Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:48:15 -0500
Reply-To: Jarrett Kupcinski <kpcnsk@SPRYNET.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jarrett Kupcinski <kpcnsk@SPRYNET.COM>
Subject: The List Archives... was: How do we remove key assembly..?
In-Reply-To: <45080D9A.7070501@verizon.net>
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I've seen it a number of times since I've joined this list about 6
months ago: complaints about the archives. The responses and
suggestions are typically patient and helpful, but don't really
address the problem. The problem is that the archives are a slow,
inefficient way to get information.
Some of this is due, as I understand it, to hardware and software
limitations. There are solutions to this. We are a community. If
we feel that the community could benefit from upgrading our system,
then we can act as a community to find the resources to do this.
But the larger problem, as I see it, stems from nature of the beast.
The list is, in its best moments, a conversation. Questions,
comments, and replies. But the conversation naturally drifts. And a
lot of the conversation happens privately off the list when people
reply directly to the poster of the question, but not to the list.
I'm sure many have experienced the moment when we find our EXACT
question being asked (much rejoicing) only to find that there are no
replies (much frustration). I'm fairly certain that someone replied,
as the members of this list are ever-helpful. I suspect, however, it
was done off-list. So, the record of the conversation (the archives)
is incomplete.
The frustration of searching the archives is compounded by the fact
that when we're looking for the answer, we often want or even need it
right away. Emotionally we're in a state where our labor of love is
rapidly becoming an object of hate. The patience to search the
archives is difficult to summon at times like this, especially
knowing that you might spend an hour searching and not find anything
at all. And by the way, you need to pick up your daughter/son/wife/
husband/dog in an hour. We all have lives outside our Vanagons
(though this is difficult to remember or convince others of sometimes).
And lest we forget, these vans are not simple machines. In the
decade they were produced, there were at least 2 or 3 major
variations each year, and VW never seemed to settle on what the
Vanagon should be, constantly evolving it. And in the 15-25 years
since they first came out, our vans have changed hands numerous
times, each vehicle's personality being shaped at the hands people
who may well have known nothing about VW's, Vanagons, or automobiles
in general (the dreaded PO).
So what to do, what to do? Some of it is personal responsibility.
Everyone should own and know how to use a Bentley. Everyone should
take the time to learn how to best search the archives. Everyone
should be willing to give something (time, money, effort) back to the
community. I mean, hey, you're getting a great resource for free.
What would you do if it was gone? What would you do if it was better?
We also have a community responsibility. If we're a community and
the list is our meeting hall, then we also need to build a town
square. The best place that I know like this is the type2.com
website, which some of you may be familiar with. It provides a
gateway to their meeting hall (the type2 list) and also tons of
resources for people to browse through before they post to list. One
of these resources is the type2 list archive, but they've also got a
virtual library of other articles created by their members, all
accessible from a central place.
Our vanagon community is dispersed, not only physically, but
virtually as well. The first is unavoidable. The second we can
control. We can build a place on the web which brings together our
accumulated knowledge of these beasts we drive. There's some of this
(vanagon.com, for example) but we could do better. Imagine a website
where all the frequently asked questions were addressed, leaving the
list open for real dialogue on the complex and the fun.
Okay, enough of a sermon. If you are someone who has done some of
the above already, or you manage the list or vanagon.com website,
please don't think I'm accusing you of not doing your part. Or that
I'm criticizing what's already been done. I just think we can do
better, and I for one am ready to help. I suspect there may be
others. I don't know where to start, but maybe this will begin a
discussion which will result in some answers to that.
And unless you're saying something to me personally, let's keep this
discussion public. Reply to the list.
-Jarrett
89 Westy, Olly
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