Please don't consider cluttering up a simple mailing list with taxonomies
and tags and metadata and complex subject lines which will never be
accurate or truly representative. It's just a simple discussion group after
all. Those who want to index it are free to download the archives and do as
they like with searching and indexing, but let's leave a perfectly
ordinary, functioning mailing list alone.

One of the main arguments against subject line taxonomies is that as the
content varies people often don't change the subject line, as they just hit
'reply' and then thread content drifts, as was mentioned just recently.

If people need better search capabilities, then perhaps a move to better
list software would be simpler. There are all sorts of forum software
applications available. Google Groups for example is simple and easy and
has adequate searching for most needs (I am not saying this is necessarily
the best solution.)

It does have to be said that the Listserv mail server archive search
function is very crude.

Apart from making harpsichords I have a thirty year plus background in
software development and architecture. Therefore, putting my money where my
mouth is, I would be more than willing to help moving the list to another
technology platform. However, in my experience, this issue is an FAQ on
many mailing lists I subscribe to, and almost always what happens is that
the status quo remains, because the simple good old list format is low
maintenance and easy for everybody, limited though it may be for metadata
analysis.


Andrew

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