OT-CHAT: Lesson-HT Use Subject Tags-Long

Greetings, all

I'm having problems with my ChateauWhitehall account at Onelist this morning 
so my mail to the list is coming from HIPSource, but it is not HIPS Business 
unless I sign with my title.  A fine distinction but one I wish to note.
------------------
Okay, 

This long post is for New Members and any other persons who have been 
confused about HOW to use Subject Tags. Other people have already spoken to 
WHY to use Subject Tags. I just thought I might be able to help a little.

First, the Subject line of a post consists of a Tag and then your title. The 
Tag is an abbreviation that puts the post into a broad category. The title 
then introduces the content of the post. The goal of both is to get people to 
open up your post and read what it is you are trying to communicate. In the 
subject line at the top of my post the OT-CHAT is the Tag. The rest is the 
title.

When a post is written it should be assigned a Subject Tag. Almost every post 
will fit into one of the Tag Categories. Many will fit into several. Tags may 
be combined, but all you really need is one good one. Tags may not be 
invented. Everyone will not assign tags in exactly the same way. That is 
okay. 

Let us meet the tags, then we will see how to use or link them as necessary.

First, All posts are either ON Topic, or OFF Topic. The Topic of the list is 
IRISES. 

On Topic posts carry the following Subject Tags. 

*KINDS OF IRISES* (These follow the divisions of the American Iris Society.)
TB, MED, AR, SIB, LA, JI, SPU, PCN, BULB, SPEC.
Discussions of Tall Bearded irises get assigned a TB. Discussions of Siberian 
Irises may be assigned a SIB. Discussions of Species irises may be assigned a 
SPEC, and so forth.

*SPECIAL KINDS OF IRISES* (Subgroups with passionate followers).
REB: Assigned to Reblooming irises, or rebloom reports or REB issues in 
general.
SA: Assigned to Space Age irises, or the issues surrounding them.
HIST: Assigned to Historic Irises, or the issues surrounding them.

*HORTICULTURAL TAGS* (Garden stuff)
CULT: Issues concerned with how to grow irises, how to care for them, how to 
fight pests, how to keep the beds tidy and so forth. This category covers a 
broad range of issues, and issues of broad appeal.
HYB: This is for issues relating to hybridizing, which includes genetics and 
practicalities.

*SOCIETY ISSUES* ( American Iris Society Issues)
AIS: Which is for posts dealing with AIS issues and AIS Business
SHOW: Which is for topics associated with Iris Shows, and show reports.

*SUPPORT ISSUES*
REF: For discussions of books, publications and other reference resources
CAT: For posts related to catalogs and commercial nurseries.
COMP: For computer related discussions: databases and the like.
PHOTO: For camera and photography issues and questions.
AD: A tag by which a list member can advertise Iris related goods or services.

*OFF TOPIC DISCUSSIONS*
OT-BIO: The tag for a a new member introducing himself, and others welcoming 
her.
OT-HUMOR: The tag for the story or clean joke you cannot resist sharing.
OT-PLANTS: For questions or brief discussion of non-iris plants and their 
culture.
OT-ART: For arts and crafts issues, noncommercial, see AD above.

And there is ADMIN, which is restricted to use fo the List Owner.
--------------------
Okay, so now let's practice.

Say you want to make a post asking where to find a list of the official AIS 
iris size categories like Tall Bearded and Median. Use AIS: REF. Moving fast? 
Use: REF.

You want to know whether to cut back your foliage in September? CULT will do 
it. You want to make sure the SIB folks don't assume your post is about 
bearded foliage when you are asking about Siberians? SIB: CULT: 

You want to ask about the Historic Spuria MRS. TAIT and whether it is really 
true that Bertrand Farr of all people introduced it? A good tag here would be 
a combined one HIST: SPUR: That will catch the eye of both the people 
interested in historics and in spurias.

You want to ask a question about germinating the species Iris stolonifera? 
Here you would want the aril specialists to read your post, so AR: CULT would 
be good, but AR alone would probably do the trick since there are not that 
many posts in the category. You could also use AR: SPEC: CULT, but do you 
really need to? 

You want to know whether your TB BATHESHEBA COMES can be expected to rebloom 
in Calgary? Use the tag TB: REB.

You want to hear more about your harebrained idea of hybridizing reticulatas 
that will rebloom in Texas? HYB: BULB: REB: 

You want to know about a good book on irises of the 'forties? Try REF, or 
better yet REF: HIST. You will get an answer. HIST: REF: would also be okay. 
Most of the time it does not matter which of a pair of tags comes first.

You want to ask about what was decided about the AIS Library at a recent AIS 
Board Meeting? Use AIS. Just because books are involved doesn't mean you need 
REF, too.

You want to know whether the latest issue of the Medianite is being received? 
Well, there are not that many hot choices here, but MED would work. REF might 
but I'd use MED. It is a quick judgement call. Not an issue of fine points of 
distinction that must be anguished over.

You want advice about your Space Age Median HAGAR'S HELMET which is being 
devoured by borers? You could use SA, you could use MED, but the one you 
should use is CULT, because the real issue is a Cultural Problem: Borers. 
That the iris they are eating is a horned median is irrelevant unless that is 
the only one in the yard they are interested in and you think that may be 
significant and want to emphasize that. 

You want to know about photographing your Juno species and getting the photos 
loaded up and linked to your personal collection database? Use PHOTO: COMP 
and the techies will come out of the woodwork. You probably don't need BULB 
or SPEC since the kind of iris involved is not the point.

You want to ask about corn poppies as companion plants? Use CULT since irises 
are the plants being companioned and thus it is an Iris Culture Question. You 
need to ask about something ghastly that has gone wrong with your pet hosta 
and it needs immediate attention and you don't know who else to ask. That is 
an OT-PLANTS. 

As I said, often any of several different tags will work. If picking tags is 
hard for you, keep it real simple. Most of the tags are rarely used by 
anyone, but the following tags are used a lot since they cover a lot of 
territory or represent popular areas of discussion.

CULT, TB, SIB, REB, HIST, HYB, CAT, AIS, SA, SPEC, JI.

Use your OT tags. They very important since those are posts that many will 
want to pass over. 

Every post does not have to carry every subject tag that could conceivably be 
seen as appropriate. If I write a post talking about a possibly faulty 
description of an historic 1935 JI in a catalog that was published in 1960 
and later remarked upon ambiguously by an AIS  Board Member in an AIS 
Bulletin, it is not necessary to string out "HIST: JI: CAT: AIS: REF: Bum 
Description of ISHGABBIBLE?" HIST: JI is all you need.

In short, the trick is to pick a tag that will catch the eye of those who 
will be interested in your post, or will have the answer you need. Pin down 
the main point of your question, and tag that, or one might say, FLAG IT for 
special attention. 

I hope this helps a little.

Anner, in Richmond
HIPSource@aol.com



  



    



   

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