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Conference 7.286::home_work

Title:Home_work
Notice:Check Directory (6.3) before writing a new note
Moderator:CSLALL::NASEAM::READIO
Created:Tue Nov 05 1991
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2100
Total number of notes:78741

2.0. "Request for KEYWORD requests..." by JOET::JOET (Joe Tomkowitz) Fri Mar 28 1986 19:16

    Seeing as how there is much more activity in this conference than I
    ever imagined, and seeing as how VAX Notes lets you attach keywords to
    topics and replies to facilitate finding information, and seeing as how
    I'm too lazy to figure out which keywords to add (seeing as how I'm too
    anal-retentive to unrestrict keyword creation), how's about we put
    requests for keywords as replies to this note and, as I get around to
    it, I'll add them to the "allowed" list and maybe get all this info
    into some kinda more retrievable order? 
    
    -joet
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2.1A good ideaBEING::WEISSForty-TwoMon Mar 31 1986 11:2818
A few suggestions off the top of my head (not all may be appropriate)

Additions
Basement/foundation
Site work (wells, septic)
Bathrooms
Kitchens
Plumbing
Electric
Heating/Cooling
Post & Beam
Flooring 
Contractors (questions, recommendations, and pans)
Carpentry (framing & finish)

That's a start, anyway

Paul
2.2For older homesGRAMPS::LISSFred - ESD&P Shrewsbury MAMon Mar 31 1986 16:0010
    Painting
    Wall papering
    Hard wood floors
    Paint removal
    Insulation    

    Remember some of us have older homes.
    
    				Fred
    
2.3A Couple more....JACOB::DIMACKJohn J. DiMackFri Apr 04 1986 19:277
Here are a couple more:

	TOOLS, both Hand and Power
	JIGS, for Radial arm/Table saws and other tools

John Di.

2.4There's a file for thatBEING::WEISSForty-TwoMon Apr 07 1986 15:314
There is a notes file devoted specifically to power and hand tools.  In fact, 
this file is a spin off from that one.  It's at 4394::tools

Paul
2.5keywords availableJOET::JOETJust like a penguin in bondage...Mon May 05 1986 14:3715
    Dut to overwhelming MAIL requests (1) I finally set up a bunch of
    keywords.  To see them, type SHOW KEYWORD/ALL.  Please use them
    when you add a note.  I'll be going through the file and adding
    them to notes already written, but if you're the author of an earlier
    note, you can add them yourself if you feel like it.
    
    If you're unfamiliar with keywords, type HELP KEYWORD to see your
    options.
    
    If you feel the need for a new keyword, just post a reply here,
    and I'll consider it.
    

    Carry on,
    -joet
2.6Some additionsBEING::WEISSForty-TwoMon May 05 1986 18:1634
Well, I just took a half hour and added some keywords, and managed to come up 
with quite a few suggestions, via notes that didn't fit in any already existing 
category.

Masonry
Renovations
Plastering
Siding
Old_houses
Sewage (could be lumped in with plumbing, but there's lots of plumbing notes)
Hot_water
Gas
Oil
Wood_stoves
Tile
Estimating
Financing
Additions
Safety
Landscaping
Pests
Plans
Garage
Solar
Post & Beam
Tools

In the existing keywords, foundation and basement could probably be lumped 
together.  Also, Contractors_bad, Contractors_good, and Contractors_help 
probably would be best combined into just Contractors.  Replies to a note tend 
to include both pans and praise, and I don't think we want to attach keywords 
to all of the replies to differentiate them.

Paul
2.7That was fast, JoeBEING::WEISSForty-TwoTue May 06 1986 13:510
2.8Ya got keywords, now use 'emBEING::WEISSForty-TwoMon Jul 07 1986 13:118
Hey guys, remember keywords?  I've gotten into the habit of checking each new 
note for keywords and adding them if they aren't there.  I'd say that maybe one 
out of 10 notes is keyworded by it's author.  

BTW, Joe, what do you think of a MISC keyword?  I mean, what category do you 
put dragging sheds and calculators in?

Paul
2.9Thy will be done...JOET::JOETThela hun ginjeetMon Jul 07 1986 13:531
    
2.10I'm curiousBEING::WEISSForty-TwoThu Oct 09 1986 15:5216
Does anyone use the keywords?  I've gotten into the habit of dutifully adding 
keywords to each new note, so that they all have keywords.  I've used them 
several times to find things.  Does anyone else?  There have been several notes 
lately about subjects that have already been discussed at length, and which can 
be found easily using the keywords.

