[bookshare-discuss] Re: Off topic messages
- From: Ann Parsons <akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:43:34 -0500
Hi all,
Cindy, excellent question. When I first started doing lists back in
the dark ages, not quite at the time of the Anglo-Saxon kings but
almost, the moderator was called the listowner. The job description
included: confirming subscriptions, subscribing people, deleting old
subs, checking error messages and other administrative tasks. In
addition, he or she read most posts on the list and was its discussion
leader. In some communities a moderator was different from the
listowner and only did the social things and not the techie things
having to do with the list.
However, and this is a big however, the listowner (I'm using this as a
generic term here), when in her moderator role did some of the
following things: read all messages, admonished rule breakers (usually
privately), placed rule breakers into review mode or moderated status,
quelled uprisings, deleted trolls, settled disputes, and generally
played chief or monarch.
There are different views on how a list should be run, but I favor the
monarchical rule because one person, or possibly two or three say what
goes. They make the final decisions and cannot be argued with at all.
the listowner(s) may not always be right, but they, as Phil Scovell
says, "are the listowner. The buck stops here...." All complaints
about how the list is run, who should post what, and so on go to the
listowner, privately, period! It's a no-no to discuss how a list is
run on that list.
If you're thinking of volunteering, Cindy, polish your diplomatic
skills, purchase an asbestus suit, and prepare for boarders! It's a
down and dirty, thankless, sometimes hopeless, sometimes miraculous,
sometimes so moving that you sob at your keyboard, sometimes you fall
off your chair laughing, sometimes you wonder where some people were
raised, sometimes you want to jump up and down and scream, but it is
always, always, always rewarding because you meet and talk with and
become friends with the most wonderful and unusual people, the world's
netizens. The job hasn't changed much over the years. It's pretty
much as I've described it. Some places divide the job among many,
others do not, depends on the list and on the software and the larger
community of lists and listowners. If that kind of job appeals, go for it!
Ann P.
--
Ann K. Parsons
Portal Tutoring
EMAIL: akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx
web site: http://www.portaltutoring.info
blog:
http://www.samobile.net/users/akp/blog
Skype: Putertutor
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost."
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