On Sun, 22 Mar 1992 12:17:55 EST
Taylor Roberts <[log in to unmask]> said:
 
> Our plan is to send the following plea for help to relevant lists, and
> so I would be grateful for the opinions of list owners regarding the
> appropriateness of this.
>
> Before we distribute the message, I thought I should
> solicit the opinions of the subscribers here, since this message might
> ultimately end up on some of your lists.  I should stress that we do not
> plan to send out the message indiscriminately, but instead have been
> selecting what we hope are appropriate arenas, e.g., literature lists,
> archivists' lists, American history lists, etc.
 
I'm glad you are planning to be selective in your mailing.  But I
think you should be more selective than just "hoping" that the
lists are appropriate.  My position is that people should not
send anything to lists that they are not directly familiar with.
They should know that the list is appropriate before sending to
it.
 
I'm co-owner of several lists connected with the KIDLINK /
KIDS-92 Project.  Each of our lists has a specific purpose and
messages from outsiders about topics not directly connected with
our project are not welcome on any of them.  Our lists are set up
so that only subscribers can post directly--other messages are
sent to the moderator.  This adds to the work of the volunteers
who run the project, but we were forced to do it this way because
of the steady flow of inappropriate messages that someone "hoped"
we would find interesting and relevant.
 
These lists are probably not typical.  But I'm a subscriber to
several "open" discussion lists and I feel the same way about
those.  Some of them would welcome announcements or requests
likes yours.  On others, postings like yours would create
annoyance and resentment even if it was on a topic that seemed
relevant to the list.  My feeling is that you should not post to
a list to which you do not subscribe without at least getting the
assurance that it is appropriate from a participant in the list.
 
I haven't dealt with the issue you raised about the
appropriateness of appeals for funds.  I'm not a purest about
what mailing lists should be used for--I would not object in
principle to an appeal like yours.  But the fact that some people
find this questionable makes it even more important that you know
something about the specific lists to which you send it.
 
                          Peace,  Dan
 
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