Hi, Wayne, et al.
On the first point, we reduce the mail load a bit when people
respond directly, and we don't lose much if the initial querier then posts
a summary (although this may at times reduce some valuable give-and-take
that posters' responses elicit from other posters).
With regard to the second point, I agree completely, especially when
I see posts like "I am looking for any information you may have about
metaslyabosis in *Phlagitaria abularia*." C'mon, just because someone
doesn't know every binomial out there doesn't mean he/she can't have a
useful contribution.
Martin M. Meiss
2013/5/27 Wayne Tyson <[email protected]>
> 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
>
