Well, that's done. My list has split off its parent list, at the request of the
parent listŐs moderator. I don't entirely concur in the need to split. No
actually, more honestly, I did think they needed to, until the other day when I
explained the existing policy to someone who couldn't understand why she couldn't
join mine without being on the other one for two months (she was upset at having
to suffer the "embarrassment" of being denied for membership -- some people take
this shit way too seriously) and in the process of answering I convinced
myself that the attachment was a good thing. But clearly, it's not good for either
list to be attached if the moderators of both are not enthusiastic about the
idea.
Our immediate problem then became how to screen new members for
the list I moderate. We're a general discussion list, unlike the parent list which
is devoted to the Lord Peter Wimsey books, so it's not self-selecting, and we
needed a way to keep out idiots. The whole idea of splitting the lists, however
justified, struck me as dreary and depressing, so I wanted to think up an idea
that would counter that, that would be fun and interesting. Racking my brain, I
came up with the idea of audition-by-jury -- potential members will be asked to
write a bit about who they are, why they want to join us, and why we want them to
join us, and a jury of four list-members will decide whether to admit them, with
me or one of the other moderators casting a deciding vote.
I hope
this works, and is as interesting (in a good way) as I think it can
be!
PS: Given that this is a list of people who love books, and that
all present members are Lord Peter fans, there are definitely some readers of this
who might want to consider joining -- or even joining the (formerly) parent Lord
Peter discussion list.