<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

On Mon, 8 Jun 1998 at 00:33:11 -0400, ROSALIE F JALBERT
<[log in to unmask]> said:

>I can't, for the life of me, understand why (please forgive me) people feel
>as if they must develop a web site which generally contains the same
>materials as on this list serve.

The Celiac Listserv is, without a doubt, great, but a Web site and an
e-mail discussion group are two different things. Both can exist in harmony
without one "undermining" the other. It goes without say that people who
develop other sites feel that certain information is not readily available
that should be. If they are willing to put the work in then people will
visit their site, if not, they won't...freedom of choice.

>What would better serve the entire celiac community would be for those
>people who want a web site and appear to have to time to put into one, to
>devote THEIR TIME to maintain a very thorough website.  For instance if you
>wish a travel site, then ask the list owners if you can help them develop
>one.

I'm not sure why someone who travels a lot, and is willing to put in much
personal time and effort to create a site that could help people, needs to
"ask the list owners" if they can develop a Web site. It's their own choice.

>I sometimes wonder if some of this is an "ego" thing, like a  "my page is
>better than yours" type of thing.

The desire to do something like this stems from the frustration one
experiences with the overall lack of publicity and knowledge the general
public has with regard to celiac disease. For example, I began my Web site
in 1995 after doctors spent two years to diagnose me. I felt that more
information needed to be out there, and that the Internet was the perfect
place for it. At that point the Celiac Listserv did not have a Web site.
The Celiac Listserv was and still is a valuable resource for my site,
however, they are not the only resource, nor should they be.

Above all I feel that the more sites there are the better. Our overall goal
should be to flood the Internet (and any other media) with information. I
don't feel that we are "competing" or working against each other, but are
working together with the goal of informing the public. What better place
to do it but on the Internet?

Take care,

Scott Adams - San Francisco, USA
Celiac Support Page:
http://www.celiac.com/