Laws@SRI-AI.ARPA (07/31/84)
From: Ken Laws <Laws@SRI-AI.ARPA>
Moderating the digest has become sufficiently routine that I
can devote increased time and creative energy to shaping the
contents. I can thus accept submissions to new digest
"departments" for lab reports, project summaries, and abstracts
of recent or current work. My intention is to better inform
readers by publishing "promotional" material originally written
for other audiences. This is similar to AIList's circulation
of seminar abstracts, a feature that I consider highly successful.
I therefore encourage list members to send abstracts of their
technical reports, conference papers, and journal articles to
AIList. Usenet members should preferably send such items directly
to AILIST@SRI-AI rather than through net.ai, although the usual
mechanisms will operate to prevent double distribution of net.ai
submissions. I shall screen the items and publish them in
coherent groups as the digest load permits. The digesting
delay for such material may be several weeks, but I shall try
to keep the backlog to a reasonable size by publishing special
issues of abstracts as necessary.
I shall also pass along a limited number of carefully edited
messages derived from Arpanet-distributed position postings and
similar material. I shall take considerable liberties with the
arrangement and format of the original texts without inserting
[...] annotations, and shall suppress explicit solicitations
(although the unofficial custom on the Arpanet has been to permit
such commercialism by academic institutions). I shall also try
to avoid repeating boilerplate lab descriptions that AIList has
already published. Nonacademic institutions may [occasionally]
submit similar promotional material so long as Arpanet standards
are respected. My decision to distribute such material will be
based solely on interest to the general AIList reader, not on the
potential benefit of filling AI-related positions.
Please don't dump all of your archived blurbs on me today
or tomorrow; we have plenty of time. I should like to see
the submissions dribble in over a period of >>years<<, so
wait until an appropriate opportunity (e.g., when a related
discussion comes up in the digest or when your dissertation
goes to press). Eventually we shall reach a steady state
with material being submitted as it is produced for other
purposes.
I anticipate that these news items will require more editing than
normal submissions, particularly the lab reports derived from
promotional material. You can simplify my job if you provide a
meaningful "Subject:" line such as the "Seminar - ..." headers I
have been distributing. Keywords such as "Abstract" and
"Project" should be followed by a very short title that readers
can use to screen the messages. The submissions themselves
should be concise and closely related to the interests of the
AIList readership. (The enthusiasm of your colleagues, bosses,
and sponsors for your 200 papers on educational parapsychology
may not be shared by a general audience.) Please include
sufficient "Contact:" information (e.g., address and phone number)
that I shall not have to help readers wanting further information.
I shall be fairly strict about screening material I consider
marginal, and should appreciate your consideration in minimizing
this unpleasant part of my responsibilities. Rejections will be
handled by "form letter", and generally will not include detailed
justifications. I hope that few will interpret such a notice
as an invitation to debate or the opening round in a series of
negotiations.
Comments to AIList-Request@SRI-AI on this new policy will be
helpful in determining whether this experiment should be modified
or discontinued. (Your silence will be interpreted as lack of
disapproval.) I shall keep list readers informed of any
significant trends in the expressed opinions.
-- Dr. Kenneth I. Laws
AIList Moderator