Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Asking about mailing lists is kind of like asking about magazines. To get
the most value from them, you really have to subscribe, and stick with them.
The fact that you do subscribe, in itself, cuts down on a lot of the spam
and other garbage that, as Sharon pointed out, you do see in many
newsgroups. People tend to be interested in whatever the ostensible focus of
the mailing list might be; you often get the same community-like feeling,
over time, that you do in a place like The WELL.

Mailing lists promote information-sharing and support, for sure. I belong to
several professionally-related ones, but the one I enjoy most is a local one
composed of people who live along the same stretch of coastline that I do.
It cuts across age, income and political barriers, and highlights the
concerns that we all have in common -- like getting a good deal on firewood.
  

    
Oh yeah, I forgot the basic pointer: www.liszt.com, to scope out existing
mailing lists in your areas of interest.
  

    

Oh, yay!  I really need this to look for a progressive retinal atrophy
mailing list.  I was on a list for a while, it was dog related, oddly
enough, and someone told a really racist joke.  Someone else complained, and
so did I, and we were told that this was "all in the family" and obviously
it was meant in jest and dare we?

This spawned a new and breakaway mailing list that is a delight.  So yes,
communities.

Are there any other communities like the well?  Vaguely like the well?
  

    
Reva, have you read this week's issue of Industry Standard, where they talk
about new paradigms of search engines?  What did you think about it?
  

    
thanks, again, Reva.  Rings the bell:  bull's eye!
  

    
You know about Echo, plum, right? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of
viable online communities -- in newsgroup land, in mailing lists, in Web-
based places. "Like the WELL" is another question. I don't there's anything
like the WELL, and yeah, I know I'm prejudiced.

Sharon, no. I had a trial sub to Industry Standard when it first came out,
but let it lapse. I do get Media Grok in email. I'll check and see if that
story is up at their site.
  

    

We had a riveting get together at the Exploratorium last night, with a 
full house, about half of whom I guessed were WELLfolks or their companions.
A wonderful crowd indeed.

Reva did a presentation with URLs and strategies, and the wonderful
Exploratorium learning center crew put her links and her talk itself, via
RealAudio, up on their site.  

Check it out at:  http://www.exploratorium.edu/ls/basch/

Thanks, everybody, 'specially Reva & Jer.
  

    
Thank YOU and Janis for making it happen!
  

    


Who was that masked researcher?  I wanted to thank her...
  

    

She might not be actively being interviewed.  But I bet she'll still stop
around.  OOOH, which reminds me, I found a fabulous URL from the New York
times with all kind of search engines and such listed.  So useful.

Lemme go find it....damn, it's on my laptop, which is being fixed.
  

    

Dammit, I had that too, and I can't find it now.
  

    


Here it is:


http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/cynavi.html
  

    
That's my current home page, doy!
  

    

I allways forget my password. Damn, damn, double damn.
  

    
Thanks, vard.  What a great resource!  And it's maintained by
the NYT's Rich Meislin, a WELL member.
  

    
I hadn't realized that. I'm not kidding about it being my default home page.
It reminds me of sites and sources I tend to forget about...
  

    

it is Really Good.
  

    <scribbled by silly Mon 14 Dec 98 11:43>
  

    

I just got my copy of "researching Online for Dummies" and I'm looking 
forward to it a great deal. I look things up on the Web a lot and I'm 
getting pretty frustrated with the haphazard results I get on most search 
engines. I'm definitely ready for some better tools and strategies.
  

    
Is this a good review or what?

 Amazon.com Delivers Internet editor Elizabeth Lewis selects
 her top 10 titles for 1998!

 1. "Researching Online for Dummies" by Reva Basch

 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764503820/ref=ad_in1

 When it comes to books on searching the Net, this one is the
 gold standard.  Beyond presenting information on search
 engines and their use, Basch shows you how to think like a
 professional Net cybrarian.  She demonstrates the fine points
 of what to do when faced with thousands of hits--or none at
 all.  Then she shows you how to develop a good researcher's
 skeptical eye and evaluate information relevance and accuracy.
 Basch shows you the way to particularly hard-to-find information
 through specialty search engines, subject-based catalogs,
 reference sites, online libraries, and for-pay information
 services.  She even shows you when to just go offline and which
 print sources are most likely to be helpful.  The accompanying
 CD-ROM has three bonus chapters plus one of the best
 discussions of Boolean searches that you're likely to find.
  

    
 Elizabeth is a member of the WELL, her login is <lizabeth>.
  

    
I exerted no undue influence to get that review! But I'm thrilled with it.
AND I'm thrilled with it.
  

    

Hey Reeve, what if I want to buy software?
  

    
And, um...?
  

    

online I mean.  Sorry my honeylamb.