Question to Mods about Posting Protocols: Existing vs. New

@abordoli Yes, essentially. And the important thing is that the mods or others who are particularly "personable" who like that area watch that closely and ANSWER QUESTIONS with the mindset of a client services organization. If you walk up to a librarian at a reference desk in a library and say, “I have to learn how Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs work(ed) in 2 days and I have no idea where to begin," (a task that a member of the art department on Prometheus easily could have had), the librarian will NOT say "Oh, there are tons of books on that here. You should just go search for something on one of the terminals." S/he will tell you after searching on his or her own workstation that there are these types of materials here on floor 3 and the ones from this area you'll have to read here in the library or make photocopies because they can't be checked out. And, I just saw a documentary on Egyptian hieroglyphs about 3 weeks ago. Let me see if that DVD is downstairs in multimedia... Oh here it is the call number is XYZ..." The Internet (primarily Google) is certainly changing us a human beings in terms of the way we process information. Most of us (now regardless of age) no longer read long, complex treatises on anything. We're very much inclined to search for an answer (just one) and then ACT. But, in an office environment, research shows that people ASK coworkers even before they search independently. I am involved in a very large community where different sub-boards have slightly different "rules of the road" that help set up expectations and get people off to a quick start. These things are always stickied?/stuck?/pinned at the top of the topics in that area. It is part of the culture there to go "learn" (educate oneself) as to what's expected in any particular area. One is a "language immersion" environment, so new learners are taught phrases in that area to help them ask questions when they're still very green beginners. (For (a fictitious) example, What does _____ mean? = [i]Arát narimya ______?[/i], etc.) Another is an ongoing project that has committees and whatnot, so there is even a formal charter written up in a PDF. If you're not willing to read the PDF, then you're not likely to "have what it takes" to be on the committee. There are always going to be some rather "clueless" individuals who don't immediately follow the "rules," but that cluelessness does not necessarily equal laziness. It may just be a lack of orientation. All universities orient their new students to the new environment/campus. The more this kind of community is like a small university, the more successful it will be (IMO).

@sukkal, Great post and great ideas. I hope to see at least some of what you've suggested implemented here in the near future. I know that stickied-threads are coming down the pipe real soon.