Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 14:52:31 -0600


Dear list proposers and possible or prospective proposers:

Spoon is not an institution, it is an informal, even anarchic
committee, committed to non-structure and non-hierarchy, at least for
its own internal workings, although lists may be run in a variety of
ways.

This is partly just to say that the Proposal Outline below is new and
intended to help you and Spoon to get together.  It's not
comprehensive or required by rules or formal procedures and it's not
any kind of a contract, etc.  Just talk to us, and this is the kind
of stuff that we need to know.

It may take a few weeks for some lists to begin, although some will
begin sooner.  The most limiting factor is probably the lack of a
moderator for each proposed list.  Many of the ideas that we have
received are very interesting, and we hope that those who propose
ideas may also volunteer to be moderators or find moderators.  Also,
we may try to put those with similar / compatible ideas in touch with
each other as the proposals develop.

So, the following list of Proposal Contents is not complete, it does
not have to be fully written up right away, and it can be changed as
we go along.  Much of this will become part of an info sheet which
each member of a list will receive automatically when they sub. 
You've probably seen something like this when you joined a list.  You
don't have to write a full-out info sheet now, and it does not have
to be long!! but please start with the first 6 items or so, and we
can discuss it with you and help out.

Below that, there is a list of Spoon-traditional expectations of
moderators, which can be dealt with rather flexibly, as needed.

Possible Proposal Outline or Content:
1.  name of list
2.  name of moderator
3.  several examples of topics that would fit into the discussion
4.  purpose or goal of moderator/list, i.e. what do you want the
content of the discussion to look like?  Think about the permanent
accessibility of the archives as a resource for the future, etc.
5.  long-term discussion list, or short-term intensive study group
6.  type of moderation that is proposed for the new list including:
	subscription policy (open?  by invitation?  by moderator approval?) 
	policies (if any) for moderating the discussion 

At some point there needs to be designation of the following options
for the running and technical set-up of the list and this info also
shared with the membership of a list [there are more, but we can ask
you later]:

7. Must one be a member of the list in order to post to the list?

8. Public access archives or private, list-member-only access to
archives.  [private ones are not likely to be needed often]

9. Public or private "who" command - can non-members get a list of
the names and addresses of list-members?  



For your information, the "Duties" of a moderator include:

To keep frequent contact with the list, largely in order 
1. to detect any technical problems and bring them to the attention
of the Spoon on duty.  OR it may be that a different person can be
designated Spoon-liason to execute this duty.  One way or another, a
list needs to be watched by some designated person, so that techies
who do not sub to a list can become aware of a technical need.

2. to answer questions about admin stuff, how-to un/sub, and help
people with that, etc.

3. to participate and enjoy the space that all members can create
together on a list, as much as you feel like doing.

4. promote creative, open, stimulating, interesting, productive
discussion.

6. sub to marx-admin, in order to form a sort of cross-fertilization
and support group with other mods of marxism-lists and some
interested members of Spoon [who may also have advice to offer]

5. keep marx-admin informed of looming troubles, to ask for help,
exchange tips and advice on how to deal with things, to change policy
and mod-behavior on lists as needed and answer questions about how
and what your list is doing.

6. Multiple moderators per list may share duties and set things up
any way they like, but only one person usually will be designated to
talk to spoon.


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