Standard Elicitation Lists (was Re: Status of PS Glottal Stop)

[Koontz John E]

> ... (on the desirability of knowing if 'we do' is aNaN, from *aNaN, or
> aN?aN, from *aNk?aN, in Omaha-Ponca)

> These are forms that are very important for someone to elicit in Dhegiha,
> (and in all Siouan languages) but I find few to no references.  There's
> also the verb *?o: 'wound, shoot and hit' for which full conjugations are
> needed.  I guess one of the things the LIST could do is provide a list of
> interesting diagnostic forms and irregularities that future field workers
> could use so that they'd get all the information they'd need.

This is something that has occurred to me, too, as a possible function of
the list.  For the moment just making suggestions like this topically
prominent is the best I believe we can manage.

I've thought about setting up a parallel tool to support managing a some
sort of database of things like this.  One possibility that occurs to me
is a facility called FAQ-o-Matic, which is a web-based set-up for managing
a FAQ (frequently asked questions) list.  FOM, as it's called, is
basically a menu-driven editor for outlines.  The outline is displayed ina
Web page.  Authorized readers of the Web page can click on buttons in it
to edit the text of the outline, or add and delete new elements.  The
manager can control whether particular users can delete material or only
add new material.  In short levels and extents of editing access can be
delegated to particular users or groups of users.

I've had some exposure to FOMs at work, where they look like a good way to
manage public lists of standard questions and answers for user assistance
desks.  They're just a little bit harder to install and use than I'd like,
and I suspect that some sort of active "editor in chief" probably improves
the result.  Imagine a typewriter that can be easily operated
simultaneously by a committee of folks operating independently.  Then
realize that, after all, it's still a committee doing the typing.  Anyway,
I'm thinking about the possibility (setting up a FOM, not editing it!).