I don't think r-help is really intended for packages although for some very popular packages questions appear on it anyways sometimes.
On Dec 1, 2007 11:28 AM, Mark Kimpel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'll throw one more idea into the mix. I agree with Bill that a rating > system for respondents is probably not that practical and of not the highest > importance. It also seems like a recipe for creating inter-personal problems > that the list doesn't need. > > I do like Bill's idea of a review system for packages, which could be > incorporated into my idea that follows... > > What I would find useful would be some sort of tagging system for messages. > I can't count the times I've remembered seeing a message that addresses a > question I have down the road but, when Googled, I can't find it. It would > be so nice, for example, to reliably be able to find all messages related to > a certain package or package function posted within the last X days. This > could be implemented as simply as asking posters to provide keywords at the > end of a message, but it would be great if they could somehow be pulled out > of a message and stored in a DB. For instance keywords could be surrounded > by a sequence of special characters, which a parser could then extract and > store in a DB along with the message. > > Of course, this would be work to set up, but how many of our "experts" who > so kindly give of their time, get exasperated when similar questions keep > popping up on the list? Also, if we had a web-accessable DB, the responses, > not the responders, could be rated as to how well a reply takes care of an > issue. Thus, over time, a sort of auto-wiki could be born. I can think of > more uses for this as well. For example a developer could quickly check to > see what usability problems or suggestions have cropped up of on individual > package. > > Mark > > On Dec 1, 2007 2:21 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > This seems a little impractical to me. People respond so much at random > > and most only tackle questions with which they feel comfortable. As > > it's not a competition in any sense, it's going to be hard to rank > > people in any effective way. But suppose you succeed in doing so, then > > what? > > > > To me a much more urgent initiative is some kind of user online review > > system for packages, even something as simple as that used by Amazon.com > > has for customer review of books. > > > > I think the need for this is rather urgent, in fact. Most packages are > > very good, but I regret to say some are pretty inefficient and others > > downright dangerous. You don't want to discourage people from > > submitting their work to CRAN, but at the same time you do want some > > mechanism that allows users to relate their experience with it, good or > > bad. > > > > > > Bill Venables > > CSIRO Laboratories > > PO Box 120, Cleveland, 4163 > > AUSTRALIA > > Office Phone (email preferred): +61 7 3826 7251 > > Fax (if absolutely necessary): +61 7 3826 7304 > > Mobile: +61 4 8819 4402 > > Home Phone: +61 7 3286 7700 > > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://www.cmis.csiro.au/bill.venables/ > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > On Behalf Of Doran, Harold > > Sent: Saturday, 1 December 2007 6:13 AM > > To: R Help > > Subject: [R] Rating R Helpers > > > > Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of > > experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a > > method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. > > > > This is something that is done on other comp lists, like > > http://www.experts-exchange.com/. > > > > I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I > > suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of > > those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust > > the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is > > not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an > > R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people > > don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be > > true). > > > > If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of > > such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help > > from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple > > questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would > > respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of > > points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels > > of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). > > > > Just a random thought. What do others think? > > > > Harold > > > > > > > > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > > > ______________________________________________ > > R-help@r-project.org mailing list > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > > PLEASE do read the posting guide > > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > > > > ______________________________________________ > > R-help@r-project.org mailing list > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > > PLEASE do read the posting guide > > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > > > > > > -- > -- > Mark W. Kimpel MD > Neuroinformatics > Department of Psychiatry > Indiana University School of Medicine > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > R-help@r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.