Moderation

[Bob Barclay <bob_barclay@pch.gc.ca>]

The message I posted to the list yesterday apparently didn't get
through. This is fortunate because Cary Karp's brief history of the
list says all that needs to be said. I liken moderation of the list to
editing a journal. Editorial decisions are made by a group of
"moderators", each journal having its own editorial style. In the case
of MICAT-L no material which might be "dangerous in the wrong hands"
has been withheld to my knowledge. Indeed, debateable conservation
practices should be open to debate by list members.
 
Regarding the amount of traffic on the list, I would prefer the few
well-thought out, succinct messages that have been appearing recently,
to the state of some lists where one sifts through rubbish,
half-formed thoughts and nonsense. It is, as Cary said, a list
supported by a museum organization for museum organizations.
 
A couple of further points - the moderators are CONSERVATORS, not
curators. And their OPINIONS are more than just personal. There is a
very large and highly professional organization in the international
museum world that has encoded, and adheres to, very stringent
standards of practice. I posted some reading on the subject a while
back.
 
Let's have as many messages about the topic as there have been about
the list!