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26 Jun 02 - 03:17 PM (#737586) Subject: DT Threads in the future From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy This is for general discussion, prompted by the immediate experience of the 'early Leonard Cohen' thread, which not everyone will read. Hopefully this thread title is inviting enough to draw more 'Catters into the discussion that follows, if not feel free to retitle it or direct others to it if you deem it important enough. Having come upon many instances where a 'link' given in a thread is no longer available, and knowing that in general the web life of various sites is not eternal, I would propose that some pertinent information that is being referred to in a 'link' be also entered in a thread message, so it remains available for the life of the thread. Not to say that the 'click here' function is not quick easy and attractive, but it becomes useless when that 'here' is no longer 'there'. I guess it goes along with the general idea of DT Study threads, cleaning up the data base, etc. for someone to synopsize what the link was for, and offer the info as well in a thread. What say you all? |
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26 Jun 02 - 03:21 PM (#737592) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: MMario it does make sense - |
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26 Jun 02 - 03:23 PM (#737596) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: GUEST I'd agree up to a point - for the lyric requests that can be found quicky and easily at any number of locations, I think 'Click Here' is still the best approach. |
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26 Jun 02 - 03:33 PM (#737600) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: GUEST The question was also discussed in this previous thread |
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26 Jun 02 - 03:47 PM (#737617) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy thanks, second guest, I would never have thought to search the forum, and if not obvious, I am referring to links external to DT only. Here's what Joe Offer said in link of guest above: "If lyrics are in the Forum or the Digital Tradition already, please do not post them again. If somebody requests that song, post a link or copy-paste the URL of the thread where the song is located. If the lyrics are offsite please post them (unless they're pop lyrics that people aren't likely to request again). Two reaons for that - links tend to expire, and then then we don't have access to the song any more. Secondly, lyrics that are posted in the form can be found by a Mudcat search, and that's very handy." I guess it's been discussed enough before, but my experience is that in many threads that go back a ways, that are resuscitated, earlier links are often no longer available, so it doesn't hurt to reiterate this here, even if it may be in the FAQ, which I confess I don't always immediately look to for answers. |
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26 Jun 02 - 04:31 PM (#737654) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: McGrath of Harlow Good advice - on a number of occasions I've posted a link to songs on my own website rather than post the words, and now I've had to move the website to another server, which means those links won't work properly. I'll know better in future.
But this is for songs and information about songs - when it comes to other stuff people are arguing about, I am all in favour of using links for long articles that are seen as relevant etc, rather than posting them in threads here.
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26 Jun 02 - 09:29 PM (#737849) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: Susan of DT I still prefer teaching people how to search the Digital Tradition to giving them a link. |
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26 Jun 02 - 10:01 PM (#737872) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: Malcolm Douglas So do I. Within minutes, though, several people will turn up providing links (more or less useful, as links made through some routines will last, and others will not) without making any effort to explain what they've done, and will quite often criticise us for not being as helpful as they imagine they have been. If you want to help someone to do a job, don't do it for them; show them how to use the tools for themselves, so next time they can find their own way; and can teach others. |
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27 Jun 02 - 05:18 AM (#738004) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: Wolfgang As for information in the forum or the DT, Malcolm and Susan make a lot of sense and I shall follow that advice. As for Bill's specific question, should we include lyrics (information) from an outside source instead of a link, yes, if the lyrics or the information are relevant to Blues/Folk in a broad sense. Otherwise, no. For pop lyrics or no-music questions I prefer a link. Wolfgang |
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27 Jun 02 - 05:47 PM (#738469) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: Joe Offer I think it's best to keep Mudcat as rule-free as possible, but some people have taken to copy-pasting long articles that have nothing to do with music. Here's what I posted in the FAQ today. it will probably be subject to "future development." Opinions? -Joe Offer-
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27 Jun 02 - 06:08 PM (#738476) Subject: RE: DT Threads in the future From: Don Firth I definitely agree, Joe. Many of the long articles that people cut and paste (post) tend to be in threads discussing current news stories, such as the Pledge of Allegiance decision. I venture to say that this thread and many like it will drop off the bottom in fairly short order. In the meantime, the links to the news sources and articles will still be there for people to read if they wish. There is no point in permanently archiving this stuff. Also, most of these articles are copyrighted, and I wonder about the legality of cutting and pasting them here. Iffy proposition, I think. Don Firth |