Changes in INDOLOGY

[Frank Conlon]

The announced changes in Indology may prove to be an adequate solution 
to  the spamming matter--I certainly hope so.  Restricting posts to 
members of the list may also eliminate some of the more egregious abuses 
of civility to which the list has become increasingly subject.

However, may I offer an observation based upon my experience of 
co-editing H-ASIA.  Subscription to the H-ASIA is not completed until the 
intending subscriber has been sent, completed and returned, an 
information form which includes postal address, e-mail address, status, 
and a description of interests in teaching and/or research.

This required, until last September, my attention on a regular basis.  
Now that our list stands at 1400, it is impossible for me to do this, and 
an alternative arrangement employing staff at our list server has been 
evolved by the H-NET executive.  Still, this has served to assure that 
the majority of subscribers are persons actually interested in the 
scholarly study of the topic of the list--Asian history and culture.

Second, no post goes to the list--even from a member--until it has been 
vetted, and sometimes, edited by one of the co-editors.  Here we seek 
clarity and an absence of the fuel of flames.  The spontaneity of e-mail 
has led some distinguished scholars to tap out a few quick lines in 
response to a post, employing concepts and words which, upon reflection, 
they might well wish to have returned to sender unopened.  This does not 
mean censorship, but it does mean an editorial function that has to be 
met regularly.   

Quite possibly none of the INDOLOGY owners or members would be prepared 
to take up the often burdensome tasks outlined above, but on the basis of 
the two years' experience of H-ASIA, I would submit that it provides an 
effective method for assuring the continuance and expansion of a civil 
academic discourse.


Frank F. Conlon
Professor of History
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Co-editor of H-ASIA
<conlon at u.washington.edu>