The problem with one Permathread with information about folk venues is that it is just not searchable. How many towns are there in the USA and the UK which have a venue supporting folk music in one way or another? Thousands, maybe tens of thousands. How do you access the information you require regarding one particular town in a Permathread? Keep scrolling down hoping you might find something? Or have a volunteer constantly rearranging the information in alphabetical order? I don't think so.

The reason we need a new prefix is simply to make searching a simpler and more effective exercise. At present, there are hundreds of threads out there which contain valuable information about venues, but how do you find them? I can remember at least four separate requests for information about pubs in Edinburgh, and the same information gets churned out again and again.

Joe, your suggestion that I start a prefix and see if it catches on is a non-starter. I mean, I am just not presumptuous enough to say to somebody who starts a thread titled "BS: Any good Folk Pubs in Brooklyn?", "Excuse me, but would you please retitle your thread "FV: NY: Brooklyn" . What gives me the right to say that to anybody ? If, however, there were an official prefix indicating that Mudcat sanctioned it, then I would have no hesitation.

Information is of no value unless it can be accessed and accessed efficiently. All I am doing is suggesting an efficient method for storing this information, a method which requires NO ADDITIONAL WORK from ANYBODY.

Murray