Re: Participation in the NGC4LIB list (was: mailing list administratativa)

From: john g marr <jmarr_at_nyob>
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:22:25 -0600
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
On Mon, 28 Jun 2010, B.G. Sloan wrote:

> 1. I know at least one thing that probably keeps some people from 
> contributing to the list...the sometimes harsh tone of disagreements 
> between some regular posters.

  It is somewhat manipulative and rather off-base to scapegoat the people 
who express themselve "harshly" for the sensitivities of those who are 
discomfited.  The society as a whole is being oversensitized, and 
constraint to absolute "niceness" of discourse (which manifests 
itself as some form of hypnotic trance) submerges the depth of 
individuals' concern.  OTOH, there are people in other venues who 
intentionally use vitriolic rhetoric to manipulate emotional, rather than 
reasoned, responses on issues of interest.  That's not likely to happen 
here (IMHO?).

> ... there's 
> only a small percentage of members who post to [library] list[s]

  Maybe they are bored with the flat emotional tones used?  Some 
emotionality stirs up interest!!

  If there are some individuals who are simply reticient to participate for 
fear of exposure of their own feelings, then the willingness of some folks 
to be publicly "harsh" should be encouraging.  Or maybe it's just an 
epidemic presence of people with neurophysiological "communication 
disorders" in the Library community.  :)

> * You want the regulars to show a little restraint and "moderate 
> themselves accordingly".

  Frankly (and having an immune system-related communication disorder 
myself), I find the forthright expressiveness of those "harshies" to be 
quite refressing compared to typical "PC" inter- and intra-library 
conversational styles.

Cheers!

jgm
                                             John G. Marr
                                             Cataloger
                                             CDS, UL
                                             Univ. of New Mexico
                                             Albuquerque, NM 87131
                                             jmarr_at_unm.edu
                                             jmarr_at_flash.net


     **There are only 2 kinds of thinking: "out of the box" and "outside 
the box."

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Received on Mon Jun 28 2010 - 17:29:56 EDT