First, let me remind everyone that, come September, it will be seven
years that I've been operating NativeNet. The original mailing list
ran (without a name) for about a year and a half, and became NATIVE-L
in mid-1991, when it was moved to the LISTSERV system at Texas A & M
University's "TAMVM1" system. A lot has happened in this period of
time, not the least of which being that our community has grown, the
Internet has become a household word, technology has advanced, and I
have become somewhat weary (as, I suspect, have Mary Kuhner and Jay
Brummett, who have been an enormous help during the past several years).
Back around January, I announced that I would be trying to cut back on
the amount of traffic carried by the NATIVE-L list. (There has never
been much on NAT-EDU, NAT-LANG, and NAT-HLTH, Jay pretty much takes
care of NATCHAT on his own, and NAT-1492 remains dormant.) At least by
subjective standards, I think my effort has been fairly successful in
reducing the volume of articles carried by NATIVE-L, but I continue to
find that I spend more time than I feel I can afford at present in doing
what is needed to keep it running in a way that feels responsible to
this community. Therefore, I feel that I need to announce a further
cutback in service - along with outlining some proposals for trying to
compensate for that reduction and indicating some ideas I've been
considering for finding a longer-term solution to what I expect to
otherwise represent an ongoing problem.
Since I don't yet have anything in the way of definite posting guidelines
for NATIVE-L, I'll simply say for now that I would like to ask that there
be no postings of articles already available by means of the World Wide
Web - instead, submit a one-page abstract of the document and give the URL
where the text of the complete document can be found. I hope to write an
article soon giving details of how those who do not have direct Web access
can obtain copies of such documents. Also, remember that NATIVE-L is only
for news and information; articles containing expressions of personal
opinion should go instead to the NATCHAT list (you should have received
subscription instructions for that list when you first joined NATIVE-L).
If you have a long document that you feel deserves the attention of our
readers but you do not yourself have the possibility of putting it on a
Web server, please send me a note describing the document - its length
and subject matter and why you feel it should be made available. In
cases where it seems merited, I will place such documents into our
Web-based archives and you can post an article referring to them.
In the remainder of this report, I'd like to begin to address:
1. proposing a model for thinking about how we are using this
communications technology to achieve shared objectives
2. finding ways to enable NativeNet to become more of a community
effort
3. looking at the effect of the commercialization of the Internet
and the emergence of the World Wide Web on our community
4. redefining the purpose of the NATIVE-L list and proposing some
ideas for a set of policies that will help achieve the revised
purpose
5. indicating some possible directions for future developments
6. describing the need for advisors to help set a course, make
decisions, and provide additional credibility
7. soliciting feedback/discussion on all of the above and related
topics by means of a separate background channel
1. proposing a model
There are many ways to frame the activity we carry out when we send
and receive communications by means of an electronic mailing list,
Usenet newsgroup, "chat room" of a commercial online service (or the
Internet-based "IRC" system), etc. At one extreme, we can think of
ourselves as simply sending and receiving information and ideas, and
at the other we can think about constructing something of an electronic
family. Much has been written on the subject of late (the best known
being the work of Howard Rheingold and his _Virtual Communities_). I
am not going to propose any of these models as being the "right" one,
but I will say that subscribers to the NativeNet mailing lists do at
least comprise some kind of community of interest, and that there is
represented within this community the potential for carrying out certain
activities jointly by means of the communications vehicles we use for
our exchanges, in addition to the simple activity of conducting those
exchanges to serve personal aims, that is.
I could write much more on this subject alone. My present purpose
is only to refer to an important assumption that underlies what will
follow - namely that there is much in the way of largely "untapped
potential" represented in the collection of people who use these
means to collect and disseminate information and ideas. I will be
attempting here to take that assumption seriously, and to use it as
the basis for the proposals I will make.
