I guess the thing that bugs me most is when somebody gruffly to a song request with "check Cowpie" (or the DT, OLGA, or whatever) - and then it turns out that the song isn't in the source the grumpy guy cited. I figure that most people post a song request because they're having trouble finding it. If I post a reply, I think I have an obligation to provide helpful information. I guess that when I'm feeling particularly virtuous, I provide both a link and search instructions - and just a link when I'm being lazy.

Generally, I don't like to see people post guidelines on how Mudcatters should behave. It's like the priest getting up on the pulpit and telling people how to dress for church. The only ones who listen are the ones who don't need to be told.
But I'll say what I think, anyhow. One problem with Dick's suggestion that we refresh old threads, is that then we have two threads going on the same subject at the same time. That's confusing. Generally, I don't like to see discussions split into several different threads, because a lot of good information gets bypassed that way. I've been adding links to related threads when I find them. Sometimes, I'll combine threads when there are two discussions going on at the same time - but it's a real hassle to do that, so I don't do it very often.
Maybe a nice response would be: "We've been discussing the song in this thread (click), but we haven't come up with such-and-such. Why don't you drop in and join that discussion?"
Trouble is, if you're too nice, you sound condescending. Maybe it's best if we just try to be ourselves and do things with a civil tongue and a gentle sense of humor and a helpful attitude.
-Joe Offer-