Also, does anyone know how to search for a logical AND of multiple keywords?
You can look for the logical OR with parentheses and commas, but that's not 
much use.  But it would be real nice, if I wanted info on insulating basements, 
to do a dir of the keywords basement and insulation, and find the one or two 
notes that have to do spcifically with that, instead of having to search 
through all of the basement notes, or all of the insulation notes.

Thanks

Paul
2.11If you're not part of the solution...JOET::JOETFri Oct 10 1986 12:4114
    Although there have been many requests for more powerful keyword
    search techniques in the VAXNOTES conference, the current version
    does not support them.
    
    As for keywords in general, I really wish folks would use them. I
    believe that it's possible for anyone to mark anybody's note with a
    keyword. Being a moderator, it's hard for me to tell what you regular
    peons can and can't do, so can someone check it out and post the answer
    here? 
    
    If my suspicions are correct, feel free to help out if the urge hits 
    you as you cruise through the conference.
    
    -joet 
2.12If I can do it, anyone canBEING::WEISSForty-TwoFri Oct 10 1986 14:144
Yes, Joe, anyone can put keywords on a note.  I've added most of the keywords 
that currently exist on notes.

Paul
2.13Up with keywords!CYGNUS::DARRYLFri Oct 10 1986 15:534
    Thank you very much for adding the keywords. Though new to this
    conference, I have poked around quite a bit to topics of interest,
    just through the keywords.
    
2.14SYLPH::ALLENRoger AllenTue Apr 07 1987 13:366
    Anyone can put keywords on a note, but it's up to Joe to create
    the keyword in the first place. He does have the option of allowing
    noters to create keywords if there are too many requests to deal
    with, but I get the impression that the request rate is not causing
    a problem.
    
2.15BEING::WEISSTrade freedom for security-lose bothMon Apr 02 1990 20:00128
We've recently had a couple of requsts to fix or ad keywords, so we might as 
well open it up.

What keywords do you think are stupid and should be eliminated?
What keywords do you think should be renamed?
What keywords do you think should be split up into multiple categories?
What new keywords do you think we should have?

A few thoughts of my own:

The ultimate goal would be to have a reasonably small number of very clear and
obvious keyword names, with perhaps 30-40 notes per keyword - about 2 to three
screens reading interactively, or about 1/2-2/3 of a page on a printout.  We
clearly won't quite reach that, but it's something to shoot for. 

In my mind the limiting factor for the number of keyword is to keep it down to 
a number that will fit on one two-column page of printout.  We currently have
112 keywords.  Given a 66 line page, we could add a theoretical maximum of 20 
more. 

Naming is important.  For example, the existing keyword CURTAINS-SHUTTERS-STORMS
is often not found, because people are looking in the keyword listing for 
something about windows.

And directory length is also important.  If the directories get too long then
they get more difficult to read through and find what you want.  Some 
directories, like MISC, just can't be helped when they get too large, but many
others can be broken into multiple directories.  Part of the problem with this 
is coming up with the categories.  For example CLEANING is in desperate need of 
splitting - it has about 100 entries - but what do we split it into?

One thing that could be done is to go through some of the old notes and 
eliminate the useless ones.  For example, topics which are discussed in four
notes, and two of them have hardly any replies.  But I for one don't have the 
time to go poking through old notes.

And just because we're asking doesn't mean that we'll actually DO anything any 
time soon, but at least we'll have a few more ideas.

Anyway, my thoughts on a few keywords:

Stupid keywords: CONDOMINIUMS&APARTMENTS - it only has 6 notes.  SOUNDPROOFING 
		 and SKYLIGHTS are also cantidates, although not as clearly.

Rename:		AIR_QUALITY_CONTROL, maybe.  It has humidifiers and 
		dehumidifiers, air cleaners, radon stuff, etc.  Anyone have a 
		good idea?  If you're looking for info in dehumidifiers it's 
		not obvious, but I don't have any better ideas.

		CURTAINS_SHUTTERS_STORMS to something that starts with WINDOW,
		like WINDOWS-ACCESSORIES.  See above.