2. becoming more of a "community effort"
Keeping the NativeNet system going is a very time-consuming enterprise
for me. I could easily spend every waking moment on something related
to NativeNet (and sometimes do). Much of that activity involves corre-
spondence with the many people who write to me for information or about
something related to one of the mailing lists or something they've read
at our Web site (http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/natnet/). For better or worse,
I need to spend more time on other things - and to find a way to take
better advantage of offers of assistance that sometimes come in (it can
be a tradeoff, however, since even accepting help often requires energy
to provide necessary training and coordination). This is an objective
toward which I'd like to work - but I think it will take time to achieve.
I may start by establishing a Web-based forum for those who would like
to assist, so that we can have a conversation with one another on ideas
for coordinating our activities in such a way that we can work together
well and that there not develop too much of a burden on any of us.
On a related topic, we might think about ways in which we could become
more of a "real" (as opposed to a virtual) community - with the advent
of Web-based conferencing, it should be possible to set up channels of
communications and supporting information to enable those in various
geographical locations to make themselves known to one another for
purposes of meeting and carrying out activies with each other in their
local areas. This is one of several purposes for which I hope to set
up such conferences as soon as possible.
3. effects of the commercialization of the Internet and the development
of the World Wide Web
Those of you who have been using computer-based electronic communications
for more than a couple of years are aware of a dramatic change that has
come about fairly recently since the management and operation of the
Internet has (at least in the United States) been taken over by corporate
concerns (having been formerly been managed on a non-commercial basis by
the government). Mailing lists and newsgroups had formerly been fairly
"academic" affairs, in the sense that most participants were students and
faculty members at colleges and universities, researchers, or employees
at high-tech companies. Now, with more and more people getting access to
Internet-based forums via commercial service providers, the demographics
of our own mailing lists has been steadily changing. Though I would not
try to characterize the effects of these changes in a few words, I have
a hunch that they are - or at least could be - fairly profound. (One
effect that has been fairly obvious, though it may also be partly the
effect of technological changes, as TCP/IP connections to Internet
service providers becomes the norm, rather than the exception, is that
there have been many more technical problems people have experienced
with mail systems and the mailing lists which they do not have support
personnel to help them overcome immediately - meaning they often turn
to me for help, which is difficult for me to provide, what with all the
other responsibilities I have.)
4. redefining the purpose of NATIVE-L
The possible/probable effects of the emergence of the World Wide Web are
difficult to do more than to hint at in the time and space I'm allocating
myself for this article. I've tried to at least touch on some of the
possibilities I see in the presentation I've done on the NativeNet Web
site, mostly with regard to projects that we could think about undertaking
together - but there are many other ramifications which I've been thinking
about and hope to discuss with those of you who have an interest in such
matters as soon as possible (which is one reason I want to get the Web-
based conferencing set up). For me, one of the greatest potentials that
I see (in the near-term, at least) represented by the Web is that it can
free the NATIVE-L list to be used for purposes for which it is best suited
in that longer articles or those dealing with specialized topics can be
made available on the Web, with short summaries being posted in a kind
of abstract or summary form as regular bulletins (here is one area where
I can imagine being able to use some help from volunteers, in fact). I
am becoming of a mind that the mailing list is best suited for shorter
items, particularly those representing matters of some urgency. I want
to draft a policy on postings to the NATIVE-L mailing list before too
much longer, to set out guidelines on how to use the mailing lists to
best advantage. I also want to write an article explaining to those who
do not now have (or who do not know that they do have) access to the Web
how to gain at least some degree of access to the Web. (This is a good
place to remind everyone that the archives of the NATIVE-L mailing list
are available at "http://bioc09.uthscsa.edu/natnet/archive/nl/" - and
for NAT-LANG at "http://bioc09.uthscsa.edu/natnet/archive/ng/" .)
Another important aspect of the re-orientation I'd like to achieve is of
a personal sort. You can get some idea about my ideas on this subject
by looking at the "vision statement" piece at the NativeNet Web site.
The essence of the matter is that I have begun to recognize that I cannot
hope to do well any significant number of the things that have emerged as
possibilities, so I have to set some personal priorities. I'll have more
to say on this subject at another time - and those who choose to take
part in the Web-based discussions will be able to get a sense of at least
some of those things (and I hope some will want to join me in pursuing
their development as actual projects). I am hoping that volunteers will
come forth to help enable the mailing lists to function well as ongoing
services while more of my energies go into these new areas. I'll put
out a call for volunteers when I feel I have time to do the communicating
and training that I know will be needed (and I have saved copies of notes
various people have sent me in the past offering their services for such
purposes).
