On Fri, 15 Jan 1993 07:38:00 EST Peter M. Weiss +1 814 863 1843 said:
>Questions can be asked of people/lists, or of computer databases.
>Listserv provides facilities for retrieving such.
Yes, but one can only ask questions if one knows that there are questions
to be asked. I think I can speak for most novices when I say that we
don't know what questions to ask and even if we do know what to ask, we
frequently lack the appropriate vocabulary. To me, computers are a second
language and I am still learning the idiom.
>Rule 1 for List Owners: see if the question (and answer) has been asked
> before by searching / reading the notebook or FTP (if available)
> archives.
I am sure that this is fine advice - but how do you do it? This is the
kind of instruction that frustrates a new user! (For example, why would a
new Listowner necessarily know what FTP means, let alone how to do it?)
>If you have never read the file LISTFAQ MEMO (available from a listserv
>near you -- 128 lines), this is a must.
Yes, but if this exists, how does a new Listowner know that it exists?
And how does that novice listowner learn how to get the file (?) referred
to here?
> Do an INDEX LDBASE-L to the listserv@ukanvm
> (@ukanvm.cc.ukans.edu)
This is the kind of helpful hint that drives me crazy and totally
intimidates me! I recognize the words as English, but when they are
strung together in this way, I just don't understand a word...including
the "do a..." part. How?
>Rule 2: find out where other FAQs are stored for various topics. A good
> place to start is ~ftp pit-manager.mit.edu cd pub/usenet
With respect, this instruction is designed to render the poor ignorant
new user/listowner into a quivering jelly of fear and frustration! What
does it all mean?
I appreciate Peter Weiss' attempts to elucidate things, but the fact is
that it ends up being an example of what so many new users encounter -
more confusion. The vocabulary used by computer people is often obscure;
moreover, it frequently sounds the same as "normal" vocabulary, but with
a different meaning. An example of this is the computer-related usage of
the word "digest". Eventhe word "do" takes on new meanings!
I am sure that it is very hard for knowledgeable people to talk about
computer related matters in a simple way ...but is it really impossible?
And if it is that impossible, what hope is there for the future, with new
users (who seem tobe getting less and less local support) entering the
fray every day? In this I speak not only of LISTSERV, but of all pc, LAN,
and network activities.
Even LSTOWN-L is extremely hard to understand very often, partly because
many of the posts presuppose a level of knowledge that a new listowner
might not have, and I certainly don't have.
How a about a JUNIOR branch of LSTOWN-L for us? Just kidding........NOT!
Peace, Anthea Tillyer ABTHC@CUNYVM City University of New York
|