9311748 Dry This grant will be used in modifying and developing editing software for The LINGUIST List. The LINGUIST List is an Internet discussion forum for academic linguists, which is distributed from Texas A&M University and moderated by Anthony Aristar (Texas A&M) and Helen Dry (Eastern Michigan University). In its 26 months of existence it has experienced extremely rapid growth in both subscribers and functions. LINGUIST provides an already-established and fully functional means of communicating effectively with members of the discipline across the world; and its success demonstrates the viability of the electronic medium as a means of stimulating linguistic research. However, LINGUIST needs to be made more efficient, as its expansion has already overburdened its current editorial resources. If it is to continue, LINGUIST needs to be made more efficient, as its expansion has already overburdened its current editorial resources. If it is to continue, LINGUIST must have editing software that is easy to learn and designed specifically for the intelligent handling of large volumes of mail. Part of the current project's budget, then, will be spent in producing software specifically aimed at improving LINGUIST's mail and data handling capabilities; and part will go toward the creation of self-instructional materials (for example, a computer tutorial) for training new student assistants on LINGUIST. ***
