Thanx for sending me your thoughts. Here is the tally, and I think this is enough to make the decision. About 5 to 1 for keeping the list CLOSED/PRIVATE, and there are a couple volunteers to help. All the WOODS list members comments as of 10:00 PM (EDT): … Keep it closed. I want you to know that I do enjoy this list as I have left others over wars and bickering back and forth. I wish I would have known your reasons for all the questions in the beginning, my emails would have been nicer. Moderator note: Sorry for not telling you all the reasons. This was a way to protect the CURRENT members even at the cost of offending some potential members. Perhaps you might take the time to modify the request for information to make it less offensive (I'll send you a copy privately). … Keep it closed (by proxy). Whatever works best for you is fine with me. … Keep it closed. You might be able to use an "outreach" software pkg to work your list from afar, if indeed you'll physically be somewhere else during the week. Moderator note: I have access from nearly everywhere. However with a new job I will have lots of new stuff to learn and I'm not sure that I'll have the time during the week. And for a while, every day will bring new challenges. I'll be tired at the end of the day until I get used to the new job. … Keep it closed. If someone is seriously interested in joining the list, they will wait until the week-end for you to add them. … Keep it closed. Either appoint a temporary list moderator or let new subscribers wait. One of the joys of the WOODS list is that I dont have to be wary of spammers or 'enjoy' inflammatory dialogue. I truly wish other lists were so organized. Asking for needed identification and receiving it is a test of honesty and faith on both the moderator and the person seeking membership. … Keep it closed. If I was truly interested in wood/woods, I would not be put of by waiting a week to be added to the list. … Keep it closed. I would not mind waiting a week to be able to subscribe. … Keep it closed. keep it private, i don not think people truly interested in joining will mind that weeks wait. … Keep it closed. My opinion is to catch up on the weekends. Those who want the Woods list will persevere until subscribed. You're quite correct on all your thoughts about compromises and the quality-decreasing tradeoffs therein. Many of the lists are 50% jibberish and some of the city-lists get downright inane. … Keep it closed. I do not want this list opened up--I was around when the list was wide open and was there when the spammer shut everything down in 1996 (I think). It casued everyone grief and pain until the lists went private. Perhaps, a committee could help you with reviewing applications and therefore lowering the load on your shoulders. … Keep it closed. Leave things as they are and wait until the weekend for to do the administrative stuff that needs to be done. … Open the list. I think you should open the list to all. For the following reasons. If 20% of the weekly 20 applicants actually join the list, that's only 4 people being added to the list a week or 208 a year. The list has a potential growth of 1040 new members a year. Based on current membership of almost 600. Or the list has a current growth rate of .0066% per year versus a potential growth rate of 17.33% a year. … Keep it closed. If it's not too much work for you keep it as it is. It's refreshing compared to the flaming, and spaming on other lists. … Use members to Keep it closed. I agree that waiting a full week is too long unless there is some way to notify applicants of the possible delay. Perhaps a committee could be formed where the members take turns being the end all, be all for membership might work. … I belong to other lists that irritate me with the flaming from "outsiders". I vote to keep the list closed and have the potential members wait the week. … Keep it closed. I vote for a continued closed list as in the past. I belong to other lists, one of which has had a battle going on which requires me to sort through 10 -25 messages a day which contain no genealogical information at all, and others which have the battle intertwined with data. … Keep it closed. I have to say that thus far I have been extremly pleased with the way this list has been handled. I am on a number of other lists and have been recieving a lot of spam because they are not closed lists. This has overloaded my system a number of times (as many any 30-40 spams a day). My vote is to keep the list closed and either go with the weekend answers or get a number of other persons involved with helping you on this. … Keep it closed. I, for one, enjoy the clean efficient operation of the current list. … In January of last year, we discussed the idea of Mentors for list "Newbies", a group of list "Veterans" who understand the workings of list functions and could guide the new ones in that aspect, and the "do's and don'ts" of posting messages. I believe this "Mentor" idea will work if you decide to open the list up. I would suggest at least a "Trial Run" of a few weeks or months to see if volunteer listers can keep things running smoothly. … Open the list If I were you I would just open the list. If something distasteful occurs, you can always explore other options. … Keep it closed. I like the way this list is run and would not want to have it opened up to spammers and nuts. … Open the list You could try waiting for the weekend and see how that goes and if it requires too much of your week end time. If that becomes unbearable, then you could open the list and make it public. Moderator note: I have done this often, generally it doesn't make much difference except that my wife and kids let me know I'm spending too much time on the computers. If it becomes out of control with spammers, etc. then you might ask for a team of monitors. … Keep it closed. Is it possible to send an automatic reply to the new applicant that says "you will be contacted at the end of the week to finish the application process. Possible notification will be between -such and such hours. Try to answer if as soon as possible." The benefits of this list outnumber those of other list and the possible wait. I LOVE the closed or private list. I unfortunately am a member of a couple of the "flaming, off topic, spamming" list. I hate them. I only tolerate them because of the bits of info I get once a month. … Keep it closed. I say leave it as it is and take care of new subscribers when you are able to do so. … Use members to Keep it closed. Why not select someone who has been on the list for a while to share your duties and keep the list as it is? … Keep it closed. I would like to see the list stay CLOSED/PRIVATE. It's working very well since you made that change. … Open the list. I manage 17 lists at Rootsweb and have no problem with open lists. Spam is not a problem, with the capabilities of Rootsweb to filter stuff. Frankly, I was insulted at the questions asked of me in order to join this list. I would prefer the list to be open. … 600 members -- that's a lot of folks who have information to be shared. Yet what percentage of those would you guess post at least once per month? Sure wish there was a way to spark those who don't into posting. Moderator note: I agree, perhaps we can ask newbies to post what they know as part of the subscribe process. … Thanx for the support. For now we will keep it "closed, private" and see if we can figure out how to make use of volunteers to notify new subscribers that it may take up to a week to get on the list. Keeping the list closed and private would have been my choice as well, but I could see no way of doing that, you have provided that method. If you would be willing to exchange email with "POTENTIAL" new members and gather the qualifications from them, please contact me privately again at cjl@email.com. Thanx again, Chris