Replies to Taxacom...

[Jerry Bricker]

To All Taxacomers:

I totally agree with Peter Rauch.  I am one of those people who
anticipates the flow of topics that come across my e-mail desk daily.  I
rarely, if ever post a response.  I have, however, learned a great deal
about the current issues facing biosystematics in the short time (less
than 1 year) that I have been a subscriber.  I doubt there is any better
source of information for my continuing education.

I also enjoy the occassional chuckle I get from seeing the more obtuse
postings.  Don't change a thing!!

Jerry Bricker
Dept. of Biology
Laramie County Community College
Cheyenne, WY

On Thu, 12 Oct 1995, Peter Rauch wrote:

> I prefer to see the replies go to Taxacom. There are over a 1000 subscribers
> on Taxacom. Most are silent, some post occasionally, a few of us post
> more often.
>
> The 800 or more silent ones are either extremely effective and content
> with using the Delete Key, or they actually enjoy lurking and perhaps
> learning --learning about systematics, about systematists, about some
> of the fun things, the quirky things, the silly things, about history,
> about what others think even when they know the answer, etc,....
>
> Some people post questions, not simply to personally get a reply but to
> stimulate a discussion (this is a "discussion" list, after all, not 411),
> with all the interactions and synergies that discussion provokes.
>
> Personal messages, mis-directed messages, spams, and the like have no
> place on Taxacom. Things biosystematic, things taxonomic, things
> collection and biodiverse, do.
>
> Every time this issue (of too much stuff, or too little focus) comes up,
> I ask --How would you split the list into topical categories so as to
> reduce the "noise" by segregating it into its own list(s)? And, do it
> in such a way that most current subscribers didn't end up subscribing to
> most of the subtopical lists anyway?  I never get more than a couple of
> replies, and those replies never agree about what the "noise" is.....
> Conclusion --there are 800-900 happy campers out there, some perhaps set
> to NOMAIL or with a sore Delete finger, and a few others who rather have
> things differently but aren't willing to speak up in numbers and solutions
> that count.
> Peter
>