To recognize the first year anniversary of LACTNET, we the co-owners are
sharing the following history with you all. We hope you enjoy learning
where we began and where we are now. Much has happened--many things far
beyond our imaginings.
From the smallest beginnings...
March 3, 1995, the first message was posted on LACTNET with our server
site then being at Georgia Tech. The Olympics were happening there in
Georgia, and the server at Georgia Tech was going to be heavily used by
those activities, so we needed to move. We are now proudly part of the the
University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Norm Aleks, the sysop at UMMED,
himself a medical student, offered us space, assistance, and encouragement
in our endeavors, and continues to this day to be a source of great help to
us in the running of Lactnet. He surely will know more about Lactation than
any of his other medical student colleagues, we are sure... : ) The
Librarian at the Med School, AnnaNaomi S., also has been very supportive of
our efforts to further the professional promotion of breastfeeding and
lactation on a worldwide basis...and had given us the go ahead on the UMass
Server..which we truly appreciate! Thanks Norm and AnnaNaomi! We were so
very pleased when UMass contacted us and stated that our goals meshed with
theirs in offering such "housing" for our list, and are hoping to have a
long and fruitful friendship with those at UMASS Med School. Following is
the very first message that was posted on that momentous day when LACTNET
was officially "born."
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Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 23:02:53 EST
Reply-To: "\"LACTNET\" discussion list" <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: "\"LACTNET\" discussion list" <[log in to unmask]>
From: Melissa Vickers <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: New LC Series??
Kathleen A., I noticed in the new LLLI catalog (that I wish I had money to buy
books with reckless abandon from) that the "Second Series of LC Units" will be
available "soon." Are you still editor for the series, and/or do you know
anything about this? I'm curious as to whether these will be updates on old ones
or new topics or what. Also curious as to how many will be coming out and how
much the set is likely to run.
Also, has anybody read or seen these from the catalog:
BF the Adopted Baby
Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning
Beyond the Breast-Bottle Controversy
Kangaroo Care: The Best You Can Do to Help Your Preterm Infant
A Parent's Guide to Autism
BF: Terms, Techniques, Problem Solving
As APL for Tennessee I have limited funds for purchasing resource material for
our area and am considering some of the above. How I love collecting books! I
even get to read one or two now and then!
I would appreciate any input any of you might have. Thanks!
Melissa in TN where the daffodils and crocuses are blooming and snow is
predicted this evening....
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Our intent was to provide an electronic means by which isolated LCs could
develop and maintain contact with others in the field. Melissa Vickers, a
friend and LC and LLLeader in Tenessee, was one of the main reasons I
wanted to develop Lactnet.(I being KBruce). I wanted to be able to connect
her up with a bunch of other like minded individuals....and it just goes to
show you that she approves, and was the first poster on LACTNET!! Thanks
Melissa!!!! for coming back on-line. I missed ya... : )
Little did we know how many people would sign on and begin sharing
information! We have grown to 900 subscribers as of today, our one year
anniv. (March 3, 1996).
Early in June of 1995, KB and KGA made a private bet with one another re:
how many subscribers LACTNET would have by September 1. KB bet 200; KGA bet
300. Although KGA "won" the dinner reward--simply because her estimate was
closer--neither co-owner came even close! By that date, more than 500 people had
subscribed, and since the July 1995 ILCA Conference (where nearly 1000
business cards were distributed--all, including the sample card stapled to
the box, had disappeared within the first 8 hours of the conference
opening!) LACTNET has been growing at an average rate of 10-15 new
subscribers per day.
Numerous countries are now represented, including Australia, New Zealand,
Ireland, China, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, Germany, France, Columbia, Puerto
Rico, Guam, South Africa , Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Brazil...I know we
are forgetting some.!!! To see who is on Lactnet, do a review Lactnet by
name, to the [log in to unmask] address!!
Our goal to provide a means by which isolated LCs could link to one another
is working far beyond our expectations. Additional networking opportunities
have developed out of our initial email discussions.
a) LACTNET LUNCHes have now occurred at several different sites--providing
an opportunity for LACTNETters to attach faces to the names they have been
reading and corresponding with for weeks or months. These gatherings have
generated much hilarity and good fellowship and pictures of some of these
gatherings will be part of a planned POSTER at the 1996 ILCA Conference.
(At one such lunch, a LACTNET t-shirt served as a flag identifying where to
sit!)
b) The 75 LACTNET t-shirts that were designed and distributed in 1995 will
soon be joined by a new batch of shirts in 1996--with a slightly different
design, but the same intent: to enable LACTNETters to identify one another
easily.
c) A WEB page, Lactation and Related Resources, developed by the co-owners
of LACTNET and housed and paid for by KGA on her personal email account, has
also served as a means by which the existence of LACTNET and other related
lactation resources have been disseminated. Creation of this page was
accomplished with the assistance of a skilled individual who is
knowledgeable in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language..the language of Web
pages..) , which neither of us knows well, although we both attempted to
learn (Is this a sign that one truly cannot teach "older" LCs
new tricks?! :-) ) The only problem this creates is a delay in making
changes, since availability of this individual is dependent on his
job-related activities and travel plans away from the computer.
As a service to other groups/institutions/associations with a
breastfeeding-related orientation, a listing of related links was added
upon request of several of these organizations. Although the WEB page did
not include a "counter" until several months after it was developed, in the
first few months of its existence, our Lactation and Related Resource page
has recorded more than 2000 "hits" or times when someone called it up and
read the information it contains. We hope that such "hits" will enable those
related
organizations/institutions/etc. to be reached when the need to do so
arises. These Web pages are continually evolving and changing as needs and
information becomes available to us.
Unfortunately, the most remembered contacts that each of us has had from
the WEB page has been a small number of potentially pornographic inquiries!
Of interest to you--as it was to us--is the common complaint of many new
LACTNETters: the volume of mail is overwhelming! However, over time, many
users have learned to be more selective about what they read and what they
respond to. In addition, following the overwhelming number of errors from
"overfull
mailboxes" of persons who conferenced and did not set themselves to nomail,
we created commands that sets each new subscriber to receiving DIGESTS for
LACTNET messages unless they specifically request individual mailings. The
DIGEST setting also cuts down on the cost of subscribing for those persons
who are paying by the number of messages received by their server.
As the LACTNET list has evolved, the rules and regulations designed to keep
our list free of "flaming" has expanded. Most of you have understood our
aim, recognizing that the list is designed to help everyone and we must all
be cordial in our replies to avoid "flaming" and other impertinences. So
far, LACTNET is one of the most pleasant and professional lists on line, we
are told. And that says something about all of you....
So, let's here it for LACTNET..Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to
you, Happy Birthday dear Lactnet, ....etc.
Warmly ,
Kathy Auerbach, and Kathleen Bruce
Kathleen B. Bruce, BSN, IBCLC, LLLeader, co-owner Lactnet, LLLOL, Corgi-L
LACTNET WWW site: http://www.mcs.com/~auerbach/lactation.html
Personal WWW page: http://together.net/~kbruce/kbbhome.html
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