That reminds me of something. First, though, I want to say that after I responded to this thread pointing out that we need to exercise self restraint and that even to respond to a thread about off topic messages was off topic itself, I told myself that I would follow my own advice and not add to it anymore. Yet here I am responding to the discussion about off topic messages again. It kind of points up the problem, doesn't it? Anyway, as to what Cindy's message reminded me of, I am subscribed to at least two other lists that are set up to make it more likely that a personal response will be a personal response. That is, when you click the reply key you will automatically reply only to the person who sent the message you are replying to. That way replies to the group are not exactly prohibited because it can be done just by replying to all, but it has to be consciously done. That is, you have at least a fraction of a second to decide if your reply is really relevant to the group before you send it. One of those two groups is strictly moderated anyway, so the vast majority of the messages are on topic and the ones that are not are usually quickly replied to by the moderator who specifically says that no one should reply to the message or thread. On the other list I was there when a huge number of messages were coming through. It was off topic messages, but since a lot of people were subscribing, a good many of the messages were on topic questions and answers that had been covered over and over. The moderator adjusted the list settings so that replies would go straight to the person posting unless the respondent made the conscious effort to reply to all and the traffic did noticeably drop off. I wonder then if it would be a good idea to ask whoever it is at Bookshare who handles these things, to adjust the settings of this list so that the same thing will happen here.
_ _ _"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours"
Stephen Roberts The Militant: http://www.themilitant.com Pathfinder Press: http://www.pathfinderpress.com Granma International: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html----- Original Message ----- From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2010 2:11 AM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: A Request for Fewer Off-Topic MessagesI agree. I Perhaps we could send birthday greetings to the person off list. I've done that sometimes, but then when I see everyone else putting them on list I don't want people to think I Don't care,, so I add mine. But we should send personal messages--congratulations, condolences, whatever, to the person directly or to the other bookshare email list, i.e.,bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
CindyWish List (i.e., books wanted added to the collection) and books-being-scanned list available at sites below
Wish List: https://wiki.benetech.org/display/BSO/Bookshare+Wish+ListBooks Being Scanned List: https://wiki.benetech.org/display/BSO/Books+Being+Scanned+List
--- On Sat, 4/10/10, Emily Harrison <greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: From: Emily Harrison <greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] A Request for Fewer Off-Topic Messages To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Saturday, April 10, 2010, 4:16 PM Hi everyone,I would like to politely request a lessening of the off-topic discussion on this list. I joined this list in order to keep in step with the evolving nature of volunteering for Bookshare. I completely understand and appreciate that off-topic discussion helps bring a volunteer community closer, but I am finding it very difficult to keep up with the posts actually related to volunteering lately, as there are so many completely unrelated messages mixed in. A multitude of other online venues exist where it is more appropriate to chat about holidays, musicians, birthdays, politics and other such subjects, but this list is pretty much the only place to chat about volunteering for Bookshare. In the interest of continuing to make volunteering the great experience it is, I hope that most of the off-topic discussion here can be posted elsewhere. I am not trying to point fingers or be a downer, nor am I asking for a removal of all off-topic discussion, but the sheer volume of off-topic posts lately has simply been overwhelming. Thanks for reading!
-- Emily Harrison greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
