You know, that's a good point. This is our second Learning Community and we're approaching it the same way that we approached the first one since it was successful and resulted in presentation opportunities, etc. for participants. Personally I think we have a "virtual fence" because we're looking for people who are interested in actively participating all of the aspects of our Learning Community. So, in that respect, we're equating an application process with a commitment to active participation. Is there a particular example of a successful learning community-esque project that operated successfully without an application process that you have in mind? If so, please share the information. We're always looking to improve upon our community offerings. Thanks for your comment and for any information you'd like to share! On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 1:00 PM, BWS Johnson <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > Salvete! > > What's with the virtual fence? What are the benefits of limiting > participation? > > > http://www.librariesthriving.org/learning-community-community-topics/application-for-the-fall-learning-community > > > Cheers, > BWS Johnson > -- Laura Warren *Libraries Thriving and Information Literacy Intern* *Credo Reference* [log in to unmask] “[Credo forces] us to ask at least whether we should begin to expect more from a reference ebook collection than a faithful reproduction of a printed text” -Library Journal, 15 October 2010