Cohousing-L Mailing List: COHOUSING-L is *our* list

[Fred H Olson -- WB0YQM (FRED%JWH]

                                  Wed  12-09-1992  00:50:51
                                  Fred H. Olson    ( WB0YQM )
                                  Becca Brackett   ( N0CAH )
                                  1221 Russell Av N
                                  Minneapolis, MN 55411
                                  (612) 588-9532
                                  (Internet: fred%jwh [at] vx.cis.umn.edu)
COHOUSING-L is *our* list

It's after midnight and I have 5 articles to post to COHOUSING-L .
Hopefully this will help encourage others to contribute.
Be assured that I am not likely to be this prolific very often.
I do have some files I'll be posting later -- don't want to inundate
anyone. For this list to maintain a reasonable level of activity many of
us need to contribute.  At this stage we can't all be 'lurkers'...

Fortunately the mailing list format is somewhat immune to the attrition and
downward spiral phenomenon that inactive bbs or usenet type newsgroups
suffer.  (Nobody posts articles because so few read/respond and since
nobody posts anything nobody checks in...)  Mailing lists derive a bit of
resistance since most of us check our mail independent of the level of
COHOUSING-L activity.   So that when there is some we will see it
'cause it shows up in our mailbox.

On the other hand some information that makes reading the list worthwhile
is a big advantage.  I read the Peru list primarily because there is one
person who posts relevant articles drawn from the Lexus/Nexus service.
I don't know of a better way to keep up on Peru news. (This person had
been advised that as long as no money was charged such posting was legal.)

Similarly cross posting relevant articles from other electronic discussions
such as Usenet is great.  If anyone has access to a page scanner and OCR
software, which I understand this is becoming more practical all the time,
there are lots of articles in print that could use wider distribution...  I
suppose there may even be some amongst us whose typing (unlike mine) makes
keying in some articles a reasonable possibility...

Probing, well conceived and articulated questions and opinions can also
stimulate fruitful discussion.

A more technical detail - article subjects.   Please put some care into
composing the article subject line.  It greatly facilitates browsing,
looking up, archiving and references to articles.

In conclusion let me encourage subscribers to contribute what they can.
This list is *our* list and its content will come from our collective
efforts.

Thanks, Fred