Hi Peter and everyone else:
Thanks for hitting the nail on the head! You are right Peter, the key word
here is "Frequently". That means that we should use only those basic
questions of general interest that are asked by most beginning dialists. As
you said, we can link or otherwise direct the sundial student to sites or
literature which cover his particular subject in more depth. I am actually
keeping track of the number of times a question gets asked! (At the moment,
sundial time to watch time conversion is the most frequently asked
question). These are the questions that we should answer first.
Thanks to all of you I'm no longer frustrated by the lack of questions, now
I'm frustrated by the huge number of questions that you all have sent in!
It's way over a hundred and counting! So we must draw the line somewhere.
Providing answers to the best of these questions alone will be a very big
job without a doubt. We may have to have a FAQ website that "grows" and
evolves. We can start off by answering the most important questions first,
and then, little by little, add additional questions and answers. If and
when the FAQ/Glossary project gets off the ground and is finally finished,
it would probably make a very good sundial book.
Thank you everybody (well, almost everybody) for all your great questions.
As it will take a while for those people responding by mail to get their
questions to me, it will be a few weeks to complete the question gathering
phase of the FAQ project. Once I'm finished collecting and organizing the
questions into categories, I think I should send you all a copy to preview.
You'll have fun reading them all as I have, some of them are REALLY good.
John Carmichael
925 E. Foothills Dr.
Tucson Arizona
USA
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
tel: 520-696-1709
p.s. Surprisingly enough, we're a little short on basic math related
questions. Any suggestions?
Peter Tandy wrote:
>No, that is wrong. Frequently asked questions are usually of the basic kind
>(which is why they are frequently asked!), easily expressed, and have
>accompanying basic ('obvious' , if you have the knowledge!) answers. I too
>try to pursue interests deeply, and there is nothing wrong with that
>approach, but it is not the purpose of FAQs, though they might lead on to
>in depth answers by some linkage.
>
>Peter Tandy
>
>At 08:59 AM 11/11/99 -0500, you wrote:
>>I disagree. While I realize everyone has their own preferences, mine are
>>just the opposite. When I am interested in a topic or searching for
>>information I try to find the best single source that covers all the
>>issues. For me, more material and detail is better.
>>
>>----------
>>> From: Les Cowley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> To: [email protected]; John Carmichael <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> Subject: Re: SEND QUESTIONS!
>>> Date: Wednesday, November 10, 1999 5:28 PM
>>>
>>> Just some personal preferences ...
>>>
>>> I tend not to use long FAQs very much. A beginner is probably
>>> in a hurry and wants to acquire a just a few basic facts and a little
>>> knowledge. More than a page or more gets intimidating and he/she
>>> loses interest.
>>>
>>> Keep it very simple. Additional material might go into a multi-age
>>> website which could become a longer term project for a number of
>>> contributors.
>>>
>>> Isn't it so much easier to give advice rather than take it :).
>>>
>>> Les Cowley
>>> Mail ~ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> Halos ~ http://www.lc.dial.pipex.com/halo/halosim.htm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
