The ideal seminar, whether traditional or electronic, is a kind of long conversation, con- vened by a single person but conducted by everyone for mutual enlightenment. Its purpose is not so much to convey facts as to further under- standing of its subject, to train the minds of its participants, and so to help create a community of scholars. It is a pedagogical structure in which every member is both teacher and student
Why a listserv makes for a good seminar: it is about opinion, not facts.
ListServ lists are sometimes called "discussion groups," and McLuhan has made the term "global village" almost unavoidable. As I have indicated, I prefer to call HUMANIST an "electronic semi- nar" (henceforth "e-seminar") and so invoke the academic metaphor of a large table around which everyone sits for the purpose of argumentation, in
McCarty uses the metaphor of the seminar
On the practical level, HUMANIST and similar groups have demonstrated that we can certainly take advantage of the new medium for traditional scholarly and academic purposes. Experience with HUMANIST suggests that the new medium, care- fully managed, may be just what is needed to foster widespread humanistic discussion and collabora- tion in a world largely indifferent to its goal
Argues that listserves have demonstrated that we can take advantage of the medium for traditional scholarly and academic purposes.
d to our immature understanding of the new me
McCarty on the nascent nature of email correspondence
One of the earliest nonscience scholarly uses of this technology was the listHumanist,
Humanist claimed as one of the earliest uses of Listserv for nonscience scholarly work
McCarty saw a kind of electronic seminar, whosepurpose was ‘‘not so much to convey facts as to further understanding of its subject, to trainthe minds of its participants, and so to help create a community of scholars.’’
McCarty's goal for Humanist
In some ways, the exchange of correspondence publicly over these networksconstitutes a new form of publication. The posting on a list frequently resembles a letter to theeditor where someone conveys their opinions on a subjec
A way of understanding listservs as a new form of scholarly communication--like a letter to the editor.