kristoff@GENBANK.BIO.NET (Dave Kristofferson) (10/09/90)
Here is a sample comment that I got back from a user regarding the recent electronic publication discussion on BIONEWS. I would note first that when the topic first was raised I suggested moving the discussion to the BIO-MATRIX newsgroup, but this was ignored. BIONEWS should be used more for general announcements of widespread interest, not for extended discussions on single topics. I don't want to have to start moderating groups, but if we get many complaints on this topic we may have to change BIONEWS to a moderated forum and leave the other specialty groups in the current free-form style. In response to the mail backlog issue raised below, I will note again that the adoption of newsreading software at each computer site and the elimination of e-mail subscriptions is the only good long term solution to this issue. I wouldn't want my personal mail file inundated by bulletins, and I feel a bit sorry for those who still have to receive postings in this fashion. Nothing will change at your site, however, unless your systems manager gets enough requests to do something about it. Sincerely, Dave Kristofferson GenBank Manager kristoff@genbank.bio.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Is BIONEWS the appropriate place for extended discussion of sometimes esoteric topics? I refer in this case to the electronic journals debate: I am interested in the subject, but not to the tune of 10 messages a day! Maybe discussion after the initial query/suggestion could be limited to the BIONAUTS bboard, but I don't know how you would ensure this always happened, without having a moderator. I'm not trying to make work for you, but I think it's important to get as many people as possible signed up to the networks. These casual users may be put off by excessive verbiage in the 'mainstream' bboards such as BIONEWS. If I don't log on for a few days, I can have 100 mails waiting to be read, which can take a while to wade through.