From russ@seismo.demon.co.uk Sun Jan  8 19:04:58 1995
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From: Russ Evans <russ@seismo.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic,rec.music.celtic
Subject: RFD: soc.culture.welsh
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Date: 8 Jan 1995 18:55:12 -0500
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REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION -- soc.culture.welsh

This posting calls for discussion of a proposal to form a Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.welsh. Read on for full details of the proposed charter, implementation and voting arrangements, and how you may follow or participate in the discussion.

MODERATION STATUS - Unmoderated

DISTRIBUTION - Worldwide

LANGUAGES - English or Cymraeg (Welsh) with equal status

PROPOSED CHARTER

The newsgroup soc.culture.welsh will be established for discussion of all matters relating to the land of Wales, its people, language and culture, and their histories. Discussion of Welsh communities abroad (regardless of the language they may use) and their experiences is also invited, and, in the absence of alternative forums, discussion related to other Brythonic cultures (e.g. Breton and Cornish) may be conducted here.

Contributions in either English or Welsh will be equally welcome. Breton or Cornish may also be employed where appropriate.

It is anticipated that a degree of cross-posting with soc.culture.celtic, soc.culture.british, rec.music.celtic, rec.travel.europe, and other groups is likely to occur. Contributors should ensure that cross-posted material is genuinely relevant to all groups, and be prepared to edit Newsgroups: and Followup-To: fields appropriately.

[ End of proposed charter ]

BACKGROUND

The soc.culture.celtic newsgroup already exists for discussion related to all the countries where Celtic languages are spoken -- Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, &c. During its early days (1989/1990, to the best of this proposer's recollection) this charter worked well and matters relating to all of these countries were discussed, if not in equal proportions, then in ratios which reflected the size of their populations. However, the increasing volume of the group and the dominance of Irish affairs has rather tended to discourage potential participants with other interests. The formation of WELSH-L, a mailing list conducted principally in the Welsh language, drew much of the active core of Welsh posters away >from the newsgroup in 1991, and discussion of Welsh affairs in soc.culture.celtic has remained minimal since -- of 350 posts in a local spool, less than 10% mention Wales or the Welsh, even in passing, and only two might be described as specifically concerned with Welsh matters.

On the other hand, the WELSH-L mailing list has recently seen an increasing volume of messages in English dealing with matters formerly found within s.c.c. Whilst this has tended to devalue that forum for Welsh-speaking subscribers -- they have made their views felt with some force -- it reveals an unsatisfied demand for a place where discussion of Wales, the Welsh people and its culture can be conducted with both languages on an equal footing. The present proposal seeks to establish such a forum at an appropriate point within the Usenet heirarchy.

PROPOSED TIMETABLE AND VOTING ARRANGEMENTS

This RFD will be issued early in January, 1995. The proposal will be open for discussion for a period of thirty days. If, in the light of discussion, significant modification to the proposal appears appropriate, a revised RFD may be issued during that time. At the end of that period, if a consensus appears to have been established, a Call For Votes will be issued on the above proposal, amended to take account of comment during the discussion period.

Voting will be conducted by an independent vote-taker drawn from the Usenet Volunteer Vote-takers' group. The standard mainstream Usenet voting rules will apply. Voting will be open for a period of 21 days, tentatively scheduled for February 1995. Full details will be included in the Call For Votes. If this timetable were adhered to, the proposed group could be formed on or shortly after St David's Day!

With the approval of the list owner and subscribers, this Request For Discussion and any ensuing Call For Votes may be copied to the WELSH-L mailing list, possibly after or alongside translation into the Welsh language. It will also be posted to the soc.culture.british, soc.culture.celtic and rec.music.celtic newsgroups.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCUSSION

Discussion of this proposal will take place *solely* in the Usenet newsgroup news.groups. Please do not disturb others by sending your comments back to the newsgroup or mailing list in which you read this announcement; the headers on this article have been set up so that, as long as your Usenet posting software is working correctly, the "Follow-up" command should send your contribution to news.groups. If you wish to follow the discussion, you should ensure that you are subscribed to that group.

If you have received this announcement through the WELSH-L mailing list, but do not have access to Usenet (sometimes called Network News), I will be pleased to receive your comments by mail and will feed them back into the process -- please indicate whether you wish them to be re-posted to news.groups or you are offering them for me to take into account in revising the draft. If you wish to gain access to Usenet, but your system administrator is unable to assist you, I may be able to direct you to some means of access. Please mail me with a description of your current connectivity.

PROPOSER - Russ Evans <russ@seismo.demon.co.uk>