On May 18 at KosAbility we're publishing a Health-Medical&Related Groups diary that lists profiles and links for about 25 "Daily Living With It" groups, plus 19 "...Writing & Working on Policy, Political, Agency, Professional & Complementary Activism". Collection of this material began at the same time as for Where The Kogs Are but this project is a little different. As the British used to say, "a change is as good as a vacation." ;)
CONTINUE READING past the orange-peel?
As this directory began to shape up with data from my own searching in various ways, best inclusivity indicated asking for input around DK about groups in this category and how to find them. That contact went directly by kosmail to individuals and groups, and indirectly by mentions in KosAbility open-threads and mid-weekly schedule-diaries, along the lines of:
In process is a directory-diary of Health-Medical & Related DK groups, giving diary-list links, meeting schedules, and descriptions quoting the profile of each group listed, so kosaks who need our groups can find us with less difficulty, and so our groups interact for mutual benefit.
The safe-place groups have been sent kosmails asking their leaderships' permission (one admin or 2 editors) for inclusion. When replies have come in, the diary will be scheduled for publication at KosAbility, and all groups contacted with the date.
Any group in DK can be very hard to find unless the reader knows in advance its name or link or tags it uses. New readers/users/kogs are unlikely to know any of that, and even experienced kogs might not. So, groups that consider themselves health-medical&related that want to be more widely known PLEASE coordinate with your administrators to kosmail to mettle fatigue. Groups not listed at time of publication and groups formed later can be added, also corrections, clarifications, revisions of profile, etc., because the directory will be kept current after initial publication.
and
The draft of "Directory of Health-Medical & Related DK Groups" is moving closer to publication as responses and new information continue to come in. Many thanks to all who are joining in this collective project for Daily Kos and for our groups and members.
But the unexpectedly hard work both directories turned out to require first to build and then to make them accessibly known about around DK raised questions about the value of reference tools like these and others (e.g., the ones at NewDayTeam/CUA) that I didn't have when I started. In my former profession, the answer to the diary title question would be, "yes, obviously". But DK isn't a library or research collection or data base. It has no "reference shelf" for materials of permanent useful value, no systematic organization, and somewhat iffy search functions —I was told a while back that when the search functions are mentioned to Kos, he expresses surprise that they work at all— that depend heavily on the searcher knowing a lot in advance, kind of an extent of knowledge that would make searching almost unnecessary because of already knowing where is what. So a new member of DK would have to be kind of clairvoyant...
The thing is, there's only one form of "document" in DK: the diary. And diaries are almost universally treated as ephemeral in value. Some groups, such as [Connect!United!Act!Team (formerly NewDayTeam)] overcome that obstacle by going to the work of republishing a massive amount of constantly-useful material and updates in every diary. Other groups and individuals accomplish similar results by revising their profile statements and/or "boilerplates" to stay current on key operational information; and yet others present information in periodic micro-diaries of discussion schedule dates. And there are, of course, the teaching-diaries in New Diarists, and Welcome New Users, and Cranky Users, and most recently, the Community Help Desk group. (I would have sworn I had found an actual "Partners & Mentors" group, but either I misplaced it or it's strictly a tag — which is another whole mystery topic). The DK frontpage "Table of Contents" turns out to be, on close inspection, actually a set of lists of the most popular master-tags (e.g., "Comics") and webpages, some of them DK groups but mostly outside sites, not in fact a table of DK contents at all. (An experimental quick search for the Knowledge Base and other such produced me nothing, 'tho I've stumbled across it in the past, FSM only knows how.)
So, user-friendliness for new kogs depends largely on individual kogs taking responsibility to be actively friendly to new users. (I have been extremely fortunate, so of course I worry about their burn-out quotients, having seen and/or learned of major past burn-outs of individuals and groups in DK). Does it matter, though, as regards most new kogs? Need site-friendliness for new kogs be a high priority in DK? The answer to that is only "yes" if a positive DK impact on politics and public affairs at local, regional, state and federal level is a high priority, since the ease of use at and participation in DK is inevitably a factor in whether Americans hearing about DK actually stay to get involved in activism that employs DK as an effective organizing mechanism that optimizes their energies, or leave because of finding DK so time-consuming/energy-consuming that they decide their resources are more efficiently deployed elsewhere, and/or because of finding DK too self-involved in heated internal argument than allows fulfillment of the promising appearance of the frontpage.
Readily-accessible tools for DK user-friendliness that optimize personal energies just could make a significant difference in whether DK recruits an increasing number of members to wield a genuine extent of clout in American politics, besides a high profile to the general internet reading public that clusters at liberal or progressive media sites. As the technology stands in DK, maybe the alternative for keeping easily-used DK find-things tools within the reach of all here who need them may be for a critical-mass extent of community to lightly but routinely keep DK "reference books" in current "circulation" as they meander around DK, by hotlisting for themselves and then linking those diaries and groups to new users or struggling users they happen upon, and by mention whenever discussion might reasonably include mention, even if repetitious to experienced kogs; after all, repetition etches the reminder into memory of utilitarian information that can then be the more easily recalled for supplying links from one's hotlist to newcomers and oldtimers alike who may benefit from them.
It's probably clear by now that I see DK as kind of fragmented and soupy, the potential power of its membership resultingly kind of diminished by time and energies spent here if the choice is between here and the real world. As a mostly house-bound health-handicapped kog, I'm not faced with that choice about where my blueish energies go. (My priorities are among how well I see to my health issues so they don't fully cripple me &emdash; realizing that some days, moments, weeks etc are still going to be crippled anyway— and if seeing to them well then hopefully being of some use to community somewhere, perhaps here.) But other activist-souled bluish folk have a lot of priorities to juggle.
As a relative newcomer in DK with cognitive deficits really cramping what I can learn and how much about how to use DK and make it easier for others to be productive here even if they're in a position or shape like mean, I've pretty much covered in this diary at least generally everything I know so far. Are there more ways that a critical-mass minority of kosaks could without too much labor make DK easier to use by all and in the process conserve energies for impact in the real world? Is it a topic that is worth thinking about at the current level of technology? Will the next version of DK make it even more an in-group with hazing rituals that exhaust the patience of the non-technologically-minded regardless of their bluishnesses?
I've built two directories so far, and have more questions about their value now than when I started.
Any thoughts about a Health-Medical&Related Groups Directory as a case in point?
Are people with major or chronic health issues valuable enough in DK as part of the blue-power that their 'navigation' needs should be met to conserve and optimize their energies and give them a sense of welcome?
What about other categories of bluish folk, such as the newcomers?
Can we use more directories and other "reference books", be we newish or not? If yes, what's the most efficient (i.e., least laborious) ways to build them?
Any recipes for how to stew a directory for a nutritious and tasty dinner for six adults and four children? What condiments go with a directory? A poll follows. Thanks for your support!
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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