Re: [S] sign mail to s-news, please

[Alan Zaslavsky <zaslavsk@hcp.med.harvard.edu>]

> I have another request/question for  this mailing list:  Why is it that
> answers and/or replies are infrequently posted? Only when the asker
> summarizes and reposts the answers to we get a view of the replies to a
> particular question. Wouldn't it be more helpful and interesting to
> everyone to reply to the S mailing group as well as the author when
> responding to a question?

It is actually a (very soft) recommendation for this list that people
follow this practice.  It only works if the recipient of these messages
holds up her/his end and does the summary.  In fact it is a big
disappointment to send a careful answer to somebody and then have them
never share it with the list (unless it is something very elementary).
Generally, something with a quick and simple answer might make sense to
answer directly to the list so others don't waste their time, while
something with many possible solutions can go to the person who posted
the query to create a succinct summary.

See  http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/s-news/s-news-intro.html#REPLY
where you will find the following:

   A common practice is to send replies to the original poster of the
   question.  It is then up to the poster to write a summary of the
   replies, including both an acknowledgement of the respondents and a
   summary of the substance of the replies (including credited quotations
   from messages that contained useful information, but not repeating the
   same points many times). This makes the efforts of the contributors
   useful to the entire list. Posters of questions can encourage this by
   offering to summarize in their original message.
 
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