5. possible directions for future development
I have tried to sketch some ideas for collaborative projects in the things
I've written recently and placed at the NativeNet Web site. Right now, I
see them as something of a "blue sky" sort of thing - in order to become
practical, they will require help from many others - and there are bound
to be many ideas that others will have for projects that can be proposed
and undertaken as well. Again, I see the creation of better channels of
communication to be the essential ingredient in enabling any of these
things to work. After finishing and posting this article, I intend to turn
my attention to a couple of other important tasks, one of which is getting
a Web-based conferencing system well-enough established so that we can
begin the dialogue necessary to think about these things collectively (or
else I'll discover that there is not enough interest in this whole idea -
or not enough people have access to the technology yet - or not enough
time and energy to think about it, or whatever, and I can find other
outlets for these energies, or just "bide my time" until later when the
situation might be different).
6. need for advisors
It has long been a goal to secure the assistance of a council of advisors
to help us chart a course. I have several people in mind, and a couple
have already agreed. I am looking primarily for people who have vision,
experience, professional or academic credentials, and who have attained
significant respect for work related to the purposes of NativeNet. I'll
have more to say about this subject another time. If anyone has in mind
someone who might be good for this purpose (preferably someone who already
has good access to at least electronic mail and an interest in or at least
a curiosity about the potentials of electronic communication to further
the kinds of goals you can read about in what I've presented on the Web),
please get in touch with me. I'm especially interested in representation
from persons outside the United States, since one of my own goals is to
be as inclusive and as international as possible (but a few more U.S.-
based advisors would be good to have also). Also, I have a list of several
potential advisors, both in the U.S. and Canada, who I would like to contact
in the next several months. I may later ask for persons who could help me
learn more about them. I will get in touch with those who would seem well-
suited for our purposes, at which point, I might need help from those who
can maintain ongoing personal contact and help them, if needed, with any of
the technical matters that might be necessary to enable them to participate
fully in what we're doing.
7. soliciting feedback/discussion
I suppose that what I've said already will have given you something of the
idea - but I'll say it just one more time - I'm intending to set up as soon
as possible some Web-based discussion forums in support of the kinds of
objectives I've tried to outline in this article. Initially, I plan to
create only a few forums, since they will be experimental, and technical
problems could arise, and I don't want to have to put too much time into
supporting the discussions (in fact, if there turn out to be any serious
technical problems, or I find they are too difficult to support, I may
retract them and make another attempt later). I will probably create one
for general feedback and discussion about NativeNet itself, one for the
planning of Web-based discussions on topics relating to bulletins carried
on NATIVE-L (so that, for example, we could look at such matters as how
the Decade of Indigenous People is being observed, and what we might be
able to do to help give the observance greater prominence - and use it
as an occasion for learning, or about the rise of violent standoffs on
disputed lands such as have emerged in Canada in the past several years,
or about the connection between indigenous values/knowledge and problems
in the natural environment and possible solutions, and discussions can
be set up for certain professional groups, like educators and librarians
to talk about various topics relating to their specialties), and one for
questions and answers about various subjects. I'd also like to set up a
forum for those who would like to take an opportunity that has just
arisen to provide input to someone who is setting up a Web page for an
historical society on the battle popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand."
(This last forum will be something of an experiment in seeing how well
such a forum might actually work, and what kinds of problems arise.)
There is much more that I could say, but I wanted to keep this article
as short as possible, so that there would be a hope that at least some
of you would read it through. More details on my overall ideas can be
found on the Web (http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/natnet/nn-info.html). Again,
my apologies for not being able to get things out on this list in as
timely a fashion as I might like. I'll have more to say later on that
subject.
If anyone wants to comment on this piece, please drop me a note.
Thanks.
Gary
--
Gary S. Trujillo gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts {bu.edu,spdcc,cdp}!gnosys!gst