Ecolog is such a valuable resource, but I suspect that it has the potential of being greatly more so if a few of my wishes came to pass. I do not mean in how the listserv is managed, but in how it is used.
I wish that subscribers would address all of there responses to Ecolog rather than to the individual who originated the post in matters of common interest. I see nothing wrong, however, with off-list communications that are entirely personal in nature. Another wish is that when someone posts a request for technical assistance that they take a minute to describe what they are trying to accomplish. Context is often important to a decent answer, and leaving such information out, and knowing a bit about the project which gave rise to the enquiry, compromises the quality of the potential responses. (That may be why so few respond, and why responses may be just as obtuse as the question, except, perhaps, in all but the most abstract of questions.) But just knowing what's going on with the poster's research is informative and helps knit the community together. What are the group's feelings on these issues? WT
