RE: ADMIN: Re: OT How do I unsubscribe?

["KLEIN, DAVID (SBCSI)" <dk2445 -at- txmail -dot- sbc -dot- com>]

Hi all,
I don't want to beat on this critically wounded horse, but I think I think I
have a useful point.

Eric is absolutely correct that the unsubscribe directions are available in
numerous places, including the website and the "Welcome to TECHWR-L" letter
that everyone received when he/she subscribed. With minimal effort a
subscriber should be able to find the command to unsubscribe.

However...his comment that "The process is also documented in every message
from the list" is not entirely true.
I receive the digest in MIME format (i.e., lots of attachments in a single
email). The unsubscribe command *does not* appear in every message. It
appears only in the first message, which lists the titles of all the other
messages in that volume of the digest. I, perhaps like most other digest
readers, do not even open this first message. I just scan the attachments
for topics that interest me.

So, I'm not sure if this "calls into question the overall efficacy of
documentation in general", or should just remind us that not everyone in our
audience is using the same tools or brings the same background knowledge.

I shall now return to lurking....

Thanks,

David

David S. Klein
Technical Writer
Training Coordinator
Amdocs - Telegence-LD
 
Phone: 	(972) 705-7984
Fax:		(972) 907-5482
Pager:	(214) 814-5505
E-mail:	davidkl -at- amdocs -dot- com
 		dk2445 -at- txmail -dot- sbc -dot- com
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Ray [mailto:ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com]
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2000 12:49 PM
Subject: ADMIN: Re: OT How do I unsubscribe?


Read below. 

buddebe -at- bgnet -dot- bgsu -dot- edu wrote:
> I'm sorry that I sent this to the whole list, but I need to unsubscribe
and
> don't know how.  Can someone please tell me how?

Just below these paragraphs, you'll see two ads, then a line
that starts with "To unsubscribe...". Do that. 

All, you know, there is an interesting technical communication
connection here. The process to unsubscribe is pretty
straightforward (see below). The process is also 
documented in every message from the list, on the Web site
in multiple places, in the instructions that you received 
when you subscribed, and in periodic administrative postings
to the list. That notwithstanding, I get at least two
messages every day asking how to do it. It does call into
question the overall efficacy of documentation in 
general, doesn't it?

Not really grinching, as my form response takes about a second
to send, but definitely bemused by the irony,
Eric
ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
TECHWR-L Listowner