[ADMIN] Policy on frequent/voluminous postings

[Dominik Wujastyk]

I have been trying to think of a way to approach some of the perceived
problems of the INDOLOGY list in a way which is fair and which does not
involve me personally in an unbearable workload (as active moderation
would do).

This is what I have come up with.

It is altogether easier to deal with these issues using quantitative
rather than qualitative methods.  I.e., I'm not (usually) prepeared to get
into silly arguments about who is right, who is rude, and so forth.  I
would prefer to allow an open discussion amongst adults, and rely on the
membership to obey the standard rules of Netiquette and universal
politeness.  I know this doesn't always happen, but perhaps we can all
jointly try to nudge the occasional playground bullies into better
behaviour by example, rather than by fiat.

Okay: this is what I'm doing. I am simply going to attack the problem of
volume.  Each month I shall draw up two checklists.  One of those who
posted the highest number of messages, and of those who posted the longest
messages.  I'll take the worst sinners in each category (commonly the top
ten), and email a warning to them about their over-exposure on the list.
If someone gets three of these Warning messages in a row, I shall cancel
their INDOLOGY membership.

I hope this policy will be taken in the spirit in which it is intended: as
a way of improving the INDOLOGY list experience for most members, in a
non-judgemental manner.

Best wishes,
Dominik Wujastyk,
Founder, INDOLOGY list.

--
Dr Dominik Wujastyk,              FAX:       +44 171 611 8545
Wellcome Institute for            URL:       http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/
  the History of Medicine,        Email:     d.wujastyk at ucl.ac.uk
Wellcome Trust, 183 Euston Road,  Trust URL: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/library
London NW1 2BE, England.