Naive and serious questions

Geoffrey Williams (geoffrey.williams who-is-at english.su.edu.au)
25 Oct 1995 09:39:51 U

My questions are about the conventions (implicit/explicit?) which discussion
group members expect will determine use of their contributions outside this
specific context. I'm new not only to this group but to discussion groups
generally so I would greatly appreciate ideas about what people think is
appropriate practice.

Is a contribution to a discussion regarded by members as a form of
publication, and therefore available for use in other contexts (with proper
acknowledgement), or are contributions regarded more as informal,
conversational comments amongst a group of interested people and therefore
intended for the participants only unless contributors explicitly agree to use
of comments in other contexts? Or some other convention?

I guess we can all think of good reasons for different conventions to be
adopted, but I wondered what members' expectations might be. Maybe this
question has been widely canvassed before, and if so please excuse my
inexperience. But maybe new members like me are also uncertain of the
expectations?

I've been greatly enjoying 'listening in' so far, especially to the discussion
of non-linguistic semiotic modalities mediating cultural practices.

Geoff Williams
University of Sydney