[Xmca-l] Re: Changing Practices at XMCA

[Helena Worthen]

I have two suggestions for changing practices, along with subject lines that accurately track a thread.

1. Messages no more than two screens long. One is preferred.  

2. No more individually addressed messages. As in, "Tom, you said X" or "Melissa, you have misunderstood my point."   Refer to an individual by quoting or citing, but speak to the list.

Both of these may not qualify as "modest." I can defend each one, but will first wait for the *&^&*storm, if one is coming.  

Thanks --

Helena
:)

Helena Worthen
helenaworthen@gmail.com

On Dec 12, 2014, at 11:43 AM, mike cole wrote:

> Dear xmca0philes
> My most recent note, regarding discussion of sociocritical theory via
> Kris's RRQ paper, ​indicates part of my effort to implement modest changes
> in the organization of xmca discourse aimed at improving its usefulness and
> attractiveness to people (the two being mixed).
> 
> At the most minimum level, ​we can reduce some sources of misunderstanding
> and discoordination by declaring a distinct header for any topic anyone
> wants to discuss concerning culture and development in their broadest
> contexts. No guarantee ever that anyone will respond, let alone set off a
> stream of responses. But at least we can keep sequence in the threads
> consistent, and they will be easy to retrieve as a set from the archiving
> web page should one want to.
> 
> There are no policepersons in this process. (But so far as I can tell, no
> harm in nagging).
> 
> Other modifications in the structure of the discourse are possible. It
> would be nice to know, for example, how many people actually read xmca from
> time to time in some form, and how many of our 800+ subscribers have xmca
> in their span filters. About 200 people people have posted in the past
> year. Bruce and I are working on a non-obtrusive way of checking to see how
> many silent folks are lurking out of interest and how many are zombies.
> 
> Early on Annalisa suggested a sort of "Beginner's Manual" which seemed like
> a good idea, but it requires some coordinated person power. A group to
> create such a facility is in the process of formation, and I figure there
> should be more about that appearing.
> 
> A year or more ago Andy and Huw put together a wiki that I think of
> (perhaps inappropriately) as a kind of "key word wiki" for CHAT.
> It exists, although it is in quarantine at present to insure that it will
> never carry any viruses into the UCSD campus. This seems like
> a natural part of the xmca pool of resources, and may be useful to the
> newbiies' materials.
> 
> We have looked into forums and other media for xmca, but so far as I can
> tell, there is no general purpose utility that would not require the
> involvement of significantly more coordinated person power, and probably
> customizing, et that LCHC can manage. Perhaps I am wrong about this and the
> new, great, effortless substitute is at your nearest supermarket. However,
> for the moment, we will continue working within the fungible, but perhaps
> not entirely elastic, structure of xmca.
> 
> Now, back to the thread I want to address,
> Imagination
> mike
> 
> -- 
> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal with a natural science with an
> object that creates history. Ernst Boesch.