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[Anon o mouse]

First off I would like to thank Moose for setting up the Wiki and I already have it bookmarked.  It should be very handy and helpful.  

BUT - yes of course there is always a but...

the job-seeking forum is always going to get newbies.  topics are always going to get reintroduced, why, cuz it is a new season of job hunting.

I understand and support the FAQ wiki as it will be a great resource to use as I start year two of job hunting.  But I can already see Ruth and her pals comments

"look it up on Wiki we don't want to talk about phone interviews again!" (a newbie may not even be aware there is a FAQ Wiki)
"do you homework and quit wasting our time" (just by being on this forum they are doing their homework)
"we have discussed this already, are you stupid?" (no, just haven't been job searching for 20 years and haven't memorized the Job-Seeking forum)
 
and the like.  

Lets use the FAQ Wiki, contribute to it and at the same time realize that new posters on this forum are venturing into the job search process for the first time and have legitimate questions even if some one else has asked that very same question last year.  Do we get all high and mighty with our students when they ask a question that was asked by a student in last years class?  

So, my point, let's use this great resource but lets not get all nasty to the newbies, let them know about the site nicely and realize that the very nature of this forum will make repeated questions happen!

Squeak

[%sig%]

[anon]

I concur with anon o mouse.  One option is to have a sticky post that is always at the top that simply instructs newbies how to search, and informs them of the types of topics they'll find and of the existence of the FAQ Wiki.  But people will also have to be patient when others want feedback on their _specific_ situation: i.e. the choice between a postdoc and a visiting position in the humanities may not be the same as a similar choice for a scientist and we should be patient enough to consider specific examples.

[anon in social sciences]

I'm in favor of what B.F. has been doing all along (assuming no on-site FAQ surfaces)-- pointing out previous threads that may be of interest and giving links, or at the very least explaining how to use the forum search function to look up common threads.  (Search function is available up at the top of the page or from this link:  http://chronicle.com/forums/careernetwork/search.php?f=2 )

Perhaps a link to the wiki could be added in response by forum-goers as these new old questions surface as well.

[New at this]

So, I'd like to represent the newbies out there. What the heck is a wiki?

[anon in social sciences]

er hem.

This question has been asked before.  Its answer can be found using the search function http://chronicle.com/forums/careernetwork/search.php?f=2.

Or you can go directly to the answer via this link:
http://chronicle.com/forums/careernetwork/read.php?f=2&i=20189&t=20121#reply_20189

[what's a wiki?]

Here you go:

Author: moose
Date:   06-07-05 14:18

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to introduce our new Wiki, which should serve as a repository for collective wisdom of the forum crowds.

The wiki is hosted at:

http://wikihost.org/wikis/academic_career/

What you will see is a skeleton page - basically a listing of topics that I and other contributors proposed. You can add and edit pages at will, anonymously.

I created this wiki, but, my friends, I cannot write it for you. It is YOUR participation that will make it a great resource for people - or another empty shell of a website littering the dusty byways of the Internet.

So, when you have a bit of free time or need something to break your writer's block, grab a thread from the forum that fits one of the FAQ categories and edit it into an article. You can create sub-categories for the categories, and add as many pages as you want.

I would like for a few people to volunteer as section editors.
Your role would be to oversee writing of a section and prevent people from stomping on each other's feet. You can exercise as much or as little editorial control as you want - but there is a happy middle to be found.

I would like to constrain my own role to that of a structural editor - working on overall organization of the FAQ, making things easy to find, and hypertexting related articles and terms.

Now, this is a collaborative and PUBLIC project. So, friends, let us be civil and collegial. Section editors and I will remove any bickering, offtopic discussions or (G-d forbid) personal insults.

[Eloise]

I think I came in on something right in the middle of it.  Who is Moose?  What is the FAQ Wiki?  What is going on?  I know what wiki is, but is there some sort of wiki having to do with this forum? Can anyone join?  What's going on?

Please let me know.

[anon in social sciences]

This question has been asked before. Its answer can be found using the search function http://chronicle.com/forums/careernetwork/search.php?f=2

just look up wiki in the chronicle forum search function

or look up moose as the author in the chronicle forum search function