Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

hi VictoriaD,

Please read this and don’t take it personally. I am not trying to be mean or rude. I am trying to help you get the best answer possible. Please post back with your answers and what you think!!

Next Time Before You Ask

Before asking a technical question by email, or in a newsgroup, or on a website chat board, do the following:

1.

Try to find an answer by searching the Web.
2.

Try to find an answer by reading the manual.
3.

Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.
4.

Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.
5.

Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.

When you ask your question, display the fact that you have done these things first; this will help establish that you're not being a lazy sponge and wasting people's time. Better yet, display what you have learned from doing these things. We like answering questions for people who have demonstrated that they can learn from the answers.

Use tactics like doing a Google search on the question/topic (and search Google groups as well as web pages). This might well take you straight to the documentation or a mailing list thread that will answer your question. Even if it doesn't, saying “I googled on the following phrase but didn't get anything that looked useful” is a good thing to be able to put in email or news postings requesting help.

Prepare your question. Think it through. Hasty-sounding questions get hasty answers, or none at all. The more you do to demonstrate that you have put thought and effort into solving your problem before asking for help, the more likely you are to actually get help.

Never assume you are entitled to an answer. You are not; you aren't, after all, paying for the service. You will earn an answer, if you earn it, by asking a question that is substantial, interesting, and thought-provoking — one that implicitly contributes to the experience of the community rather than merely passively demanding knowledge from others.

On the other hand, making it clear that you are able and willing to help in the process of developing the solution is a very good start. “Would someone provide a pointer?”, “What is my example missing?” and “What site should I have checked?” are more likely to get answered than “Please post the exact procedure I should use.” because you're making it clear that you're truly willing to complete the process if someone can simply point you in the right direction.



Grovelling is not a substitute for doing your homework

Some people who get that they shouldn't behave rudely or arrogantly, demanding an answer, retreat to the opposite extreme of grovelling. “I know I'm just a pathetic newbie loser, but...”. This is distracting and unhelpful. It's especially annoying when it's coupled with vagueness about the actual problem.

Don't waste your time, or ours, on crude primate politics. Instead, present the background facts and your question as clearly as you can. That is a better way to position yourself than by grovelling.

Sometimes Web forums have separate places for newbie questions. If you feel you do have a newbie question, just go there. But don't grovel there either.

Don't post homework questions

Those questions are for you to work out, so that you will learn from the experience. It is OK to ask for hints, but not for entire solutions.

Don't flag your question as “Urgent”, even if it is for you

That's your problem, not ours. Claiming urgency is very likely to be counter-productive: most people will simply delete such messages as rude and selfish attempts to elicit immediate and special attention.

Have a nice day

Carl Crawford