		DEALING_WITH_CONTRACTORS to CONTRACTORS-DEALING_WITH_THEM.
		Again, so people will find it more easily.

Clean Splits:	CABINETS&COUNTERTOPS, perhaps.

		CARPENTRY-FLOORS&ROOFS, definitely.

		CHIMNEYS&BRICKS needs to separate the chimney sorts of
		questions from all the masonry notes.

		DECKS&PORCHES

		LEGAL_SURVEYING&TAXES - surveying doesn't really belong here,
		but where does it belong?

		PESTS - split into bugs and non-bugs

		POOLS&SPAS, maybe

		WELLS-PUMPS-HOLDING_TANKS, maybe

		WINDOWS-INSTALLATION&USE into WINDOWS-INSTALLATION and
		WINDOWS-MAINTENANCE&REPAIR

Notes which exceed or almost exceed one page of listing, and should be split,
but for which the splitting criteria are not clear:


		CLEANING - in desperate need!

		DOORS 

		ELECTRIC-WIRING 

		FLOORING-WOOD

		FOUNDATION

		FURNITURE

		INSULATION

		OLD_HOUSES

		PAINT-INTERIOR

		PLASTERING&SHEETROCK

		PLUMBING-SUPPLY

		RENOVATING

		ROOF

		SAFETY

		TILE&SLATE

		TOOLS

Notes which don't NEED to be split, but which are getting large enough to 
consider for splitting, if we can come up with an appropriate split:

		APPLIANCES

		CARPENTRY-FINISH 

		GARAGE

		LANDSCAPING

		PAINT-EXTERIOR

		VENTILATION

		WOOD_FINISHES
2.16Cleaning, some desperate helpWESTVW::LEEPack of wild, balding men bearing beerTue Apr 03 1990 15:199
After taking a quick look at the directory for cleaning how
about starting with:

CLEANING-FLOORS		 All types of floors and floor coverings
CLEANING-WALLS&SURFACES  Interior & exterior walls
CLEANING-MISC            For those intersting problems...
CLEANING-INTERIOR        For furniture, curtains

dave
2.17TLE::FELDMANDigital Designs with PDFTue Apr 03 1990 16:1722
While you're at it, how about cleaning up the & vs. _ vs. - punctuation.

It appears as though the intent is that - means "specifically."  For example,
HEATING-FHA means Heating, specifically forced hot air heating.  There are
exceptions such as WELLS-PUMPS-HOLDING_TANKS.

It also seems that & is used as the last separator in a list, just as in 
written English.  For example, PERMITS_CODES&INSPECTORS.  Again, there are
exceptions, such as BOOKS_MAGAZINES_VIDEOS.

Finally, _ is used as a comma for lists that contain more than two elements
(PERMITS_...), and also as a space, as in AIR_QUALITY_CONTROL.

My suggestion is to a) eliminate & altogether.  It would be ok if keywords
were in mixed case, but since they're almost always displayed in all caps, it's
very difficult to find the word break.  Visually, CODES&INSPECTORS looks like
one word.  b) Keep the above meaning for -.  c) Use _ for everything else.

If you don't like that suggestion, then at least fix the keywords that are
inconsistent with whatever rules you do like.

   Gary
2.18DICKNS::WELLCOMESteve Wellcome (Maynard)Tue Apr 03 1990 19:1612
    NOTES really needs tree-structured keywords (and notes!), but lacking
    that, perhaps you can get sort-of the same functionality by judicious
    choice of keywords.  Use a main header followed by a subheader (as
    you do in some cases now) when it's appropriate:
    	PAINTING-EXTERIOR
	PAINTING-INTERIOR
    ...etc.
    rather than:
    	EXTERIOR_PAINTING
    	INTERIOR_PAINTING
    
        
2.19KEYWORDS .. Some suggestions about ..AHIKER::EARLYBob Early T&N/EICThu Jul 26 1990 17:4653
>What keywords do you think are stupid and should be eliminated?
>What keywords do you think should be renamed?
>What keywords do you think should be split up into multiple categories?
>What new keywords do you think we should have?

>One thing that could be done is to go through some of the old notes and 
>eliminate the useless ones.  For example, topics which are discussed in four
>notes, and two of them have hardly any replies.  But I for one don't have the 
>time to go poking through old notes.

