RFD: List-member database

From: Doc Shipley <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
Date: Tue Jul 30 20:15:01 2002

  There was a real brief discussion about this several months ago, and I
never followed through.

  The broad strokes of my idea was to put together a questionnaire for
anybody who'll answer, with city of residence, area of collecting, maybe
real-world occupation and computing experience/expertise, etc. Gather
that into a running database, mostly for member consumption only. We
all seem to travel a fair amount, most of us seem to enjoy "hooking up"
with other collectors, and such a database seems like a natural thing to
do, and a very valuable resource. Personally, I'm really curious as to
what the map will look like. There seem to be some fair concentrations
in some not-obviously-reasonable places. Like the Great North Woods. :)
  If there's reasonable interest and no huge objections, and someone
else will help design and implement the actual db, I'll put together the
questionnaire & collate the responses.

  Preliminary ideas:

  Public and private info. Some info, like my webpage, I might be
willing to put out as a public resource. My address I might make
available to list members, but not for publication on a website. So
the Q-sheet needs a flag for "privileged" info.
  All info, obviously, is optional.
  Areas of expertise & employment could be tricky. A lot of us are
contractors and consultants, and there's a fuzzy line between making
resources available and solicitation.
  Whether your collection is organised for viewing, or, like mine, piles
here and there {and everywhere} that can be excavated for the needed
item, would be relevant info.
  We'll need a hosting site. I might be able to provide that, but I'm
not sure.

  So what do y'all think? Is it A Fun Thing To Do? Ideas about what
info we want/don't want? Volunteers?

        Doc
Received on Tue Jul 30 2002 - 20:15:01 BST