I use them all the time. I go back through old discussions - where I might have kept one email from a thread but not the whole thread and someone referred to something that I didn't have so I go there. Or, I refer colleagues and peers who are not part of this discussion forum to it when they ask "Do you know where I can find. . . " - one of the first places I send them are the discussion lists and I tell them they can wade through the archives and find lots of good resources - whether it's a reference to an article or a reference to another website that contains more information. I do a lot of 'searc' and 'find's' when I'm looking for something in the archives...I may remember a word or phrase or I may have questions about something like that and I'll look through them. 

Regards,
Katrina Hinson


>>> "Marie Cora" <marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com> 07/20/09 3:47 PM >>>

Hello everyone,
 
I wonder if anyone can respond to George's post from last week?  Does
anyone use the NIFL Discussion List archives and database?  If so, how
have you used it?
 
Marie
 
**************************
 
 
Colleagues,
 
The list archives, too, are an indispeble and underutilized (?)
repository of the collective wisdom of the field in critical dialogue
over a wide range of issues over time.
 
To what extent are participants drawing on the archival data base?  To
what extent are the list archives a topic of study in various
undergraduate and graduate courses on adult litreracy and basic
education?  No doubt, the archives are a distinctively "cool" medium
when contrasted to the stimulating immediacy of the real time listserv
post, but in terms of participatory equality and extension of use,
perhaps the archives have at least as much value, if not potentially
more, than exhibited in the "hot" medium of the real time listserv post.
 
George Demetrion