[Publib] Issues with the PUBLIB mailing list

[Bates, Chris]

Publib Happy Hour? When and where? I'm sure I've asked before, but I'm not getting any younger and am too lazy to search archives. Plus it's on topic since a discussion about the list's future is a good possibility.
 
ALAConnect could really use the energy and sparks that seem to fly on publib from time to time. Myriad advantages and disadvantages spring to mind, but I've leave that to those of you with stronger opinions than I have right now on a Sunday evening after a super hot day. 
 
Chris Bates|Senior Manager, Library Experiences|704-416-0622
Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County
310 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
... Expanding minds. Empowering individuals. Enriching our community.
http:/www.plcmc.org <blocked::blocked::http:/www.plcmc.org> 


________________________________

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Karen Schneider
Sent: Sun 6/28/2009 3:26 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Issues with the PUBLIB mailing list



PUBLIB, which currently has over 9,000 members and has existed as an
online community since 1992, has been hosted by Webjunction since
2005. They provide this service free of charge, and despite Ballott's
use of the term "appropriated," the fact is that they offered and we
accepted. Unfortunately, we all know about the nature of "free," and
the reality is sometimes responses to problems are slower than we'd
like.

The last time we had a very big problem (total list stoppage), it was
8 days in duration. That's a very long time. I had to elevate the
problem (actually pulled strings with a friend) and while I'm always
glad to cash in chips, this is a rather precarious way to support such
a big community. Afterwards, I was advised third-hand that Webjunction
really wanted to continue hosting us (since I did pose the
question)... though the person who transmitted this message oddly
enough did not share it with me directly.

Two of the chronic problems since we've moved to Webjunction are a)
inability to post and (to a lesser extent) b) inability to receive
messages. (Sara and I haven't moderated messages since we moved from
NYSERNET in 1997, so if a message doesn't appear, there's something
technically wrong somewhere.) Sometimes this is traced to something
really simple, like your email address changed but you didn't change
it on PUBLIB. Other times it's just mystifying. We don't have answers,
and we probably aren't going to get any. The last time I had trouble
signing into the list as an administrator (a fairly big problem) I
never did get an answer... four days later the problem resolved
itself.

My take? Yes, we should think about migrating (and possibly about a
different platform, since it's also possible that a list our size, and
an archive as huge and deep as the one associated with PUBLIB, is
simply too much for the Mailman software we're on to handle). Yes,
that involves resources, but I think as a community we can come up
with a better solution than "beggars can't be choosers." Yes, we
ourselves don't have deep pockets to do this (at least I don't), but
we have other things going for us--we're a great resource for the
world.

Anyway, food for thought -- and for the PUBLIB happy hour?

Karen / PUBLIB co-moderator


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