Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 12:51:35 +0900

From: Daniel Long dlong[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]JOHO.OSAKA-SHOIN.AC.JP

Subject: Re: Archiving Question - Reply/Answer/Response/Rejoinder/Riposte



My two yen:



I would propose (if anybody asked, and nobody did) that the solution to the (potential) problem is

not to make the archives "closed" (they are already browsable if someone knows where to look -- on

the ADS website), but to make the ADS-L a forum for ADS members only. This should be easy enough to

do. When someone applies to the listserv whose name is not on the ADS membership list, they would

be turned down. (I know that this is possible, because another list that I belong to "approves" it

applicants first.) This would limit those who want to participate on a daily basis to ADS members.

But the archives could still be made available to every Tom, Dick and Harriet.



Next question: What if every Tom, Dick and Harriet then decides they want to join the ADS just to

get on the list? Let 'em, if they're that determined. Allan'd get their 30 bucks. Who cares.

Anyone is free to (pay $30 to) join the ADS as it is now anyway. I say, bring us your tired (topics

of discussion) and your poor (souls who flunked lingusitics 101), your masses yearning for a

babble-fest. Take 'em for thirty bucks, and maybe there'd be enough money left over that we could

get free coffee and donuts in Chicago instead of having to pay twenty dollars.



Danny (who hasn't paid his '96 dues yet) Long



Natalie Maynor wrote:

For the same reasons that we decided not to announce the existence of

ADS-L except to ADS members when the list was first started. Since then

its existence has shown up in various indexes without ill effect, of

course. And my guess is that these days the risks are smaller of having

a list like ADS-L turn into a babble-fest than they were back when there

were fewer lists around. But I still am guessing that most ADSers will

prefer not to publicize the list unnecessarily.



--

Daniel Long

Japanese Language Research Center

Osaka Shoin Women's College

4-2-26 Hishiyanishi

Higashi-Osaka-shi, Osaka Japan 577

tel and fax +81-6-729-1831

email dlong[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]joho.osaka-shoin.ac.jp