New Listserv

[Swwpiano@aol.com]

I've been following the discussion concerning the splitting of lists into
 "expert" or "post grad" and "novice"for some time, and felt as a subscriber
to the list I should put in my 2 cents worth. I agree with Allen Leigh
concerning the awkwardness of being a newcomer to this list and to the
profession and the problems it  presents in participating on this list.
There's obviously years of invaluable experience here in terms of 'tricks of
the trade' as well as theoretical knowledge and which I'd love to tap into by
posting a question occaisionally. But there have been comments that have made
me feel that was less than welcome... A little clarification on this might
help.

 If there were 2 lists, one for practical Q + A and another for theoretical
discussion, I'd probably subscribe to the practical one and use the archives
for the theoretical one. I suppose if there were others like me this would
cut down on the traffic on the existing list, and I do think the
'practical/theoretical' distinction is better than 'novice/expert'because I
selfishly would prefer a more expert answer to practical questions.... But
frankly, I prefer the simplicity of one list and filtering using 'threads'. I
dont know how we'd consistently break up the content of all this and think a
lot of time could be wasted figuring it out. Having said that, we should
defer to the desires of the university technicians for whom this list was set
up.

If the lists are split, I like the idea of PTG sponsoring the 'practical'
list. This is, after all the guilds mission, to promote education!!. An
Internet-compatible format such as a mailing list or news group is a lot more
convenient to use, and could be secured with a password pretty easily
(include it in the subscription message and validate it at the server.) But
funding is an issue, I;m sure.