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The problem isn't caused any sort of perception of "old-school" (although that perception certainly exists), it's just that there are better tools for the job. I personally reserve email for communication between myself and another party, and the content of that communication is intended to remain there. Discussions such as these are generally intended to be exposed to the public. Moderated lists are easily replaced by blogs (and at minimum cost, a blogger or Wordpress account is free to set up), and public lists are again replaced by online forums. In both cases, they are easily integrated with Twitter or Facebook (and most importantly, can generate an RSS feed), are able to be supported by ads, and also provide for traffic analysis. Most importantly, they generate a repository of information and past discussions for new users to sift through and discover that is much more accessible than the archives of the list. In addition, they make that information more available to the public. Set up correctly, titles of blog and forum posts are indexed by Google, making it easier for potential new users to come across. Josh Alvarez University of Buffalo DLIS On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 8:57 PM, B.G. Sloan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > I'm not quite sure what Karen Weaver's question is, but if she's suggesting > that library-related e-mail lists are passe that's not a good assumption. > (Note: I say "e-mail lists" instead of "listservs" because "Listserv" is a > registered trademark of one company that provides list management software). > > I've seen people "dis" e-mail lists as old-school, an anachronism that's > been replaced by social software. I think that's especially ironic, since > e-mail lists are one of the original "social software" applications. There > are quite a few vibrant library-related e-mail lists out there. Web4Lib > recently logged its 5,000th subscriber, and discussions there are active. > Another list I'm on discusses a relatively narrow topic (the future of > library catalogs), but has 2,000 members and frequently features heated > discussion. And there are other similar examples. > > And then there's what I call the "hidden reach" of library e-mail lists. > I've recently been experimenting with bit.ly to track the number of clicks > on URLs in e-mails that I post to library e-mail lists. I'd say, on the > average, that around 2,000 people click on the unique bit.ly URLs in > most e-mails that I post to these lists. For one posting, 4,373 people > clicked on my unique bit.ly URL. I think that's evidence that people rely > on library e-mail lists for information. > > Bernie Sloan > > --- On *Sat, 4/24/10, Karen Weaver <[log in to unmask]>* wrote: > > > From: Karen Weaver <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Listservs and what they reflect--or not > To: [log in to unmask] > Date: Saturday, April 24, 2010, 11:17 PM > > > Do listservs actually help others become better professionals or learn > about the profession? > > Or do they act as simply channels of certain types of communication and > discussions, that is delivered to an inbox? > > Similarly, we should ask, if social media such as Facebook, Twitter, > Academia.edu etc provide something else or not? > > While many lists exist, I do not believe that today's librarians or others > on listservs are actually using them like they did 10 years ago. > > If a new LIS graduate goes no a job interview today and the interviewer > asks how they are active professionally, and what do they read online etc > do you think that it is going to benefit them always to mention listservs > from the early 1990s ? to some degree but it will also indicate that they > are not aware of current channels and trends. Just some thoughts. / kw > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Karen Weaver, MLS, Adjunct Faculty, Cataloging & Classification, The > iSchool at Drexel University, Philadelphia PA email: > [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>/ Electronic Resources Statistician, Duquesne University, Gumberg Library, > Pittsburgh PA email: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]> > * > * > *"It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, * > *through understanding."--Kahlil Gibran* > > >