The service you describe would be a useful one.  And it would be easy I
suppose to simply extract this info from the list and post it on a FAQs
page.  Would save time, be more efficient, etc.  But I don't think specific
info is the only reason people are on the list.  It'is probably what gets
them here.  But not why they stay.  There seems to be a real sense of
community, which is an age-old need, being realized in new ways today.
Isn't it ironic that this community may be easier to find on the net than it
is around us?  Also, diagnosing a problem--overheating, for example--is more
complicated than deciding which tire to buy or where one can find an awning.
And reading other people's (mechanical) problems--before we experience
them--helps us anticipate them, know them when we see them, and respond more
quickly when we begin to experience them.  It's kinda like going to the
library (or a hardware store) just to browse; I always come away with
something new and useful.

Notwithstanding, it is a serious commitment of time to keep up with the
list, given the volume of messages!

My two cents, and then some.
(probably will generate some idle chat!)
Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: Derek Drew <drew@INTERPORT.NET>

> I was on the list the first day it began on 4/2/94, and as is the usual
> course, posted a lot for about two years and now post sparingly. This is a
> disease that afflicts old timers in which they post less and less, even
> though they know the answers to things, because they are horrified at the
> amount of idle chat, and are nervous that their posts might be
contributing
> to the noise level.
> .....
> If we had launched this project into the Vanagon world, we would keep
track
> of all the postings that advise vanagon list members about which
antifreeze
> to use and then keep this information current and updated. Right now, it
> might take me hours of reading through vanagon list postings to determine
> the answers to simple questions: what is the best awning to buy for a
> Westy, what is the best u-joints for rebuilding syncro driveshafts, what
> consensus is there about the best aftermarket source of a motor.