I've now retired from my faculty position at the University of West
Florida and it seems to be a good time to pass the management of PHYS-L
along to its next manager.
Here's what the new manager needs and can expect:
1. Access to a listserving program and hopefully some savvy systems
person to run and maintain it. Phys-L currently operates from a
unix-based server called ListProc. More "seasoned" subscribers will
remember that the list started on a mainframe program called Revised
Listserv, but we moved the list when the developer of Listserv took the
program private and began charging a significant license fee. There are
a couple of other listserving programs available as well. If you are
reading this and thinking about taking on this service to the physics
community, you probably already have some server program running on your
campus... it will probably do the job fine. I should mention that there
are also Web-based solutions to group discussion as well, and there's
been some discussion on the list about moving Phys-L to one of these.
If you've been thinking about that, then this is the perfect time and
opportunity to do so.
2. Assuming that we'll continue with the mail-serving model, then all
that's necessary is to move the subscriber list from the UWF machine to
your machine, publicise the new address on Phys-L, and finally to set up
a temporary forwarding loop between UWF and the new address to take care
of the customary 10% who don't get the word.
3. About 600 physics educators subscribe to the list at present. Daily
traffic ranges from a few messages to 30 or 40 during a really hot
topic. Your systems person will want to know this info so s/he can
judge the impact Phys-L will make on the existing installation.
4. I spend less than an hour a day maintaining the list, though I expect
a new owner will spend more. There are always a few subscribers who need
help in subscribing or unsubscribing or some other detail. However,
most of my work is in dealing with the 50-200 daily error messages that
are returned to me. These are almost always from *your* host mail
server, and range from "the Phys-L message to JoeJones has been delayed,
but I'm still trying.." to "I never heard of JoeJones at this address."
My practice has been to ignore all messages concerning a given
subscriber until I've received them for three days running. At that
point I decide that it's probably not just a transient error, and then
just delete JoeJones's subscription. Sometimes Joe write me back
immediately protesting, and then I have a chance to explain the problem,
which always has led to better service for Joe.
5. To help with the three-day rule I use mail filters to sort such
messages into one of 30 or 40 different folders, depending on the
subject line. The subjectlines of error messages from remote mail
servers are surprisingly unique, so this sorting scheme works well.
This idea means that I don't really read the 50-200 daily messages, but
rather only keep an eye on which folders seem to be filling up.
Who is interested in pursuing this challenge? The ideal listowner
probably already has another list or two running, so the addition of
Phys-L responsibilities wouldn't be a major increment. That person
probably doesn't take extended vacations away from his/her email, so
error messages don't pile up for more than a few days.
I suggest we discuss this matter publicly on the list, rather than using
private email with me. One topic I think we ought to explore is whether
to move from a mailing list format to a web-based format, and to
consider the advantages and disadvantages of each. And as part of that
discussion I hope we can identify the person who can make it happen.
==> Dick
--
Richard C. Smith, Ph.D. Voice: (850) 476-9352
55 Birdwhistell Blvd. Fax: (850) 476-4193
Pensacola, FL 32514 http://www.uwf.edu/~rsmith
email: rsmith@gulf.net