ACQNET v10n003 (February 20, 2000)
URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/serials/acqnet/acqnet-v10n003.txt

                                                    ISSN: 1057-5308
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              ACQNET, Vol. 10, No. 3, February 20, 2000
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IF YOU CARE ABOUT ACQNET, PLEASE **READ** THIS!! IMPORTANT NEW CHANGES ARE 
UNDER CONSIDERATION.

Dear ACQNET subscribers,

Here it is, the 10th year of ACQNET's existence. This is an important 
time for us, as the ACQNET Editorial Board has been discussing 2 important 
changes we would like to propose to the subscribers. Most of you, we believe,
will welcome and embrace these proposals. Some of you will have concerns or 
questions - which is why we wish to give you an opportunity to express them 
before any actual changes are made.

MOVING TO A REAL MODERATED LIST FORMAT
It's past time to move to the moderated list model. We wish to stop 
the newsletter format and go to something more free-flowing. I know 
for a fact that many of you are in favor of this - past surveys have 
indicated this. There has been a small, but vocal group pushing for 
it, in fact. However, there are others who fear that ACQNET would 
clutter their mail boxes too much if it changes, or some people are 
under the impression that we would lose the quality. NOT SO. What we 
propose is that we continue QUALITY MODERATION - THAT WOULD NOT 
CHANGE. The present procedure is too slow and labor-intensive and has 
stifled discussion. We would like to see that changed. 
    I have discussed the alternatives with Regina Reynolds at NSDP. As 
a serialist, I am committed to making a clean break between the old form 
and the new, and as many of us know, bibliographically, electronic seriality 
is a murky area right now. Generally, electronic lists are not considered 
serials. ACQNET as it exists now is a serial because it has volume and 
issue numbering and it even has an ISSN. If we switch to a list 
format, ACQNET ceases as a serial and begins again as something else.
This has been a major reason I have been holding off on making this change. 
   With the new format, YOU WOULD *NOT* HAVE TO RESUBSCRIBE. However, if 
you wanted to set your subscription to "DIGEST" you might find this 
helpful in cutting down the actual number of postings you receive in 
your mailbox on any given day. When the time comes, I will send out 
reminder instructions on how to do this.

PRESS RELEASES TO ONLY BE POSTED ON _AcqWeb_
ACQNET moderation stringently filters out commercial messages because 
acquisitions and collection development personnel are bombarded by such 
information on a daily basis. It is a core value of ACQNET not to allow 
commercial postings except on a rare occasions. With the spread of Internet 
commerce, we have the ability to send and receive commercial information at 
a rapid pace.  Our suppliers need to have a venue in order to inform us of 
important news regarding their company activities. Therefore, all commercial 
press releases regarding company news (mergers, acquisitions, new initiatives 
and projects, etc.) that are not direct advertisements for specific products, 
(which have never been allowed on ACQNET) will be placed in a special section 
on _AcqWeb_. We believe this will alleviate much of our editorial anguish and 
will be fairer to all parties. Anna Belle Leiserson and her _AcqWeb_ Editorial
Board will draw up basic guidelines for this service.  We anticipate that on 
occasion ACQNET may send an "Acqflash" alerting people to a particular news 
release, but this will be infrequent and only if, in our judgement, it is an 
industry-wide development that needs immediate attention. 

Before initiating the changes, we will take comments from the 
subscribers for two weeks, beginning on February 20 and ending March 
5. I will post all comments unless a subscriber asks me not to do so.
Then, sometime in March, if there is no hue and cry pleading us not to 
change, we will start the new format.

The change to list format is being proposed in order to increase the 
activity on ACQNET and make it more useful to our subscribers. The 
proposal to put press releases on AcqWeb is in response to difficulties 
we have had deciding which press releases to post. We think both changes 
will result in ACQNET better serving the acquisitions and collection 
development community. 

We look forward to your comments and responses!
   
Sincerely,
Eleanor Cook
Editor, ACQNET
  & the ACQNET Editorial Board

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