Searchable OSLIST - Need Some Keywords

Wed Mar 17 19:09:01 PST 2004

Hmmm... I appreciate, Birgitt, that you do not like the old postings
being shared "beyond this list community."  You raise some important
questions, about openess, understanding, sharing, heart, list and
community.

The archives as they have been are 100% publicly accessible.  Anyone can
search them without ever saying hello here in a message.  They can read
everything and anything in the archives without ever reading the FAQs or
other context for what they are reading.  That's how it's been for years
now.

This new shift, which the OSI group discussed, which I took
responsibility for investigating, and which the Boise State folks
implemented directly, somewhat faster and more enthusiastically than I'd
expected (otherwise known as "surprise!"), is not really much different
from what it had been.  Still I understand that this revisits old bad
feelings about not knowing what you were posting into in previous
years.  Sorry be stirring those up now.

As it now stands, the current state does allow much easier access for
those who would like to learn about OST.  Going back to replace the old
requirement of subscribing doesn't seem likely to raise the level of
community on the list.  And, there is no way to know about or change the
diffusion of what has years ago been made public.  I don't know if there
is any sort of search-and-destroy function that could eliminate your
postings, but I do know that we would lose an awful lot of learning if
we did that and I'm sure there's no way to scrub all our quotings of
your messages in our responses.

The subscribing/unsubscribing that has been required is a totally
anonymous and largely technical process that I'd guess is probably a
poor test of anyone's appetite, aptitude or appreciation for the spirit
of community here.  So willingness to pass the subscription test
(different from the 'hello' or really listening test) probably doesn't
provide any of us, or  all of us, much protection of any kind.  The old
restriction seems a paper tiger that probably scares people off for all
the wrong reasons.

So, given that these things have already been sent around the world and
publicly and anonymously accessed for many years now, AND as you seem to
have some passion for the list, dear Birgitt, I'm wondering if there is
some language of welcoming, description, and understanding that could be
added by way of introduction to what is written here.

Will you write some language that we can post on the website that
describes the depth of heart and community and learning and spirit that
goes on here on the list.  Can you share your sense of this community in
the invitation, so that we can continue to open and open and open?

If you can get this started, then we can polish it up together, in
community here on the list, and I will be glad to post it on teh site as
invitation to the OSLIST and its archives.

Thanks for bringing this, Michael

Birgitt Williams wrote:

>Interesting and yet it also feels to me like a violation of my own sense of
>community. I have posted to the list almost since the beginning. For years,
>my posts were very personal because I didn't understand about lists and
>thought the community on the list was a real community for me. And then I
>learned my assumptions were wrong. I never could get the 'givens' about the
>list clarified. And now, to know that what I had written from my heart to
>the list is definitely beyond the list community just doesn't feel good. I
>have loved this community and a real sense of community. Was the material
>posted from our hearts ever meant for the world? It is an interesting
>question. What happens when a community won't (or isn't given the
>opportunity to work at) sort out the 'givens' for itself so that we know
>what we are involved in and what we are not? What happens when someone just
>by a 'switch' can change the parameters.
>
>Whatever I contributed over the years was meant for this list.
>
>Birgitt
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Michael
>Herman
>Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 6:02 PM
>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>Subject: Searchable OSLIST - Need Some Keywords
>
>
>Hello All,
>
>For some time now, a number of us have been thinking and talking about
>how to go about making the wealth of insight and resources buried in the
>OSLIST archives more available to the larger world out there.  Always
>seemed like so much work to go searching and digesting and organizing.
>Until now.
>
>I have just heard from the folks at Boise State who run the listserve.
>They tell me that they have thrown the switch and now the wealth of our
>Archives can be searched by anyone interested in learning about OST,
>without necessarily  joining the list.  Simple as that.  Btw, I think
>the credit for this brilliance goes to Garbriel Shirley, specifically,
>and the OSI-USA Board, generally.
>
>What we need now is a list of key words that will help the OSLIST
>homepage be more quickly discoverable by Google and the other search
>engines.
>
>Please add to this list:
>
>Open Space Technology, OSLIST, organization transformation,
>facilitation, open space,
>
>
>
>Many thanks, Michael
>
>P.S. I don't know what prompted all the capitals here... feels kind of
>like getting all dressed up! <grin>
>
>--
>
>Michael Herman
>Michael Herman Associates
>300 West North Avenue #1105
>Chicago IL 60610 USA
>(312) 280-7838
>
>http://www.michaelherman.com - consulting & publications
>http://www.globalchicago.net - laboratory & playground
>http://www.openspaceworld.org - worldwide open space
>
>...inviting organization into movement
>
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--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Avenue #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
(312) 280-7838

http://www.michaelherman.com - consulting & publications
http://www.globalchicago.net - laboratory & playground
http://www.openspaceworld.org - worldwide open space

...inviting organization into movement

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>From  Wed Mar 17 21:40:45 2004
Message-Id: <WED.17.MAR.2004.214045.0600.>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 21:40:45 -0600
Reply-To: ashcooper at earthlink.net
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Ashley Cooper <ashcooper at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Searchable OSLIST - Need Some Keywords
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

i realize that i have not invested in this community as deeply as others
have, nor have i been a part of it for that long. regardless, i'd like to
share the view from my perspective! i think about all of this information
opening up into the world. the life of these dialogues being available to
flow into the presence of others. can you imagine walking down the street
(googling) and then just finding yourself in this community. that would be
amazing! i think that i would immediately plop down on the street and start
crying. someone like julie smith would walk over and put her arms around me
and... i'd know that the dream was real. i'm curious about what happens
when we just trust? what happens when we're vulnerable and we open
ourselves up to the world?

my hesitant 2 cents!

with love,
ashley

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