NavList:

Geoffrey Kolbe wrote:
"If that is indeed the case, should there be more formal links and consultation between this list and those organizations whose business it is to serve the needs of practitioners of celestial navigation world wide?"

I agree with this, at least as an eventual goal.

I have been working us slowly towards a more formal status based on my own sense of where we are going. When I have put out press releases on NavList events, I refer to the group as a "community", which it is, rather than "some people on an Internet mailing list", which it used to be. On the main NavList web page, the heading reads "NavList: A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Position-Finding". The Earhart commemorative sign which we (well, I) donated to the local historical society in Connecticut says "donated by the navigators of NavList" (I should post some photos). I've also talked with David Burch about re-starting the Navigator's Newsletter and using it in some connection with NavList events and perhaps special topic publications. It's probably time to move towards a more formal status for our community. We could create some formal decision-making structure, levels of membership possibly, and perhaps find some way to affiliate with the ION or RIN. Ideas, anyone?

At minimum, it's time for someone to have the keys to the kingdom besides me. If I decide to join the circus tomorrow or give up my worldly pursuits in preparation for the Apocalypse (only 341 shopping days left!), NavList messages could come to a grinding halt within a few months. And furthermore, since irbs[dot]com vanished without a trace last year, my archive is now more critical. This should be under some sort of group control. I need a couple of volunteers who have been active NavList members, let's say for at least five years unless anyone objects, who would like to be custodians of passwords and other technical details.

-FER

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