Re: MentorNet (one woman's response)

[Bob LaMontagne <rlamont@POSTOFFICE.PROVIDENCE.EDU>]

Richard Hake wrote:

> My pleas (Hake 2002) for more adequate referencing on discussion list
> posts [consistent with Pea's (1999) wild idea that discussion lists
> might actually contribute to improving education research and
> practice rather than just serving as electronic pubs for exchanging
> opinions and tidbits of information] has evidently fallen mostly on
> deaf ears (or should I say "bleary eyes").

I would simply point out that this is an email list. Email is most efficiently used for
exchange of short comments to be read during short breaks in our busy professional lives.
Since most of us have very different styles in terms of how we construct an email (quoted
material at beginning, end, or interspersed through response) it's impractical to read a
long email to see where the new material is - especially when the style is extremely
idiosyncratic - which leads to simply deleting the long emails of some posters to the list.

If one is going to provide pages of references, IMHO it's better done with a link to one's
web site.

Bob at PC

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.