[Sigia-l] The Menace

[karl fast]

> the 'booksellers' and 'bureaucracy-creators' conspiracy theory
> notwithstanding, it does seem peculiar that the same set of
> individuals who brought us boxes and arrows, acia, info-arch.org,
> etc, now seem to think we need some umbrella organization with a

An excellent point. Two comments:

1. info-arch.org has essentially flopped. It was intended as a
   community driven, volunteer project, but has stalled. And ACIA
   died when Argus closed 18 months ago. Our community resources are
   not as rich as they once were. I hope AIfIA can provide resources
   to change that.

2. AIfIA has different goals than either of those. Or, at least,
   different priorities. The things you mention are (were) focused
   first on being resources for the community and indirectly on
   promoting the field.

   AIfIA is focused first on maturing, promoting, and legitimizing
   IA as a field. That's the goal. Now we must determine the
   strategies and tactics will be achieve that goal. This may
   include things these initiatives were (are) intended to achieve.

   
But your point is well taken: we have not clearly explained the
relationship between AIfIA and the other resources and initiatives
in the community.

This is deliberate. We wanted to lay the foundation for AIfIA first,
which we felt was best done by a group of dedicated & focused
people, and then bring it out to the rest. We are saying "We've
built a ship, here it is, now help us figure out where to take it
and how to sail it." 


--karl