in LO10929 Michael McMaster wrote:
> THEY, that is the world who is not engaged with the list and who can
> access it in various ways are not bound by any agreement. They can, in
> practice, borrow freely and provide links that essentially include
> anything here in their writing (with or without credit). The ethics of
> the web seem to support this.
I am a little confused here. Please educate me. Who exactly are THEY?
I subscribed to this listserv for a while through AOL. I received so much
mail each day that I easily exceeded the allocated time. That got
expensive. When I left AOL I unsubscribed.
After established a reasonable satisfactory account with a straight
internet provider I explored the mail readers that were being used and
found that, while I didn't have to worry about the number of hours I spent
downloading mail, I still didn't have a clue about the subject lines in
most cases. That meant that I usually had to wade through the mountain of
mail every day to find those items which I needed or in which I was
interested.
As I pondered this delimma, I was introduced to the LO web page. Suddenly
it was all there before. I could sort by date or by thread. I could pick
and choose those which I wanted to read without having to accept those in
which I had no interest. This is how I access this list now.
Am I a THEY? If so, what would it take to become one of US? Do I need to
post an introduction? Do I need to post a certain number of items each
month? Do I need to subscribe to certain ideas or ideals that very active
contributors embrace? Do I need to pay money to someone?
While it is important to acknowledge those who have done the work, using
the ideas which are presented here is where I see the most value. That
means that the ideas have to be presented in order to be understood. If I
understand those ideas, I cannot help but be altered by them. I cannot
help but use them. How do I satisfy the need on the part of others to be
acknowledged? Do I hand out a bibliography at the end of each
conversation that tells from whom I got which ideas?
I sense a lot of frustration coming across in your post and other posts on
this topic. Unfortunately, I also see what could be construed as a
movement toward a position that could be opposed to the idea of open
dialogue, which is why I access this group in the first place. Keeping in
mind that the perception is the reality, establishing a group that
requires subscription can easily move organizational learning AND learning
organizations from the realm of what is right for all to the realm of what
is right for only the serious participants (read: those who can pay for
it). If so, so much for a learning COMMUNITY.
Keep in mind, too, that I, as a serious participant, can pay to subscribe
and still steal ideas without attribution. If I wish to resist paying for
knowledge, I can also get one of my hacker friends to find a way to access
the list without paying and then steal anonymously. I don't think the
either option is a productive one, but there are many who would (and
obviously do).
I thought about sending email to Mike alone, but it wasn't just his post
to which I am responding. Also, I would like to read the thoughts of
others on how to proceed on the topic of establishing closed Special
Interest Groups (SIG's).
--Clyde Howell orgpsych@csra.net
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>