[Coral-List] Unclog email account by moving coal-list to a forum/bulletin board?

Mon Mar 20 14:18:55 EST 2006

Hi everyone,

  I wonder if the list should be moved to a more structured forum / bulletin board?

  That way, people can pick and choose whihc topics are of interest to them, administrators can be assigned regardless of location etc.

  Any thoughts on this?

  Cheers, Jeff

capman at augsburg.edu wrote:
  I am a biologist, but I can only marginally call myself a coral 
researcher (even though I have been working some with corals in 
recent years). Consequently, for the several years that I have been 
signed up on the Coral List I have mostly just read what others have 
had to say, and only occasionally have had things to contribute.

In the past few years I have noticed a fairly extreme intolerance on 
the Coral List for discussions that might be seen as straying too far 
from the mission of the list, and a strong tendency for people to 
quickly move their conversations to private e-mails rather than 
continuing them on the public forum. To a certain extent this is 
good, though I often wish that more of the conversations that follow 
from the postings to the list (and answers to questions posted on the 
list) were done in the public forum so that more of us could benefit 
from the wealth of expertise represented by the members of the list.

As far as messages clogging e-mail inboxes is concerned though, there 
is a fairly easy solution: Most e-mail programs (including ones like 
Eudora that you can download for free) allow you to filter messages. 
All of my Coral List e-mails get send automatically to a separate 
mailbox where they are easy to find, but not clogging my main Inbox. 
The other thing I do, once these e-mails are neatly tucked away is 
this: I simply don't read them all. I just read the ones that look 
like they are likely to be of interest to me (and once a thread has 
become boring or not relevant to me anymore, it is very easy to 
simply not read the further responses). This is pretty easy to do.

If a person is in a remote location with very poor Internet access 
(where each additional bit of data that is received really is a 
burden), then I suppose my solution does not address the fundamental 
problem, and I can see where this would be a big reason for keeping 
postings to the list to a minimum. The drain on the moderator's time 
that would result from large numbers of posts would be another reason.

However, my sense it that the bigger concern tends to be from people 
who simply don't want the distraction and bother of getting too many 
e-mails all the time. As I noted above, it seems that there are easy 
ways to not be bothered by Coral List e-mails without limiting 
conversations that many (though not all) on the list might find 
valuable.

