[78-L] e-mail etiquette, was Re: Yawn

[Thomas Stern]

  I usually keep quiet when these discussions of e-mail response are
raging, but I will add my 4cents now:
  1. Pruning previous messages - sometimes a good idea, HOWEVER I would like
it to be done sparingly.  If there is information worth keeping, it is
better imo to have it all in one cumulative message, than having it spread
over 3 or 4 or dozens of messages.
    For example, discographic listings, or information about matrix numbers,
series, dating - it would be nice to be able to simply discard the previous
half dozen or more messages as each new bit of information is added.
  2. Response before or after - I prefer the older messages to be at the
BOTTOM,
not at the top.  If I am FOLLOWING a thread, I want to see the current
response and not have to space through an accumulation of previously read
material.  I think that is operationally the way most people work with this
mode of communication.
     Obviously, if I come in late, or am reading archives, it is less
convenient,
but that is the exception, not the rule.
    This leads to something I have suggested in other contexts - if there is
valuable data in ephemeral communication, it would be useful to create a
repository
for that information.  The repository should be is permanent, updateable,
accessible.  Such as a handbook for label history, dating guide, brief
biographies, discographies, etc.
  Best wishes, Thomas.