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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] New vs. archives

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  • From: Thomas Beckett <thomas@tbeckett.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] New vs. archives
  • Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 21:44:35 -0500

Lon J. Rombough wrote:
Being on a list such as this has interesting points. One is that nobody
ever uses the archives. I've quit responding to many questions because the
same ones have come up so many times there is already a slug of material on
many subjects in the archives. Perhaps it's time to clean out the archives
and print them up in POMONA, so more people will see what's already there.
The main lesson, especially for new listmembers, is to check the archives
first. You might be able to get far more info than you thought, and save
adding yet another layer of the same sediment to the bottom of the pond.
Dive in and start digging.

I'm a newbie to fruit cultivation but reasonably experienced with Internet communities of this sort. Back in the days of UseNet (a/k/a Internet Newsgroups), when questions in a particular group started to get redundant and a bit of a pain the members would compose a list of Frequently Asked Questions along with the answers. In some instances the FAQ became a substantial repository of collective knowledge, took on a life of its own. The FAQ was posted in a prominent location and the Clueless Newbies exhorted to consult it before posting a query.

The subject matter here is rather broad, but if, as Mr. Rombough observes, the questions are becoming redundant, then perhaps a FAQ is in order. Especially if the archives are difficult to search. If someone is going to go to the trouble of gleaning the archives for publication in Pomona, may as well publish it on the Web as well.

My humble $0.02 on the subject. Hope this helps.

Thomas Beckett
Durham, NC




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