    One method  (see  also  BTOQA::HIKING  Note  #500)  is  "Structured"
    modertor designated to perform selected shores, like "delete
    useless notes".
    
    One guide I've used successfully in both MODEMS and HIKING
    is: Questions, with no replies, more than 6 months old
    get the axe.
    
        


>LEGAL_SURVEYING&TAXES - surveying doesn't really belong here,
    
    

>PESTS - split into bugs and non-bugs
    
    PESTS_CRAWLING
    PESTS_FLYING
    PESTS_INDOOR
    PESTS_OUTDOOR



>OLD_HOUSES
    
    HOUSES_MODERN
    HOUSES_OLD
    HOUSES_COLLECTIBLES


>PLASTERING&SHEETROCK
    
    PLASTERING_SHEETROCK
    PLASTERING_HORSEHAIR
    PLASTERING_REPAIRS
    PLASTERING_NEW
    

>RENOVATING
    
    -BobE

2.20QUARK::LIONELFree advice is worth every centMon Oct 01 1990 15:264
I'd like to see a keyword for NOISE_CONTROL where we could find notes on the
subject of reducing sound transmission in a house.

				Steve
2.21VMSDEV::PAULKM::WEISSTrade freedom for security-lose bothMon Oct 01 1990 16:297
Like, perhaps, the keyword SOUNDPROOFING, whose directory is at note 1111.94?

:-)
:-)
:-)

Paul
2.22QUARK::LIONELFree advice is worth every centMon Oct 01 1990 16:343
Sigh - I looked up and down the keyword list and didn't see it.  My apologies.

			Steve
2.23limitation of keywordsXANADU::FLEISCHERwithout vision the people perish (381-0899 ZKO3-2/T63)Fri Oct 05 1990 14:5819
2.24NOVA::FISHEROakland swept, so whatThu Oct 25 1990 12:5911
    How about some keywords that are never assigned to notes but are place
    holders in the keyword directory such as:
    
    NOISE_CONTROL=>SOUNDPROOFING
    
    that can exist to point people in the right direction.  It would
    multiply the number of keywords but I don't think it would result in
    doubling.  I often think using keywords is like trying to find some
    obscure detail in a [DEC] manual, there're just not enough indices.
    
    ed
2.25How about a keyword for REFERRALS?RAB::MEHRINGMon Mar 04 1991 16:097
Given the size of this conference (and thus the time required to search for a 
given title), I think a REFERRAL keyword would be invaluable in reducing the
search-time for references...

Thanks,

-Cori (still looking for contractor--bath building/ceiling raising--referrals)
2.26VMSDEV::PAULKM::WEISSTrade freedom for security-lose bothMon Mar 04 1991 16:174
Or, on the other hand, you could just read note 2000 and use the contractor's
referral area described there.  :-)

Paul
2.27How about a BARNHPSTEK::HAUSRATHToo many projects, not enough timeMon May 13 1991 18:556
    
    I was somewhat suprised to find no keyword for Barns..  I looked under
    Garage, but didn't find any topics which related to my particular
    problem.   
    
    /Jeff
2.28RETAINING WALLS neededZENDIA::CHASEBruce Chase, Suffering thru MASS hysteriaTue May 14 1991 15:502
I know there is PATIOS_WALKS&WALLS, but one for 
WALLS_ROCK&RETAINING would also be useful. 
2.29One of these days........EVMS::PAULKM::WEISSTrade freedom for security-lose bothTue May 14 1991 16:2012
The thing is, that the way this conference is run, just adding keywords is no
help.  What I then need to do is change the keyword update procedure and move
notes from where they might be to where they could better be.  I have a number 
of ideas about how to better organize the keywords, I just haven't had time to
do anything about them.

Keep the ideas coming.  Just because I don't do anything about them immediately
doesn't mean that I won't eventually.  When I do get around to fixing things up
(When we near 5000 notes, perhaps?), I'll definitely check out this note for
suggestions.

Paul
2.30TNPUBS::MACKONISFor a time,I rest in the grace of the world, and am free..."Tue Jun 23 1992 21:072
What about --	RESTORATIONS
		
2.31CSC32::GORTMAKERWhatsa Gort?Wed Jun 24 1992 05:337
    re.30
    Done.
    
    There is a renovations keyword already in existance might be worth
    checking it out.
    
    -j (co-mod)