Hierarchy of USENET newsgroup Names and Google Search



joeu2004@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> W. Watson wrote:
> > Am I to take it that this group is about mathematical statistics and not
> > mathematics and statistics? Not to be pejorative but where does it say that?
> > If it is, then why isn't it called mathstat, mathemantical-statistics, or
> > some more distinguishable name that better fits the group?
>
> As has been pointed out, the name of this newsgroup is
> steeped in history. And in general, the name of any
> newsgroup is relatively arbitrary, as is its ultimate
> purpose. Except for moderated newsgroups, newsgroups
> are run "democratically" in the strictest sense, not
> by democratic "representation". And some would say it
> is "anarchy".

Democratic and free-speech "anarchy". :-)
>
> But to help you understand, think of the newsgroup name
> as a hierarchy. Reading from right to left, the purpose
> of this newsgroup is ostensibly to cover the mathematics
> of statistics.
>
> The hierarchy nomenclature is built left to right so
> that larger scopes are easily grouped by normal sorting.
> For example, "sci" distinguished from "rec" distinguished
> "misc", etc. Within "sci", the next subcategory is "stat"
> distinguished from "astro" and even "math" (dubiously).
> And finally, within "sci.stat", the next subcategory is
> "math" distinguished from "consult" and "edu". Arguably,
> the subcategorization of sci.stat is not ideal. But that
> is unrelated to your question.

Very good exposition. The "alt" is a major hierarchy you
left out.
>
> Having said all this, this is not the place to have a
> tutorial about newsgroups and newsgroup nomenclature.
> Read a book, or simply accept the will of the participants.
> Or ignore their will and do as you please. You might
> get flamed, and eventually you might get ignored. Either
> way will bring about the desired "conditioned response" ;-).

Do a Google, AltaVista, Yahoo, or other search with their
search engines, and you can find almost anything except your
mother's maiden name or the name of your favorite dog. :)

>
> PS: If you are using groups.google, I must sympathize
> with your confusion. The "beta" version (which is now
> the only version) is brain-dead in the way that it searches
> for appropriate newsgroups.

That is a very unfair and unsubstantiated statement about
groups.google search, in ANY version.

The success of finding what you search depends heavily on
WHERE you search (from "web", "groups", or "advanced
Groups search", and also critically on the use of KEYWORDS
and other information in the search!

If you search under "groups" for

"Hierarchy of USENET newsgroup names", you get 63,700 hits,
none of the first ones (usually the most appropriate ones)
is very informative about the subject.

If you search under the "web" option with the same keywords,
you get 268,000 hits that are more in line with the info in
this post, and the keyword subject, including:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/creating-newsgroups/naming/part1/

http://www.newsgroups.com/articles/naming_newsgroups.htm

http://www.cyberfiber.com/articles/Usenet_misc_hierarchy.htm

and 267,000+ others.


If you search under the "Advanced groups search" option with the
same keywords, AND the additional specs of "at least one of
these words" <statistics stat> and "without these words" <RDF, CFV>
then you get only 5000+ hits in ng posts that addressed the
question.

By changing the KEYWORDS and the OTHER related SPECS for search,
Google is a VERY efficient way of finding any information on
cyberspace about almost anything!

-- Bob.







> If I were not an experienced
> NG user and if I did not have another way to search for
> newsgroup names, I would be totally frustrated. I forwarded
> similar comments to groups.google immediately when the
> "beta" version replaced the original version. They fell
> on deaf ears, apparently.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ian Stewarts Web Pages?
    ... > Am I to take it that this group is about mathematical statistics and not ... the name of this newsgroup is ... of this newsgroup is ostensibly to cover the mathematics ... "beta" version replaced the original version. ...
    (sci.stat.math)
  • Re: Ullrichism; Was: a theory of countable reals
    ... that rebuke, and with it's appropriateness in this newsgroup. ... deals with mathematics education, I forget the name of that ... if anyone can see where they made a mistake. ...
    (sci.math)
  • JSH: Somewhat puzzled
    ... of Pure and Applied Mathematics. ... Someone posting about it on the newsgroup and some posters got together ... It's MATHEMATICS and sure, you can lie about it if you wish, but that ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Cantor Confusion
    ... Hence this issue is to be disussed in a physics or neuro sciences ... The nervous system is generally not an issue in mathematics. ... discuss this in an appropriate neuro sciences newsgroup. ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: JSH: Understanding the rebuttal
    ... is divisble by 7 in the algebraic integers. ... James, if you only need to rely on the math, then why do you ... discipline of mathematics by breaking the formal peer review process. ... This newsgroup figured out how to defeat the formal peer review system ...
    (sci.math)