[CAUT] Forum format (was Re: Requirements for contributing/posting; RPT status

[Fred Sturm]

On Jul 15, 2008, at 9:23 AM, Alan McCoy wrote:

> What I keep coming back to though is
> the idea of an online database, or repository, of collective  
> knowledge and
> wisdom, a wikipedia of piano technology, if you will. I think I have  
> been
> trying to shoehorn the listserve format into something it is not  
> designed to
> do. The two vehicles together would be more useful than either alone.

	I think that the two concepts could work well together - one being a  
discussion group, the other an organized archive. With a skeleton  
archive wiki (or whatever) in place, people could be encouraged to  
post to it: "That was well put. Why don't you post it to the wiki?"  
And over time, it might become habit: have something to say that seems  
worth saving? Post it to both. Or write a more permanent version to  
post to the archive.
	I certainly share your frustration with the archives as currently  
constituted. I find searching it an exercise in futility as often as  
not. There is some great stuff in it, but hard to ferret out.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu