Sincere gratitude to all list managers for the wonderful effort in
securing the most logical home for Gambia-L - considering the transitional
and archival needs at this time.
The posterity of this reservoir of wisdom and history shall be guaranteed
as needed.
I'm sure all list members are very much grateful to the list Managers and
ICORS for stepping in at the right time.
May we all have a prosperous and rewarding new year. Eid Mubarak in
advance to all of you and your families. May the Almigthy grant us many
more eids to celebrate in peace and harmony.

-BambaLaye


<quote who="Malanding Jaiteh">
> Folks,
> The management after considering all options, has chosen ICORS to be
> Gambia-l's new home. ICORS is incorporated by former managers of
> Maelstrom lists as a replacement to St. Johns services. I include one of
> their messages as a backgrounder.
>  From what we know ICORS will work very much like St. Johns. The
> transition will be seamless. All subscribers, and archives will be
> migrated at once so no one should worry about resubscribing. Except
> during hours leading to the migration when the list will be put on hold,
> subscribers would not need to do anything. The migration is scheduled
> January 11. We will inform you when this is confirmed. In theory members
> do not have to do anything during the migration except exercise a little
> patience as messages sent during the hold period would not be delivered
> right away. Once migration is completed there will be a new addresses to
> send request for subscription and messages to the list.
>
> In order to help support this venture ICORS have asked for an annual
> dues/donations of 20 dollars US. This we believe is a fair deal and glad
> to say 2006 dues have already been paid for by one of the managers.
>
> This is where things stand and we will keep you updated as soon as we
> know more. Please do not hesitate to ask questions we will do our best
> to answer them when we can.
>
> Malanding Jaiteh
>
> Dear Maelstrom Listowner community,
>
> In recent months there have been rumors that SJU is contemplating shutting
> down
> Maelstrom. A decision was supposed to be reached in May, with 6 months
> warning
> before the potential shutdown, but that announcement has been delayed. We
> are
> very grateful that SJU has spent the money and resources to make Maelstrom
> possible all these years, and sad to see that this era may pass.
>
> With this in mind, some of us are taking steps to ensure that the
> Maelstrom
> lists will continue to have a home. ICORS -- Information Center for Online
> Resources and Services, Inc. -- has been incorporated as a non-profit
> charity to
> take care of this. LSoft is interested in offering us a home and Listserv
> software, for which we are very grateful. This goes a long way toward
> keeping
> the costs down. Volunteers have been found to fill Kary's position --
> though it
> is difficult to think about doing this without Kary's unending work, and
> he will
> be missed.
>
> The following Mission Statement and Policies are a work in progress, and
> suggestions and requests for additional clarity are welcome.
>
> Mission Statement:
>
> The purpose of the corporation is to assist individuals and groups
> (clients)
> which offer support, information, and community to those in need,
> including
> those affected by disability, family issues, health issues, and other
> similar
> needs.  To provide this assistance the corporation will offer its clients
> technical assistance and services, including Internet services.
>
> The Internet services referred to in the mission statement are, primarily,
> a
> Listserv-based server for email lists as we have at Maelstrom.
>
> ****
> Policies:
>
> In order to maintain some order and similarity among lists under the ICORS
> umbrella, to maintain privacy for list subscribers, and to minimize
> confusion
> among subscribers who belong to multiple lists, all list owners and
> subscribers
> will be expected to agree to a minimum level of conduct. This will enable
> fair
> use of what is still donated space, allow those who saved their archives
> before
> they were deleted from Maelstrom to restore them, and allow for future
> growth of
> the ICORS’s lists. While list owners are welcome to add their own rules
> and
> responsibilities, all of the below are required on every list.
>
> This message is descriptive, and when we have full subscriber and
> listowner
> agreements they will contain more terms dealing with specific restrictions
> on
> objectionable material (obscenities, hate mail, spam, etc.). We also hope
> that
> listowners will stay involved with any problem on their list(s) that
> violates
> ICORS's policies in a way that necessitates ICORS stepping in.
> Constructive
> listowner input is valued.
>
> List owner responsibilities include:
>
> * Having at least one list owner of each list subscribed to the Owner’s
> list.
>
> * Working to keep their list(s) free of space hogs – excessive quoting,
> long sig
> files, jokes forwarded with hundreds of previous header lines.
>
> * If access level to archives is changed (such as moving from private to
> public), members are to be notified. Messages posted under a more
> restrictive
> access level will be removed before such a change is made.
>
> * Membership listing may not be shared/published/exchanged.
>
> * Subscription requests must be confirmed -- automatically or through the
