Hi all,
  Bravo to Mr. Kneebone, perfectly stated!

            Beth Bond
      [log in to unmask]


----- Original Message -----
From: "John Kneebone" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 3:18 PM
Subject: VA-HIST


> Everyone,
>
> VA-HIST got underway about seven years ago. At the time, and since, we
have
> specified that subscribers must follow the standards of "netiquette."
These
> include not only the usual expectations of civilty but also other
standards
> unique to the Internet, especially a prohibition on posting another's
> private message to the list.
>
> At the beginning, we were warned by other list owners to watch carefully
> that the list not become the personal mouthpiece for individuals with a
> particular agenda or particular point of view. With some 700 subscribers,
> postings from such persons become the equivalent of a loud personal
argument
> occurring in a public place. When that happens a list loses subscribers,
as
> has happened in the past to VA-HIST. For the health of the list, we were
> advised to be prepared to step in when such situations came up.
>
> Elizabeth Roderick has taken the primary responsibility for maintaining
> VA-HIST's standards for netiquette, but she is supported by all of us who
> have a stake in the healthy continuation of VA-HIST. It is difficult to
> perceive persons who are still posting messages to the list as suffering
> under a gag order, but we do sometimes privately request subscribers to
> refrain from actions that do not serve the list. What we do is no more
than
> a newspaper requiring certain standards for letters to be published on the
> editorial page, and newspapers also cut off discussions of certain topics
> that threaten to monopolize the correspondence section.
>
> No one can say that the Jefferson issues did not get a thorough airing on
> VA-HIST during the past several days. If you look back through the
archives
> of VA-HIST, you will also discover that these issues have been debated
> almost annually since the list's beginnings.
>
> Our purpose is not to stifle discussions or to prevent anyone from
posting.
> If it were, why would we offer an unmoderated list? Our efforts are to
> protect VA-HIST's health, and what we do is based on several year's
> experience with these situations.
>
> Please, have a care, and let's get back to Virginia history.
>
> John
>
> John T. Kneebone [log in to unmask]
> Director, Publications and Educational Services
> Library of Virginia http://www.lva.lib.va.us
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
> at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>

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