Mr. Brett:

1)Although this discussion has already dragged on for far too long, your latest posting invites a brief reply.  First of all, there is no doubt that you and your like-minded colleagues have a point in noticing imperfections in the List.  In the past, I have noticed with dismay sometimes when veterans in the profession crushed newbies who made completely innocent inquiries.  It might be for this reason that archival students created their own listserv.  So, the List is not perfect, and it can always use well-reasoned input from people of all backgrounds to make it better.  But it is a tremendous vehicle for improving archival practice and professionalism.

2) To set the record straight, it was your friend’s blog posting that took this discussion about the List into the realm of politics, in the form of an ideologically-charged personal attack.  Once this wider realm had been invoked, I thought it necessary to analyze rationally this essentially political ideology on its own terms.

3) You have called for a moderated list to make it more coherent.  Why is coherence a virtue?  In a democracy, decision-making is often chaotic.  Have  you ever heard the British House of Commons—the “Mother of Parliaments”—at Question Time?  Based on this historical experience, I would contend that freedom of expression is a far higher virtue for a list than coherence.  If you want coherence, perhaps you would prefer Putin’s Russia.  Now there’s coherence.

4) The most serious problem with the blog posting was its false accusation of moral impropriety that was leveled at a person in a public forum before a national, even world audience.  Do you not see a problem in making a potentially reputation- and career-destroying accusation without the facts to back them up?  Do you not see a problem in claiming the moral high ground while at the same time defaming a good man?

In the end, we need to be able to discuss and disagree on the List, while treating each other—young and old, male and female--with professionalism and, ultimately, humanity.

Note:  My esteemed employer bears no responsibility for my postings on this List.

Paul Rood, Archivist

National Declassification Center

National Archives

College Park, Maryland