> > Ellie and I were talking the other night while discussing the Spring > Convention. She suggested making all of the *TEXAS CAVER *newsletters over > a year old open to anyone (her idea), after they complete a Subscription > form (your idea and one in which I concur). >
Do you mean the digital versions? That's a good idea but would pretty much be negated if and when *The CAVER* becomes globally down-loadable. Maybe the TSA should consider having a pop-up box for TSA membership to annoy anybody who tries to order issues on-line and isn't a member or doesn't have a password. It was always possible for non-TSA members to buy past hard-copy issues of *The CAVER* at conventions (and still should be able to--be sure to print extras for that purpose), TCR and other meetings where they were available--even if they were just a month old. That fact pretty much negated the concept that only members could receive newsletters--that subscriptions were tied to membership. The difference was only a matter of timing--the members got the latest issue in the mail and non-members had to wait 'til they were offered out of hand. Often, back issues were offered at a cheaper price than they were through membership--like an entire volume for $5. It wasn't a matter of protecting the information contained therein from non-cavers or anything like that, just obsessive possessiveness or some similar disfunction. I have another idea. (shudder) We have a bindery available. Hard-bound copies of each volume--or several volumes bound together, since they're small--can be made up and sold by the TSA Store at a profit to those future speleo-bibliophiles who lust for higher quality hard copies for their library. It has been done by some editors in the past. --Ediger
