A Desperate Plea

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 29838

First off, a very warm "Hello!" to all the new faces cropping up.  
I'm quite pleased to meet you and hope I find the time soon to start 
interacting more on this list again so that I may bore you all with 
my inane, analytical essays that the existing list members have come 
to either love or loathe.

***

I am not writing this in any official capacity, although I am a List 
Elf for this group; I am writing it as a regular, everyday member of 
HP4GU.

A lot of you that have just gotten here are probably very excited 
with the "shiny newness" of all this discussion--I know I was when I 
first arrived.  But before you post here, you really need to read the 
Admin files and get a feel for the group.  There are a lot of people 
breaking a lot of list rules, clearly not out of intention, but out 
of a lack of awareness of them.  And all this despite the numerous 
ADMIN messages (both on and off list) that have been going out 
reminding people over the past few days.  These rules aren't all 
common sense: we have a lot of conventions that are peculiar to HP4GU 
that you probably won't be familiar with.

The Admin files, if you don't know already (for shame!) are at:
http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/admin

In case you haven't noticed already, this list has an unusually large 
number of members.  It's also one of the older discussion groups in 
existence.  And hopefully you've found that discussion here is of a 
higher standard of quality than your run-of-the-mill Yahoogroup.

It also has a lot of list rules.

This is not coincidence.

The reason this group has survived as long as it has without 
degrading into meaningless drivel, the reason that the older members 
tend to stick around without getting "sick of it" is BECAUSE we have 
those list rules to keep things running smoothly.  They are here for 
everyone's benefit, and while you may not appreciate them now when 
you are new, you will come to appreciate them soon, I guarantee it.

***

Now I don't know you all yet, but I'm already going to make one 
assumption about you.  And that assumption is that you want to make a 
good impression here.  If you want to do that, in addition to reading 
and adhering to the Admin files, you should (although it's not a 
requirement):

1) Contact your list elf with *anything* you aren't sure about, 
rather than taking the risk.  Your list elf is your best friend at 
HP4GU, someone who knows the ropes and took on the very special job 
of helping you.  If you just joined today, you won't be contacted by 
your list elf until tomorrow or so.  In that case, I recommend you go 
ahead and read the Admin files and some messages on the list, but 
perhaps wait to post until you have a better handle on how things 
work here.  Then by the time you're ready to start posting, you'll 
already have a list elf at your disposal.  I am always amazed to see 
how little people take advantage of this 'elfing' system.  Ask your 
list elf *anything*: whether it be to explain a bit of shorthand that 
you don't recognize (we have several acronyms that are HP4GU-
specific), or to ask if a certain theory has been proposed before, or 
to ask about technical problems--ANYTHING.  If your list elf doesn't 
know him or herself, he or she will do everything in his or her power 
to find out for you.  And this saves a lot of clutter compared to 
asking these things on list, which is a big no-no.

2) Check out our substantive topical essays, which cover a lot of 
previous discussion on the list in a concise essay form.  It's much 
easier than going through the archives post by post and they are a 
fantastic way to bring yourself up to speed.  One of the things about 
joining a group like this is you definitely feel "green".  No matter 
what you say, someone seems to have heard it umpteen times before.  
To some extent, this cannot be helped.  But the best thing you can do 
to bring yourself into the know is to read the essays.  After reading 
them, you'll start to feel like a true HP scholar, and I'm not even 
kidding.  They are a phenomenal piece of work by a talented group of 
folks here, and every time I look at them I again have to catch my 
breath in admiration.

The essays are at:
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/faq/
(Many thanks to the HP Lexicon for hosting them!)

3) Speaking of the HP Lexicon, use it to check sources.  It's the 
definitive resource for HP canon and can be especially handy when you 
don't have the books with you but you need to know what color Ginny's 
eyes are, or want a compilation of all the differences between the UK 
and US editions, or want to read about various mysteries and 
inconsistencies with in the book, or . . . well, lots of stuff.

It's at:
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/

And speaking of checking sources, *please do that*.  You will catch a 
lot more of your mistakes if you take advantage of the internet to 
double check your claims.  And obviously, making less mistakes will 
make you look better.  If you're referencing canon, use cited 
references from the books whenever it's possible to do so.  If you're 
referencing a statement made in an interview with JKR, find out and 
cite which one.  One of our members, Aberforth's Goat, has even 
created a search engine for all these interviews to make our lives 
easier.

Check it out at:
http://www.geocities.com/aberforths_goat/

Also if you're quoting a totally baseless rumor you found on some 
random HP fansite, well, probably don't bother.  I won't stop you, 
but in my opinion there is no point in referring (as if it were 
evidence) to something that is a pure rumor and therefore 
unsubstantiated.  Just say that you believe _____ is likely to occur 
in future books, and make it a piece of your own personal speculation 
rather than buying into someone else's garbage rumor.

***

Above all everyone, *please* have fun with the list, but do not do it 
at the expense of the other people here.  Familiarize yourself with 
the group's conventions--how we handle quoted messages and snipping, 
what sort of shorthand we use, what theories we've heard so many 
times that we want to pull our hair out, etc.--and it will only make 
the discussions here MORE enjoyable, not less.

Thanks and Happy Posting!
-Luke