From: dsew@troi.cc.rochester.edu
Subject: Usenet Oracle Questionnaire
Followup-To: rec.humor.oracle.d
Summary: A questionnaire about the Usenet Oracle.
Originator: kinzler@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu
Keywords: oracle, questionnaire
Reply-To: dsew@troi.cc.rochester.edu
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 17:12:22 GMT
Expires: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 00:00:01 GMT

[ The Usenet Oracularities Digest is on temporary hold until this
  weekend while I make my way back to Indiana.  In the meantime,
  here's something to keep y'all occupied ... -- kinzler ]
 
Dear Oraculites,
 
I'm gearing up to write a couple of articles on the Usenet Oracle,
and hereby solicit [supplicate, beg, grovel for] your assistance.
 
My plan is to write one piece with an academic slant on the Oracle as an
example of collaborative writing, and another much more general piece on
the history and nature of the Oracle for either print or on-line
publication.  I can give anyone who's interested more details, but in
the interests of conserving bandwidth won't add more here.
 
If you have participated in the Oracle as a reader, Supplicant, or
Incarnation, you can help by responding to the attached questionnaire.
Probably you can just use your news reader to reply, including and
editing this message as necessary.  Be sure your mailer correctly
uses the "Reply-To" field to address your response not to moose but to
dsew@troi.cc.rochester.edu; you may need to fix the "To" field by hand.

[ Be sure to reply using mail, not followup using news.  If you followup,
  it'll be posted on rec.humor.oracle.d. -- kinzler ]
 
Address any other questions or comments to me at the preceding addreess.
 
Thanks,
 
David Sewell, University of Rochester
===== ======= ========== == =========
 
USENET ORACLE QUESTIONNAIRE
 
(Please return your answers to the following questions to David Sewell,
dsew@troi.cc.rochester.edu.)
 
Some questions call for longer answers than others, but please feel free
to expand as much as you want on any answer.  The more material I have
to work with the better.
 
I will keep all these responses CONFIDENTIAL.  I will in no case divulge
personal information, but if there is any question you think is too
personal to answer just leave it blank.  I intend to use the personal
information only to arrive at a composite picture of the Oracle's
participants (average age, gender, most common occupation/major, etc).
 
I will assume, unless you request otherwise, that by returning this
questionnaire you are granting me permission to paraphrase or quote
anonymously from your responses in any article on the Oracle I write.
If you want to grant permission to be quoted by name, please answer
"YES" to the question below.  Or you can send separate e-mail with any
material for attribution.
 
Thanks,
David Sewell
 
===========CUT HERE==========CUT HERE==========CUT HERE=========
ORACLE QUESTIONNAIRE, general version
 
Name:
Preferred e-mail address:
Age:
Gender:
Occupation or current level of studies:
Add "YES" if you grant permission to be quoted by name:
 
I.   Your General Usenet/Computer Background
 
1.  Do you read posted Oracularities via rec.humor.oracle or via the
e-mail list?
 
2.  (If you don't have Usenet access, skip to #4).  How long have you
had access to Usenet?
 
3.  Besides rec.humor.oracle, what other Usenet groups do you most
actively read and/or post to?
 
4.  What other forms of computer networked communication do you
regularly participate in?  (E.g. Listserv lists, IRC and MUDs,
commercial on-line service or BBS forums, e-mail art, groupware
projects, etc.)
 
5.  Are you now or are you preparing to be a "computer professional"?
 
6.  Briefly, what's your background in computing?
 
 
II.  Your General Writing/Literary Background
 
(Skip to #3 if you have never written a question or response for
the Oracle.)
 
1.  What kind of writing, if any, do you do professionally? as a hobby
or on the side?  (Include Usenet and other on-line writing.)
 
2.  Have you had writing published?  If so, where?
 
3.  What kinds of writing do you prefer to read in your leisure time?
 
 
III. You as a Reader of Oracularities
 
1.  Why do you read rec.humor.oracle (or postings to the Oracle mailing
list)?
 
2.  What do you think makes for a good Oracularity?  What qualities of
writing or mind impress you the most?  At the other extreme, what makes
for a bad Oracularity?
 
3.  If you can recall them, what are one or two of your favorite
published Oracularities (with responses written by someone other than
yourself), and why?  (You can refer to them either by number, e.g.
"443-05," or by key content or phrases specific enough that I can
locate them doing a text database search.)
 
4.  How do you think the quality of writing/humor on rec.humor.oracle
compares with that of other Usenet writing you're familiar with?  with
"real-world" writing?  (begging the question whether Usenet is part of
the real world...)
 
5.  On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = not at all to 5 = very much), how much do
you tend to like the following genres of Oracularities?  (Assume in each
case that the Oracularity is a competent example of the genre.)
 
     parodies of popular lit (e.g. Sam Spade imitations):
     parodies of TV shows (e.g. game shows, Star Trek):
     parodies of classical lit (e.g. Shakespeare):
     parodies of computer documentation
       (okay, so it's a tautology...):
     simulated Unix/VMS/telnet etc. sessions:
     simulated text adventure games:
     humorous or nonsense verse:
     just plain weird prose a la talk.bizarre:
     ASCII graphics:
     clever use of highly field-specific
       language or terms:
     invented histories (either terrestrial
       or extraterrestrial):
     political satire:
     meta-Oracularities (self-referential plays
       on Oracle conventions):
     wildly vulgar and/or slapstick:
     heavy use of Lisa/Orrie relationship:
     high sexual content/humor:
 
6.  Do you think the published Oracularities tend to be too
male-oriented or sexist?  (yes/no; elaborate if desired)
 
7.  Do you think the published Oracularities are too exclusively
American in their focus?  (yes/no; elaborate if desired)
 
 
IV.  Your Activities as an Author
(skip this section if you've never actually written a question or
response for the Oracle.)
 
1.  What are one or two of the questions or responses you've written
that you're most pleased with, and why?  (If they're published ones, you
can cite them by number; if unpublished, you can attach them to the
end of the questionnaire.)
 
2.  If you have a record of your published oracularities and would be
willing to share the list, you can attach it here or at the end.
(You're on your honor in claiming authorship; all admissions of
authorship will be treated as confidential.)
 
3.  Have you ever "researched" a question or response--for example, gone
to an encyclopedia to check historical dates, or looked up information
in a textbook or computer manual?
 
4.  What do you do with a question that assumes knowledge in an area you
know little or nothing about?
 
5.  How do you feel about the anonymity of Oracularities?  (In theory
Incarnations can identify themselves, but fewer than 1% do.)  Does it
make a difference?  Would you put more effort into writing for the
Oracle if you knew your identity would be public?  Or is the anonymity
helpful?
 
6.  Do you have an imagined audience when you write a question or
response for the Oracle?  If so, how would you characterize that
audience?
 
7.  Do you tend to write one particular kind of Oracularity?  Or are
you a "generalist"?
 
8.  How satisfying/challenging/interesting is writing for the Oracle
compared with other types of writing you have done?
 
 
V.  Catch-all: add anything you'd like that answers to the above
questions haven't fully covered.
 
ATTACHMENTS, if any, can follow this line.  And thanks!
-----------------------------------------