Judy
>
>(1) Even in a relatively supportive culture, (some) members (can be old
>or new) would still hesitate to ask questions about short-forms because
>of many reasons, e.g., face-consciousness, fear of crowding other
>people's mail boxes, fear of asking questions that have been asked
>before, etc.
>
>(2) Some members (xmca-subscribers) have expressed their wish to have
>a less crowded mail box some time ago. Thier voices have not re-emerged
>given the general xmca culture to support questions from all members (new
>and old). That doesn't mean that their expectations are gone.. Some of
>them may simply unsubscribe, some might feel that their voices don't
>count in this culture;
>
>(3) I like the supportive culture of xmca, but could also sense the
>tensions between different expectations and considerations;
>we do not live in an ideal world where one can find perfect solutions to
>every problem, but still no harm trying to search for relatively optimal
>practices; so, here are my suggestions (perhaps rather unbaked and naiive):
>
>(i) To routinize questions about short-forms by using a stock subject
>line, e.g, accronym query, to preface a simple question about accronyms,
>and to describe this practice in the message to new members;
>
>(ii) Subscribers who do not want to spend time reading these questions
>can have a stock subject line to help them to screen messages in the
>mail box;
>
>(iii) the questions and answers can be collaboratively constructed by all
>members who are willing to read and respond to messages under this stock
>subject line; thus, it's an ongoing collaborative accronym list compiling
>and revision effort;
>
>My sense is that some simple routines that are legitimate (or have been
>made legitimate by regular practice) can be a help to those who hesitate
>or experienc obstacles in venturing out to write to xmca as a form of
>participation (while listening and reading is another form of
>participation too). We need multiple forms of participation, different
>degrees of participation (e.g., some are too busy and want to read only
>selected messages and want to have a quick way of screening messages for
>their own purposes); we have to consider all these different constraints
>and expectations in our search for relatively optimal practices that can
>take into account different people's different voices or needs.
>
>Oh, well, I hope this message is not another message that crowds your
>mail box; if it is, I hope my subjcet line has been at leat relatively
>informative so that you can spend little time in deciding to delete it or to
>read on.
>
>Cheers,
>Angel
>--------------
>Angel Lin
>e-mail: enangel who-is-at cityu.edu.hk
>
>
>
....................
Judy Diamondstone diamonju who-is-at rci.rutgers.edu
Graduate School of Education Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
10 Seminary Place New Brunswick, NJ 08903
Wise men [sic] see outlines, therefore they draw them - Wm. Blake