Archives, the future interactive source for hosta information.

So, you want to see more in the Journal do you? Well, don't hold your
breath.

We can all say what we want more of in the AHS Journal. The plain fact is
that unless we increase the number of pages in the journal, or the number of
issues per year, we can't hope to improve on the job Kevin Walek is doing.
It is not the quality of the information that needs improving, it's the
quantity.  I think almost everyone is right about what they want to see more
of in the Journal.

The solution is the internet. It's that simple.

The AHS Journal is print limited and not interactive.  Postings on the AHS
E-mail robin happen in real time and are interactive but are here today,
gone tomorrow. I have looked at the AHS E-mail robin archives, they consist
of one long un-sortable document. They are almost useless.

If the postings on the E-robin were archived properly they would be a
tremendous source of hosta information for beginners and experienced hosta
lovers alike.

If we want more serious postings with long term value we need to be able to
store and access these postings. We need to give the authors of these
postings assurance that their postings will exist in the future. We can't
expect people to post publishing grade information that has the life span of
a radio talk show.

The archives could be sorted electronically in real time and edited later.
Below are two examples I am familiar with.

Messages could be sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]

For an example of a working system go to the International Society of
Arboriculture discussion group archives @
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~isa/discuss/discuss.html

These messages go instantly to a searchable archive with no human
intervention.

Another web site with even better sortable information is:
http://tree-tech.com/board/

I brought this subject up a couple of months ago with no interest show by
Carolyn Schnaffner, the AHS robin majordomo, or by Bernie Deisen, the AHS
webmaster, or by anyone else who has a say in how the AHS does things.

I'm asking to be taken seriously this time. It is in the best interest of
the AHS.

It would be different if there were no working prototypes, but there are.

Sincerely,

Dan Nelson
Bridgeville DE
zone 7


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