The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 15.1749  Monday, 27 September 2004

From:           Hardy M. Cook <
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Date:           Monday, September 27, 2004
Subject:        Modified Procedures

Dear SHAKSPEReans,

What follows will not be a Charles-Foster-Kane-style Statement of
Principles ("You don't want to go and make a lot of promises you're not
going to keep"); rather this reflects my current state of thinking,
subject to change.

SHAKSPER is not a forum for "free speech." Members do not have a right
to have me post their submissions. For fourteen years, SHAKSPER has
existed as a result of my labors, twelve to twenty or more hours per
week, and for the past five years I have additionally paid all of the
expenses.

My desire has been for "self moderation" and "community moderation," a
model that does not seem to be working as effectively as I would wish.

If I am to exercise more editorial control over postings, I will need to
spend more time during the editing-formatting phase; and time is
something I do not have in abundance.

Nevertheless, I am going to operate somewhat differently for a while.

I plan to take more time reviewing submissions for appropriateness. Some
I will return and ask that the poster rephrase; others I will simply
reject. The grounds will be highly subjective; and because I have no
desire to engage in extended exchanges of e-mails, I will not send an
e-mail to explain my decision or reply to inquiries as to why I did not
post a submission.

Furthermore, I will limit my editing-formatting time. I will begin by
sending out announcements and new queries, and I will then work on as
many on-going threads as I have time for before quitting for the day. In
other words, I will no longer strive to post all submissions I receive
the following weekday.

I do not know whether these procedures will be a burden or a relief to
me, but I am going to try them for a while.

Thanks to all for your on-going support and interest.

Hardy M. Cook
Editor

PS: It will take me a while to catch-up on the backlog of messages.

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DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the
editor assumes no responsibility for them.