> listowner(s)-- to prevent people from being subscribed without their
> knowledge.
>
> * Potential conflicts of interest (e.g. related associations,
> affiliations, etc)
> should be noted.
>
> * Exchanges with individual list members are not shared outside the owner
> team
> except if they need to be shared with overall management (ICORS) to
> address a
> problem.
>
> * E-mail addresses are hidden in public archives. This option will be
> available in the newer version of Listserv we will be using after the
> move.
>
> * ICORS services are used by many people with disabilities or who have
> restricted access to the Internet. Where possible, list owners are
> expected to
> provide solutions that meet the needs of such members. (e.g. restrictions
> on the
> posting of html or attachments).
>
> Subscriber responsibilities include:
>
> * The subscriber owns the copyright for their own posts. However, the list
> owner
> holds a compilation copyright in the archives.  This does not override the
> individual copyright but allows the list owner to protect the archives as
> a whole.
>
> * The subscriber grants unrestricted world-wide permission for Listserv to
> distribute the message, distribute the message as part of a digest, store
> it in
> the archives indefinitely and have others search and view these archives
> as per
> the list policy (private or public archives). Other exceptions maybe
> specified
> by the list owner (e.g. external archives).
>
> * The subscriber acknowledges that they, not the organization or the
> list owner, are responsible for their writings, even if moderation is in
> place. The subscriber also acknowledges that, while the list owner(’s)
> will work to enforce privacy rules, they can not necessarily control the
> actions of the list membership outside of the list. They may not be held
> responsible for any damages should a list member choose to ignore any
> rules.
>
> * The subscriber acknowledges and respects copyright and all other
> authors:
> they will not quote, full or in part, any message from the list outside of
> the
> list without express permission of the author and anyone else quoted in
> the
> post. Exception: the "newsletter/announcement clause", abstracts or
> literary
> quotes, quotes from speeches, research articles, books, newspapers and
> other
> _publicly_ published materials. All within the 'fair-use' limitations as
> set by
> international Copyright conventions.
>
> * The subscribers do not share other’s personal information gained from
> private
> correspondence (email, phone, written, FTF contact), either quoted or
> paraphrased, with anyone, including current or past list members, without
> permission from the person being discussed.
>
> * The subscribers will do their best to conserve space and make Digests
> more
> readable. This includes trimming quoted material to the minimum necessary
> to get
> the meaning across, not using huge sig files, and not forwarding material
> with
> hundreds of header lines included from previous forwards.
>
> * No cross-posting. Privacy is compromised when reply-all is used, and
> responses
> meant for one list end up being quoted on another.
>
> ****
> Answers to questions:
>
> * What lists will be allowed to move to ICORS?
>
> Those that are involved with disabilities, family issues, and health
> issues. For
> current Maelstrom lists with special hosting needs that do not directly
> fit
> these categories, considerations might be possible on a case-by-case
> basis.
>
> * What responsibilities will I have for the move?
>
> Keeping your list members informed, and letting them know the policies.
> Answering any questions ICORS needs to know about your list to facilitate
> the move.
>
> * What responsibilities will I have after the move?
>
> Subscribing to and reading the Owners' list. Maintaining the minimum
> responsibilities. Being actively involved in maintaining your list.
>
> * What will this cost me? My subscribers?
>
> Nothing that you are unable to pay. We are pursuing grants, and will set
> up an
> account for tax deductible donations. If fewer than 10% of the membership
> base
> contributes $1 a year, we will have enough to keep operating. There is a
> suggested annual contribution of $10 a year per listowner, but that will
> be
> waived in the event of hardship.
>
> * If Maelstrom shuts down, will ICORS be ready?
>
> Backups of all files for Maelstrom lists are already being made. Lists
> will
> continue operating -- up until the shut-down date if necessary -- until
> the move
> has been completed. Our intention is that everything will be in place well
> before the potential shut down.
>
> * Will everyone have to learn the new address immediately?
>
> We hope to keep the current addresses set up for a while, and have them
> routed
> to the new address.
>
> ****
> If you have input or questions please address your comments to
> [log in to unmask]
>
> If you want to be involved in this please subscribe to our project list
> by sending an empty message to [log in to unmask]
>
> Jasper van Beusekom
> Karen Reznek
> Cynthia Teeters
> Tom Rawson
>
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface
> at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to:
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
> [log in to unmask]
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
>

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
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