> // job echo=no
> get nn-intro archives native-l
> database search dd=rules cpulim=40
> //rules dd *
> select * in native-l
> index
> /*
to the LISTSERV address ("listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu"). I should have
written:
select 'medicine wheel' in native-l
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As the request stands, it will produce a listing of *all* the articles in
the archives (actually, since there's a default line limit of two thousand
lines, you would only get that much of the archive index listing). The
"get nn-intro archives native-l" line requests a copy of a document I wrote
about using the archives. You can also get a copy of that article by itself
by sending a message to the LISTSERV address which contains only that line
or via the NativeNet Web page ("http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/natnet/ls-arch.html").
While I'm on the subject of the Web, I'd like to let you know that I've
continued to tweak things here and there, fixing problems I've found. I'm
still experimenting with what might be the best organization for the
NATIVE-L archives. Once I have things the way I want them, I'd like to try
creating a few subject area indices for important subjects that have come
up, so that even lacking the kind of search facility provided now by the
LISTSERV database facility just mentioned, it will be easily possible to
find all of the relevant articles in the archives about some certain subject.
Eventually, I'd like to add a WAIS search capability to the archives, so
that you can generate your own subject lists "on the fly," and it may no
longer be necessary to use the LISTSERV form of searching for articles on
given subjects.
One thing that I think will remain stable is that the most current archive
of the NATIVE-L list will always be found via the URL:
http://bioc02.uthscsa.edu/~gst/nl/current
and that these articles will be sorted in reverse order (whereas the older
archives are sorted in a forward direction). So if you want to peruse the
latest articles in the archive, you can just save a bookmark to this page,
rather than having to wend your way down from the NativeNet home page (at
"http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/natnet/"). As we move from one month to the next,
I plan to move followup articles (those whose subject lines start with the
prefix "Re:") which apply to "parent" articles from the previous month to
that month's archive, where they most naturally belong. Any followups from
longer ago will remain in the archive of the month when they are posted, so
as to not upset the numbering scheme of HTML files for previous months so
that stable indices can be built. (I may still need to fiddle
with those archives for a while, so I don't expect that you'll be able to
rely on article URLs right away - I'll let you know when I plan to "freeze"
the archives, though.)
One important implication of what I just said about "parent" and "follow-
up" articles is that you need to be careful to not change the subject
line of an article when you reply to it, since the "hypermail" software
I'm using to build the HTML index files depends on subject lines and the
"Re:" prefices to construct article threads. You must also not post an
article beginning with "Re:" unless that article is a response to a previous
one, in which case you should let your mail software take care of building
the subject line for you (which generally works correctly - though there
are problems with some of the commercial services that seem to like to
truncate subject lines or to add funny elements, like "-Reply" or "Re[2]:,"
some of which I've been able to compensate for in my own software which
processes incoming articles - I hope to eventually revise this software
so that it will flag followup articles which do not match a known thread,
so as to avoid "orphan" threads - the problem is not as acute for NATIVE-L
as it is for some of the other NativeNet lists, though, since there are a
lower proportion of followup articles on a mostly-news & information list).
I can imagine that a lot of people will find that accessing the NativeNet
lists via the Web is substantially more convenient than subscribing to a
mailing list. I guess the tradeoffs include that using the Web you can be
more selective and you don't need to worry about your mailbox filling up,
especially if you plan to be away for a few days - as against the fact
that using the Web, you need to remember to check in every so often. But
for the time being, there is no provision to post articles from the Web
page, so if you plan to post articles - especially followups, where the
subject lines are important, it's still best to remain subscribed to the
mailing list. I hope to find time to experiment with possibilities for
permitting fuller participation via the Web - and to make all the lists
available on the NativeNet Web page - but "one thing at a time." :-)
If anyone has any comments, suggestions, or questions about this new form
of accessing NATIVE-L, please let me know. And thanks for your patience
as I educate myself about the rich new set of possibilities that seem to
be implied in using the World Wide Web as an effective vehicle to continue
doing what we've been doing these past six years, thanks to your support
and participation.
Best regards to you all,
Gary
--
Gary S. Trujillo gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,cdp}!gnosys!gst