Posted by jane d on June 30, 2004, at 22:38:13
I was disappointed when I noticed that there were no archives for discontinued boards. For example it feels strange not to have the posts from the childrens board when earlier and later posts on that subject are still available on the main board.
At the same time I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of these archives being continued forever. Five years from now I'm sure that I'll want to leave what I said today behind me. And I think I should be able to.** Circumstances also change. Someone who had an elemtary school age child when they first posted could now have a teenager who knows them well enough to recognize details that no one else could. Or I could have an acquaintance I'd like to point to a helpful site but don't want to have to think about every thing I've ever posted before deciding whether I can afford to do that.
Since it's now the sites anniverary (six!) it seems like a good time to suggest that the archives get cut off after some fixed number of years. Maybe four or five. Or six. Or three.
Eventually they become less useful. The information is out of date and the original posters are probably no longer around to answer any follow ups. It would cut down on server volume. Personally I wouldn't care if the archives were still saved for offline use.
Finally it would be doing a big favor to any new person who, like I was, is so excited to find this place that they have to read every single post. When I arrived it took roughly one sleepless week as I recall. I hate to think how long I'd be glued to the screen today.** I do know about the sites that archive the internet. Removing the archives here does not eliminate them from the internet. This is something I hope everybody else who posts on the internet realizes as well. But if they are harder to stumble across by accident that might be good enough.
I'm curious to know what people think.
Jane
poster:jane d
thread:362158
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20040527/msgs/362158.html