Bill

>Dear James,
>
>Not surprisingly, my recent email has elicited a variety of responses.
>Happily, most have been constructive, well considered, highly informative
>and above all, polite. Only a couple have been otherwise and to them:
>"Likewise, mate"!
>
>As I said in my previous email regarding my views and comments of the List
>upon recently re-joining it: "At best, my view is just skewed because of my
>recent rejoining." Clearly there is much more on the Bahamas issue that I
>have not been party too. However, I am well aware of some issues in the
>Bahamas, having not too distantly become extremely P'd-off and since
>withdrawn CCC's offer of support for a GEF initiative there.
>
>James, I wanted to reply to your email openly via coral-list (as opposed to
>the others I have done so directly and in private) because your reply was in
>the first-person, informative & constructive, and not instantly knee-jerk
>hostile or personally abusive.
>
>I remain convinced that the dialogue I have seen (limited as it may be, and
>co-limited as to the period of my rejoining the List has been) regarding
>Guana has at best run it's course as far as the List is concerned. In my
>opinion, it now needs to be shifted into another dedicated focal arena; an
>arena that all wishing to join should be openly invited to do so - period!.
>Some of what I have read posted to coral-list (since I re-joined) from
>certain parties regarding Bahamas could, in other hands, become extremely
>profitable to those whose livelihoods are dependent within the legal
>profession - enough said!
>
>Be advised also that the Bahamas issue is US-centric: of interest to US
>scientist adjacent to the US coastal cities. It (the issue) should be born
>in mind, but related and extended to those countries such as the
>Philippines, where in my own limited experience (21 years), far more can be
>accomplished and achieved by US scientists willing to travel beyond the
>confines of the USA.
>
>Let me put this another way: a good deal of time and effort appears to be
>spent on trying to protect a few hectares (?) of coral reefs surrounding
>Guana, and at face value perhaps at odds with the Government and influential
>and well-financed development stakeholders. What BEST has to say about all
>this or what the local community have to say, I have not been party to;
>their voice/comments via the List I have not seen, perhaps given my recent
>re-entry. There are several thousand ++ hectares of equally (if not more)
>important reefs out there in places like the Philippines just begging a
>one-tenth diversion of US reef-focus to them. With just a fraction of the
>Guana attention and focus, US reef scientists would successfully accomplish
>way more than they could ever hope to in tiny places like the Bahamas.
>
>There really is some "interesting data" coming from the Philippines. My
>point is: is there anyone from the USA that really wants to listen to it?
>For the very small minority that do/can, please contact the likes of CCC.
>
>All the best,
>
>Pete
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>_____________________________________________
>Peter Raines MBE FRGS FIBiol CGeog CBiol MInstD
>Founder & Chairman
>
>Coral Cay Conservation Ltd
>40-42 Osnaburgh Street, London NW1 3ND, UK
>Tel: +44 (0)20 7874 5212 (direct line)
>Tel: +44 (0)777 176 7423 (cellphone)
>Fax: +44 (0)870 750 0667
>email: psr at coralcay.org
>www.coralcay.org
>
>
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>______________________________________________
>
> -----Original Message-----
>From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of James M.
>Cervino
>Sent: 18 March 2006 12:50
>To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>Subject: [Coral-List] Corals don't Clog, Discovery Inc. will clog them?
>
>Dear Pete,
>
>
>I don't think bringing attention to a development project that will
>kill 200 year old corals in the Bahamas can be constituted as
>"clogging up this list". Do you realize that the Bahamas Govt is
>about to approve such an action? We were using Guana as a study site
>to monitor corals that are infected with very low indices of coraline
>diseases. We coral scientists need to have old colonies to monitor
>over time during this current time, and if this development project
>takes place with the help of these so called "experts" the developer
>is paying we will loose this study site. I was actually happy to see
>that this reef, if the levels of nutrients were to be controlled, can
>be a great study site for many scientists and divers to use as an
>educational tool so close to US coastal cities.
>
>Erik Gauger has told me that this thread may actually help save the
>corals of Guana. We appreciate Jim Hendee's efforts for having this
>open platform and are looking forward to hearing about your
>"interesting data" from the Philippines!
>
>James
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Dear all,
>
>I've just rejoined the List and am starting to regret having done so: my
>emails having been immediately swamped today by "The Great Guana Cay Debate"
>etc etc,....
>
>Much of what I have read and been party to on this issue (in just the past
>12 hrs since I rejoined) seems somewhat polarised and extremely focussed (I
>choose my words very carefully here!). At best, my view is just skewed
>because of my recent rejoining. At worst, some would say that coral-list has
>been hijacked. I shall remain on the List for a few days more in the hope
>that my initial concerns are unfounded.
>
>Important as the Guana issue is (and it is), perhaps it's now time for those
>wishing to pursue it so passionately (and you have all made us all now know
>very load and clear who you are) to do so amongst yourselves, move off to
>another dedicated communication channel amongst yourselves, and not clog-up
>the open channel that coral-list was established for.
>
>So, having said all that: anyone out there want info on the status of coral
>reefs in Southern Leyte (Philippines)? Some really interesting data coming
>out of there, if you are interested.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Pete
>--
>**************************************************
>Dr. James M. Cervino, MS, Ph.D.
>Marine Pathology
>Department of Biological & Health Sciences
>Pace University New York NYC
>Phone: (917) 620-5287
>Web site: http://www.globalcoral.org
>***************************************************
>_______________________________________________
>Coral-List mailing list
>Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
>_______________________________________________
>Coral-List mailing list
>Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list

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