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Se the quote… On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 2:45 PM Tim Spalding <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > "Mailing lists aren't what they used to be. Of the mailing lists in which I > subscribe, zero discussion happens. There are really only announcements. I > suppose the Code4Lib mailing list is no different." > > At the risk of starting a discussion where nobody discusses: > > 1. Why are mailing lists dead for discussion? Email is on its last legs. It only lags voicemail in the race for most despised medium. > > 2. Has discussion of the topics here moved elsewhere? If so, where and why? It has largely moved to more real-time venues, like Slack > > 3. Is any of this about Code4Lib specifically, about libraries > specifically, about coding and tech specifically… or is this just a symptom > of larger phenomena? This is a widespread trend, but it has its greatest impact on smaller communities, like C4L.. > > What phenomena? Technology has evolved, and we want the good stuff. > > > Best, > Tim Spalding > LibraryThing > > > > On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 3:03 PM Lolis, John <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > Yowzuh! That's not only quite an opus, but also a thing of beauty you've > > wrought. Quite interesting, too. I doff my virtual hat to you. > > > > John Lolis > > Coordinator of Computer Systems > > > > 100 Martine Avenue > > White Plains, NY 10601 > > > > tel: 1.914.422.1497 > > fax: 1.914.422.1452 > > > > https://whiteplainslibrary.org/ > > > > *Some may say that perception is everything, but not from where I stand.* > > > > > > On Fri, 14 Jan 2022 at 14:30, Eric Lease Morgan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > > > > > I have done a bit of compare & contrast when it comes to the Code4Lib > > > mailing list. And I can demonstrate how discussions about specific > > > computing issues in libraries have declined, and job postings have > > > increased. > > > > > > In 2011, there were approximately 3,000 postings to the list for a > total > > > of .98 million words. By comparison, in 2021 there were 1700 postings > > and a > > > total of .5 million words. To put it another way, the mailing list's > > volume > > > has decreased by about half. > > > > > > I calculated quite a number of frequencies based on a wide variety of > > > features (ngrams, parts-of-speech, named entities, etc.). In 2011 the > > names > > > of people dominated the entities, but in 2022 the names of > organizations > > > dominated. When I did topic modeling against 2011, themes included: > > > "conference", "library", and "data". On the other hand, themes from > 2022 > > > included: "library", "experience", and "digital". > > > > > > Probably the most telling model was the word collocations. While the > > > attached images may be too small to appreciate all the nuances, the > 2011 > > > graph includes the names of many individual people and computing issues > > > like "data", "MARC", and "RDF". The 2021 graph has a much larger > emphasis > > > on "experience", and there is a set of related words regarding race & > > > gender, which come from the boiler plate paragraphs of job postings. > > > > > > Mailing lists aren't what they used to be. Of the mailing lists in > which > > I > > > subscribe, zero discussion happens. There are really only > announcements. > > I > > > suppose the Code4Lib mailing list is no different. > > > > > > That said, the mailing list's subscription base continues to slowly > > > increase. We are about 3,800 people strong. On the other hand, a robot > is > > > the most frequent poster to the list. Signs of the times? :-D > > > > > > -- > > > Eric Lease Morgan > > > Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship > > > Hesburgh Libraries > > > University of Notre Dame > > > > > > 574/631-8604 > > > https://cds.library.nd.edu > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Check out my library at http://www.librarything.com/profile/timspalding > -- Cary Gordon The Cherry Hill Company http://chillco.com