> Another problem, related to the question of FAQ requests, is how to
> best deal with random questions that people send you because they think
> that you are the helpdesk for the Internet.
I keep a small library of canned messages on hand for the
odd quick reply to queries of that nature.
If something comes up that is new, I CC it
to myself, and keep it in the library, too. If
there is ANY doubt in my mind of the correctness of
my answer, I simply let the person asking know it -
not necessarily becuse I feel burdened, but because
the net, IMHO, is about leading people to the right place,
among other things.
(And it sure is a handy excuse when you don't feel like answering
something - "Gee, I really don't know what FTP _is_..." :)
But to get away from discussing specific problems, which can start
an interminable thread, I can just offer generically
that I try and foster, however I can, the goals I think
are important: minimizing the overall labor and headache
(whoever spends it) in accessing information,
minimizing .net resource waste, etc.
If an unanswered query bothers my conscience because
it seems rude to have let it go, I ask myself if the overall benefit
to the user (having hir go to the right place, etc.)
outweighs what seems like a permanent black mark on
my etiquette rating.
> I'm thinking about starting
> to post under a different email address, maybe info@ii.com, and then,
I don't find multiple email access pathways to me to be of more
use than they are a bother. I've done something like that
to make use of another local machine's finger server, which my
own machine does not have, and it just means I get crap from
two different places, and I then don't get to answer the
questions I choose to answer until I move the mail/request
to the right machine and/or account.
Bleah.
The alternative is a mail filter that rivals an AI
project in the scope of trying to predict how people
will phrase their queries, or to which account they are likely
to send them.
Double Bleah.
You might also want to ask yourself how much of your
labor you want to spend reinventing the wheel wrt good
stores of reliable .net information.
Finally, I always try and keep in mind the awe and wonder
of the net when I was first exposed to it. Plenty of folks
picked me up when I thought I was going to drown in information.
It is now almost impossible to recall that time with any
degree of accuracy. Fortunately I archive most of my
email traffic, and I can easily go back to remind myself
how I was, not that long ago, one of the idiots.
+------ Anthony J. Rzepela rzepela@cvi.hahnemann.edu -----+
| Hahnemann University, Philadelphia (215) 762-7741 |
| I do not speak for, or represent, Hahnemann University or AHERF. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[
Usenet Hypertext FAQ Archive |
Search Mail Archive |
Authors |
Usenet
]
[
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997
]
© Copyright The Landfield Group, 1997
All rights reserved