Hi Evan, Not Donna, but awhile back Lisa Friendly posted to the list asking that we try to keep the bks-vol-discuss list for volunteer topics. She mentioned that we could use the bookshare-discuss list for any discussions, but said something to the effect that she did not want volunteers to be discouraged from joining the list because of too much off-topic traffic. Hope thhis helps, Sue S. ----- Original Message ----- From: Estelnalissi To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 7:44 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Message/List Control Hi, Donna, I am afraid that I must disagree with your message. I think that whether or not a particular person is getting more messages than they would like is a purely subjective matter. I do not believe that others should stop posting to accommodate their personal preferences. Monica has already pointed out several ways of dealing with lots of messages more efficiently, including monitoring and deleting of threads, and sending messages to various folders so they can be read when it is more convenient. Certainly no one should feel obligated to read every message from any list. I make liberal use of the delete key and ignore whole threads of conversation. A little time spent up front with one's email program can save a lot of time and aggravation later. When a person encounters a new thread, they can read the first message or two, then decide whether or not to read any further postings. In other words: The actual number of messages one receives is not relevant. What is relevant is how those messages are processed by the recipient I like the list the way it is. And, I do keep up with it, but I do not spend all day doing so. Evan ----- Original Message ----- From: Donna Smith To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 9:06 AM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Message/List Control Well, it seems that it is that time again when the list gets way out of control with over a hundred messages a day. You can tell because some faithful member who is just trying to keep up, posts something like "When are you scanning?" in an attempt to slow it all down. When other equally faithful list members don't recognize such a message as a plea for judicious use of list space, then it's time to get specific. I actually saved my last very specific message on this topic with the intent of just reposting it as needed as this issue comes around as regularly as tax season, but it was pretty bitchy, so I thought I'd write another one instead. <smile> Here are the important points: a.. We're all volunteers who are very dedicated and most of us have other life interests (e.g., jobs, families, pets, commitments in the community, etc.) b.. We all enjoy the comradery of the list and being able to exchange information. c.. When the volume of message gets high enough to make someone cry "uncle," it is no longer an exchange of information but an unruly dump of messages that most of us can't possibly read through. d.. Two reactions begin to occur: A. Faithful volunteers choose to unsubscribe, thus denying the rest their valuable input; or B. Faithful volunteers delete everything with a list subject line just to find personal messages even though this creates concern that we may be missing something of importance. The solution? A little self restraint! Please take personal messages off list, and keep the OT messages down to a minimum. In fact, during such a time when list traffic is high, it would be prudent to not post OT messages at all. It's all about balance and respecting the time of others. We all do it and we all get lax about doing it and then we get a reminder to be mindful again and we do it. We're really a pretty respectful group. So what do you say? Can we cut back the list flow and find that happy medium again? Donna S