Date:  Mon, 8 Dec 1997 10:52:26 -0500
From:  Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Posts from non-professionals

At 06:50 AM 12/8/97 -0800, you ("Thomas L. Clark" <tlc[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]NEVADA.EDU>) wrote:
>Most of their
>comments and questions would be taken care of if they took a course from
>any of the professionals on the list.
>

Or read books by them or by others, or looked in some decent dictionaries or
other published sources before posting a query or comment. There's a lot of
reinventing of the wheel, and sometimes the wheel comes out crooked anyway.

>But getting 80 to 100 messages in a couple of days

Are you sure this is accurate and representative? -- part of professional
training is accuracy.

>Perhaps the answer would be to go to a moderated group for the
>professionals, then have an open forum for general discussion on a
>separate track. I have seen this done with humor groups: one is moderated
>and sends out few, but significant items. The other is open to whoever
>feels the urge to contribute.
>

The only way I have seen an internet list improve without the heaviest kinds
of moderation is for those who know what they are about to post
sophisticated material. This leads those who otherwise might think any old
thing is OK to hold back lest their input look not so great by comparison.
I've seen it happen on lists where I have genuine expertise, unlike here --
where I would like to learn something, if possible, but instead find the
most basic queries being posted.

>Yes, I expect to receive flames from some....
>

Silent chagrin would perhaps be more appropriate -- though I suspect the
fault lies as much in what those who know their stuff don't bother to post
as it does in what those who don't know as much do bother posting.

Gregory {Greg} Downing, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu