noted above it got to be too much for the University
of Vermont. So far the University at Buffalo has been
very supportive. The only thing the Computing Center asked
is that we remove some of the earlier archives from online
access so as to conserve disk space; that we did.
> Be sure to let me know the name of your list, how
> big it is, how long it has existed, etc.
A brief history and description is attached below.
> I'd also like to know your name, title, and a phone
> number where I can call you.
Judith Hopkins
Technical Services Research and Analysis Officer
Central Technical Services
Lockwood Library Building
State University of New York at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260-2200
Phone: (716) 645-2796
FAX: (716) 645-5955
BITNET: [log in to unmask]
INTERNET: [log in to unmask]
Listowner: AUTOCAT@UBVM / [log in to unmask]
>
> I appreciate any input that folks can provide.
>
> Sincerely,
> Thomas J. DeLoughry
> Senior Editor for Information Technology
> The Chronicle of Higher Education
> [log in to unmask]
> ph: 202-466-1061
> fax: 202-296-2691
List address: [log in to unmask]
subscription address: [log in to unmask]
Owners: Judith Hopkins ([log in to unmask]) Primary
Douglas Winship ([log in to unmask]) Secondary
Description:
AUTOCAT (the library cataloging and authorities discussion group)
began operation in October 1990. It was originally established at
the University of Vermont by Nancy Keane; when she left Vermont in
1992 Brenda Hutchins took over as Listowner. It moved
to the University at Buffalo in late April 1993; at that time
time Judith Hopkins became Listowner. Its Bitnet address is @UBVM
while subscribers with Internet access can access it at UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU
The subscription base is still growing, having expanded from 1850
subscribers in April 1993 to over 2800 in 27 countries as of October
1994. The list is also available through the USENET
newsreader as BIT.LISTSERV.AUTOCAT.
Subscribers to the list have the choice of receiving messages
as they are issued or in a daily digest. The list is an active one with
about 20-50 messages distributed daily. Messages posted 1992 and later are
available in the Autocat archives where they can be searched and
retrieved. Messages for 1991 are available as monthly logs from
either listowner, Judith Hopkins or Douglas Winship (WINSHIP@
TENET.EDU), the secondary listowner. There are no archives
for 1990.
The chief advantage of Autocat as of all such lists is that it
expands the pool of knowledgeable people to whom an individual can
turn for help, easily and quickly. The range of topics discussed
extends from the very broad to the very specific. A cataloger faced
with a publication in what to that library is a very exotic language
for which it lacks adequate resources can get help; recently one library
helped another in cataloging a work in Zulu while a bit earlier a
library in Finland helped a library in Mississippi catalog a work in
Estonian. Questions on interpretation of AACR2r, organization of
technical services units, announcements of forthcoming meetings, reports
of past meetings, announcements of job openings, the conditions under
which Minimal Level Cataloging should be applied, how to describe
the pagination of an unpaged volume, sexism in LC subject headings,
these and other topics are all grist for Autocat's mill.
Since AUTOCAT has subscribers at the Library of Congress and other
national bibliographic centers as well as at the major utilities
questions relating to the policies or practices of those institutions
often generate official responses. Subscribers consist both of
recognized cataloging experts and novices in their first job but all
have something they can contribute.
Archive availability: See par. 3 of Description
List traffic: 20 - 50 plus messages a day
Judith Hopkins, Listowner of [log in to unmask]
Internet: [log in to unmask]
Bitnet: ulcjh@ubvm
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