[Bell Historians] standards of research

[Carl S Zimmerman]

At 22:38 +0000 2003/11/05, jimhedgcock wrote:
>--- What do you do when you take the trouble to indicate mistakes on
>websites and no action is taken, even after you have received a reply
>stating that they are aware of the mistake/s? And what do you do when
>towers continue to display bell details that are incorrect, even when
>they know that they are incorrect?
>I gave up!

Since I have a proofreader's eye for detail, I frequently send emails 
to Webmasters with corrections of errors or suggestions for 
improvement, always trying to present a helpful attitude rather than 
a critical one. Often I get no response; very rarely I get a hostile 
response; but fairly often I get some expression of thanks, with or 
without a commitment to make the suggested changes.

However, unless the Webmaster specifically invites me to revisit the 
site to verify the changes (and that does sometimes happen), I don't 
bother to check whether they were in fact made. I don't feel any 
particular responsibility to convince some stranger that I am right, 
even when I am certain that is the case.

The flip side is that I always welcome comments and suggestions from 
others regarding Webpages that I have posted. From years of 
experience I have learned that no matter how well I proofread my 
material, errors can escape me. And of course others have access to 
huge amounts of information that isn't available to me. In fact, it 
would be all too easy to wallow in despair about all the facts that 
other people must know, which would improve my Websites if only they 
would tell me.

So cheer up, Jim--you've done your part of the job!

-- 
Carl Scott Zimmerman, Campanologist
Avocation: tower bells: http://www.gcna.org/ (Co-Webmaster)
Recreation: handbells: http://gatewayringers.homestead.com/
Mission: church bells: http://www.TowerBells.org/ (Webmaster)
Voicemail: +1-314-821-8437 (home) E-mail: csz_stl at s...
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA - - 19th c. home of at least 33 bell
. . . . . . . . . . . . . foundries or resellers