2nd RFD for uk.rec.lepidoptera

[Chris Raper]

On Mon, 30 Nov 1998 16:57:56 GMT, peter at wppltd.demon.co.uk (Peter
Parry) wrote:

>On Mon, 30 Nov 1998 15:12:57 GMT, triocomp at dial.pipex.com (Chris
>Raper) wrote:
>>The problem with this argument is that many users of SBEL do not have
>>any access to Usenet. This is because they use systems provided by
>>their employers or universities who block Usenet access. 

Hi Peter

>This point has been raised several times but I'm a bit puzzled as to
>why it is only a problem for for Lepidopterists (is that name right?)

Yep - the name is fine :-)   

I think the worry is that us lepidopterists (and entomologists in
general) are a small community - much, much smaller than the
birdwatching one. Historically there has been a pretty even mix of
professional and amateur entomologists. For many people the nature of
the hobby/profession is in making observations and exchanging
information between interested parties.

I am worried that amateurs will be distancing themselves from
professionals at a time when we are encouraging more amateurs to
contribute records to official recorder schemes. 

Also, I would have thought that anyone with an interest in
lepidopterans would want to discuss issues with as many other
likeminded people as possible.

>and not raised about many other news groups who I would expect to
>have a similar or higher concentration of university or corporate
>readers than here.  

Mmm - don't know - I can't really comment but maybe there were plenty
of other methods of communication or the other groups were of a larger
subscription and therefore needed sub-dividing? :-\

>Even though direct newsgroup access may be restricted indirect via
>the likes of Deja News on the WWW should be possible.

Good point - but I bet the sys admins that block Usenet also block web
access too :-)  Then there is the ease of use argument - currently the
list server is very easy to use - if the situation were more
complicated to use it would certainly discourage use.

>Whats different about the potential users of this group?

Well, I think the problem is that the supporters of the new group are
a little misguided. I mean no offence by this - in fact when I started
using Usenet I thought that a UK group would be a great idea. I am
glad though that I took time to study the s.b.e.l group and see how it
is used. I am happy with s.b.e.l because it is a good, common forum
for debate - the new group would just be divisive.

If people want to post lepidoptera related news - local or otherwise -
they should post to s.b.e.l and I am sure they will be pleasantly
surprised by the interest they get - from all over the world.

>Can anyone quantify the scale of this problem?

Sorry - don't know the figures I'm afraid :-(

Best wishes,
Chris R.