Hi folks, I've been meaning to post a message on how we use the archives when helping each other and new people.
I imagine that most of you that have used them already, notice that search results can be all over the map. They're sorted, I think, by some measure of relevance. Whereas it might be nice to sort by date, subject, or sender as well, that is not an option at present. There are many ways to tweak and refine the search, but the syntax takes a bit of work to learn, and despite your best efforts, it can be tough to find exactly what you were looking for. I want you to keep this experience clearly in mind when you are tempted to suggest someone 'look in the archives' to answer a question. Even answering the simplest questions can become a nightmare search effort, especially when one doesn't know exactly what to look for. As a minimum, before telling them to make an archive search, please attempt it yourself -- and provide the search terms you found most useful. If it turns out to be more complicated than you thought, describe the steps you took, along with giving the relevant message links. Best of all, summarize and describe what you found, to give them a feel for the context *and* to add words to the archive that might aid other people's searches in the future. The idea here is, rather than send some poor soul off to assault the Great Wall of China with a teaspoon, instead give them a guided head start that lets them experience, first hand, bringing up the archive URL in their browser; typing search terms into the search box and hitting the button; and scrolling through and displaying the results to find what they need... Without having to figure it all out from scratch. I can imagine no better way to get them started learning how to help themselves! In the world of Linux geekdom, one of the worst forms of arrogance and hostility is expressed by the acronym, RTFM, which stands for Read The F***ing Manual. As an answer to a question, it is at best useless when you can't yet even find the right manual, let alone the right chapter or page. At worst, it's the kind of thoughtless and insulting response that drives people away for good. Please meet people where they're at. As you get better at using the archives, remember the learning curve you had to climb. Add in the ever present concern that someone might be stressed, fatigued, brain-fogged, in pain, or otherwise challenged by the health issues they're coming to us with, and it will be easier to remember why they might need a little more help than they "ought to." I've been dreaming up a few suggestions to make to the archive folks to improve the interface, as well as thinking about how I can supplement the search facility via our own web pages. If you have ideas or suggestions based on your experience, please contribute them. Thank you for all the help and sharing that goes on here. You do good work, folks. Be well! Mike Devour siver-list owner [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [mdev...@eskimo.com ] [Speaking only for myself... ] -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Rules and Instructions: http://www.silverlist.org Unsubscribe: <mailto:silver-list-requ...@eskimo.com?subject=unsubscribe> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/silver-list@eskimo.com/maillist.html Off-Topic discussions: <mailto:silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com> List Owner: Mike Devour <mailto:mdev...@eskimo.com>
