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>Dear subscribers,
>
>Several of you (most recently Art Kuo of the University of
>Michigan) have asked me if it is possible to read Biomch-L
>postings through Usenet News. At the moment, this is not
>possible, but maybe the time has come to change.
>
>Usenet news does not go to your mailbox, but is stored in a
>publicly accessible filesystem on your University or Internet
>provider and can be read with special software or even with most
>Web browsers. Such newsreaders can identify 'threads' (messages
>with similar Subject lines), making it easier to follow
>interesting discussions and ignore others. An advantage for the
>list moderators is, that Usenet does not generate bounced E-mail.
>We (that's myself, Krystyna Gielo-Perczak, Mike Young, Christoph
>Reinschmidt, and Pierre Baudin) are spending a lot of time
>dealing with those error messages, and adding/deleting/changing
>subscriptions. We would rather spend our time on content than on
>technical problems. But it's doable with five co-moderators.
>
>Technically, it is easy to install a gateway between Biomch-L and
>a newsgroup (say, sci.biomechanics) and we can have the best of
>both worlds. We just have to decide which options we want.
>Every solution has some advantages and disadvantages. The major
>concern is, that Usenet tends to generate more junk and Biomch-L
>will become less interesting and lose its best contributors.
>This can be prevented by having a moderated newsgroup.
>
>I propose (at least for a trial period) to start a moderated
>newsgroup sci.biomechanics, with a bidirectional gateway to
>Biomch-L. Biomch-L postings would automatically appear on the
>newsgroup, but postings sent to the newsgroup would have to be
>approved by a moderator, before they are distributed to the
>newsgroup and to Biomch-L. People subscribed to Biomch-L on
>LISTSERV would still be able to post without approval. I have
>described the advantages already. Some disadvantages are:
>
>- Delay of postings due to approval procedure (we have an
> approval procedure already, applying only to non-subscribers)
>- The REVIEW BIOMCH-L would no longer list everybody
>- Someone would have to log in several times every day to see if
> anything needs approval
>- Because of the threading, Usenet tends to have more a
> discussion format than a question-answer/summary format.
> Sometimes discussions never end because people who occasionally
> read the news may reply to a question before they realize that
> the same points have been raised already. Such contributions
> could be rejected by the moderator, of course.
>
>Please note that LISTSERV would *continue* to operate. Any
>change will just increase your options. The only consideration
>is, whether these new options will have any unwanted
>side-effects.
>
>What do you think, should we give it a try? If you have any
>strong feelings, in favour or against this proposal, send your
>reaction to Biomch-L if you want to discuss this in public, or to
>Art Kuo , who has volunteered to do the
>groundwork for the gateway, or to me. After your reactions, we
>will decide if we go ahead with this. Remember, we can always go
>back to LISTSERV-only if we don't like it.
>
>-- Ton van den Bogert
> Biomch-L co-moderator
It's a great idea, if moderator can afford the time. I believe this will
improve debate and lend itself to a wider audience.
Micah Forstein
(forstein@hsc.usc.edu)
Motion Lab Engineer
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
>
>Several of you (most recently Art Kuo of the University of
>Michigan) have asked me if it is possible to read Biomch-L
>postings through Usenet News. At the moment, this is not
>possible, but maybe the time has come to change.
>
>Usenet news does not go to your mailbox, but is stored in a
>publicly accessible filesystem on your University or Internet
>provider and can be read with special software or even with most
>Web browsers. Such newsreaders can identify 'threads' (messages
>with similar Subject lines), making it easier to follow
>interesting discussions and ignore others. An advantage for the
>list moderators is, that Usenet does not generate bounced E-mail.
>We (that's myself, Krystyna Gielo-Perczak, Mike Young, Christoph
>Reinschmidt, and Pierre Baudin) are spending a lot of time
>dealing with those error messages, and adding/deleting/changing
>subscriptions. We would rather spend our time on content than on
>technical problems. But it's doable with five co-moderators.
>
>Technically, it is easy to install a gateway between Biomch-L and
>a newsgroup (say, sci.biomechanics) and we can have the best of
>both worlds. We just have to decide which options we want.
>Every solution has some advantages and disadvantages. The major
>concern is, that Usenet tends to generate more junk and Biomch-L
>will become less interesting and lose its best contributors.
>This can be prevented by having a moderated newsgroup.
>
>I propose (at least for a trial period) to start a moderated
>newsgroup sci.biomechanics, with a bidirectional gateway to
>Biomch-L. Biomch-L postings would automatically appear on the
>newsgroup, but postings sent to the newsgroup would have to be
>approved by a moderator, before they are distributed to the
>newsgroup and to Biomch-L. People subscribed to Biomch-L on
>LISTSERV would still be able to post without approval. I have
>described the advantages already. Some disadvantages are:
>
>- Delay of postings due to approval procedure (we have an
> approval procedure already, applying only to non-subscribers)
>- The REVIEW BIOMCH-L would no longer list everybody
>- Someone would have to log in several times every day to see if
> anything needs approval
>- Because of the threading, Usenet tends to have more a
> discussion format than a question-answer/summary format.
> Sometimes discussions never end because people who occasionally
> read the news may reply to a question before they realize that
> the same points have been raised already. Such contributions
> could be rejected by the moderator, of course.
>
>Please note that LISTSERV would *continue* to operate. Any
>change will just increase your options. The only consideration
>is, whether these new options will have any unwanted
>side-effects.
>
>What do you think, should we give it a try? If you have any
>strong feelings, in favour or against this proposal, send your
>reaction to Biomch-L if you want to discuss this in public, or to
>Art Kuo , who has volunteered to do the
>groundwork for the gateway, or to me. After your reactions, we
>will decide if we go ahead with this. Remember, we can always go
>back to LISTSERV-only if we don't like it.
>
>-- Ton van den Bogert
> Biomch-L co-moderator
It's a great idea, if moderator can afford the time. I believe this will
improve debate and lend itself to a wider audience.
Micah Forstein
(forstein@hsc.usc.edu)
Motion Lab Engineer
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles