[META] [Poll] rec.arts.anime.info

[As this is a discussion of the rec.arts.anime sub-hierarchy more so than
about anime or manga, Followup-To: set to rec.arts.anime.fandom, as trying to
follow discussion in 10 separate newsgroup is nightmarish.]

As you may (or may not) have noticed, the moderated anime and manga
information newsgroup rec.arts.anime.info has mostly been dead (quiet) for the
better part of three years, other than a day or two of posts every few months
or more. This has been the result of quite prolonged poor health of the
original/current moderator Steve Pearl, who has, in the past, done a great
service for the anime and manga community and the r.a.a. newsgroups.

This year's posting dates have been: Apr 18, Apr 24, Apr 26, May 6, May 7, May
12, Jun 11, and Aug 10. 11 days in 2002, and similar wide gaps in 2000 and
2001. As evidenced in rec.arts.anime.misc, it's not from a lack of valid
posts.

Earlier in the year, a few of the r.a.a. FAQ maintainers discussed this
privately, and felt that rec.arts.anime.info's long gaps of inactivity was a
disservice to the anime and manga fandom and perhaps it was past time for
Steve Pearl to handover or at least share the moderation duties for
r.a.a.info. We attempted to contact him on the subject by both e-mail and
postal mail but, have received no reply.

Relatively recently, administration of the Big 8 hierarchies, including rec.*,
changed hands and with it supervision of the global Usenet moderation database
and the ultimate authority of moderation in the Big 8 newsgroups. Prior to the
changeover, the moderator of record was the only person who could appoint a
replacement but, with numerous moderators disappearing without a trace leaving
dozens of dead moderated newsgroups, the new Big 8 administration has decided
to appoint new moderators themselves in an effort to revive some of the dead
moderated newsgroups. (Some of them, also, basically have dead topics, as
well.)

In light of this recent change of policy, we considered requesting r.a.a.info
be declared dead and handed over to new moderators. Unfortunately, Steve Pearl
then made a few posts, while we discussing the possible hi-jacking, and before
we could make the request.

==============================

Q: This leaves us in a grey area: Do we ask the Big 8 admin for the newsgroup
moderation, basically hi-jacking it like we did for the r.a.a. FAQS or do we
let Steve Pearl continue to do his best, when he is able?

A: (You decide...)

==============================

There are currently two proposals for new moderation of rec.arts.anime.info:
1) The first one was for rec.arts.anime.creative's moderation team, lead by
Brian Edmonds, robo-moderated it with basically any post being approved,
including some spam that slips by filters, or...
2) I countered by offering to hand-moderate it and go out and promote it to
bring back a lot of the lost on-topic postings with r.a.a.c. keeping an eye
the newsgroup to make sure I don't suddenly disappear or get a real nasty flu
or have an accident that takes me away for a short time.

The official topic of rec.arts.anime.info as pulled from the Charter in the
control.newgroup message and RFD/CFV:
ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control/rec/rec.arts.anime.info.gz

"The following kinds of postings will be allowed:
        - FAQs (natch)
        - Lists (voice actor list, CD list, subbed/dubbed anime list, etc...)
        - Informational postings ("How to take care of your cels", etc...)
        - Summary reviews of magazines like Animedia,
          Animage, NewType, Advance Comics, etc.
        - Anime Reviews
        - Industry, con, and club announcements
        - Any significant anime-related news ("Mamoru does DIRTY PAIR movie!")

        Any follow-ups to postings in rec.arts.anime.info will
        be sent to rec.arts.anime (see below)."

(Obviously, Followup-To: was reset to rec.arts.anime.misc.) Moderator
discretion allowed manga-related posts, as well.

Of those topics, ...

- FAQs, well we already know all the FAQ people as well as the Informational
postings people, so, getting them to post to a central location for all anime
and manga FAQs should be easy.
- Lists, well Mr. Pope's infamous edit lists that make Cartoon Network cry
would qualify.
- Magazine Reviews: They do qualify but, lately they have been being posted
whole to news:alt.binaries.pictures.anime.
- Industry, con, and club announcements: Lately, a few websites have been
taking up the slack here but, it would be nice to have the press releases and
con announcements here directly from the anime and manga companies.

Obviously, the topics have scattered here and there, and some of us would like
to see them return to a central location where we already come to and can tell
when there are new announcements.

-Rob