On Dec 7, 2012, at 3:25 PM, Dan Chudnov <daniel.chud...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Over the years several regional code4lib groups formed and some wanted to > have their own lists. When such suggestions have been made on this list, > those suggestions have often been resisted, because of the success we had > originally collapsing (combining?) people who wanted to talk about code and > libraries into one big list. Maybe some resistance to seeing a > code4lib4women activity broken out is similar to that. I feel that > resistance; maybe I'm not the only one… > > I'm all for people creating new social structures to move themselves forward > doing it however they see fit. The internet is a big place, and there's room > for more. In this case, though, I hope it will be an "and" operation, not an > exclusive "or". I would be happy to hear that a new group formed and that > it's going well. I would be disappointed if people in that group ended up > moving away from this one big group. It happens, and I'd get over it, sure, > but it'd still be disappointing. We gain something by gathering together > like we have here. It's not exclusive, nor should it be. But code4lib has > added so much to me and my work that I know how much I stand to lose if we do > not also keep working to stick together, however difficult that can be > sometimes. Dan said it much better than I ever could, and I agree with him. I don't really think there is a need for an additional "social structures", but no one is stopping anybody else from creating one. I really like the idea of "and" not "or". Personally, I believe we need fewer lists, not more. -- Eric Lease Morgan University of Notre Dame
