Rialto (long)

[Mark Harris]

Clare St. John asks:
>Stephen:
>
>What isn't on the Rialto? **wink**

A little bit depends upon whether you are asking what isn't on the
Rialto CURRENTLY versus what hasn't been on the Rialto in the past.

The current topics of discussion are really quite limited. This is
one of the reasons I created the Rialto Files. If you want info on
a particular subject, chances are it is not being currently discussed.
However, it may have been discussed at length in the past week, month,
year or several years ago. I try to save those tidbits of information
that I would like to have access to in the future.

Differnet topics have different cycles. Some topics come up every few
months, others don't come up but every few years.

While you can always ask the folks on the Rialto for information on
a subject, many times these causes the same subject to be discussed
over and over, never getting past the simpler details. Another reason
for my files was to give people a place to go to get the more basic
questions answered and perhaps free up individuals and the net to
answer more detailed and complex questions.

As others have mentioned, there can be alot of "chaff" on the Rialto.
The useful to not-useful messages can be high. This is another reason
for my files. While the complete archives allow you to search through
the entire contents and history of the net, my files do allow you to
look for information in a particular area from a multitude of sources
including the Rialto (rec.org.sca), the old fidonet Medieval echo,
various maillists and info sent to me by email. However, since I am the
one doing the editing, collating and the choosing of which messages
get into the files, the SCA Rialto Files are limited by my knwledge
and prejudices.

While a large amount of the info in my files came off the Rialto,
this is a decreasing percentage of what is there. This is one of
the reasons I am searching for a new name if anyone has any
suggestions. I was given a few ideas a few months ago, but am
looking for more. If you give me Latin names, please tell me how
they were used. Something about a gathered collection of items
or notes might be a good term.

I continue to get a number of inquiries about subjects in my files
from non-SCA folks. Though a low-key effort, I like to think it
helps our recruitment efforts. It is also interesting to note which
files are the most popular. Chasity-belts-msg seems to consistantly
get a higher number of hits than even some of the index files with
the fileset.

Clare, I know you were making a joke, but I wanted to take this
oportunity to air some of my thoughts on the Rialto and my files.
As always, I am continually looking for articles for these files,
suggestions for them or even critisims.

Even though some of you are probably tired of it by now, my files
can be found at:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/rialto/rialto.html

Ld. Stefan li Rous
Barony of Bryn Gwlad
Ansteorra
markh at risc.sps.mot.com