About This Archive | DCHAS-L 2026 Index | DCHAS-L Yearly Index | DCHAS-L Home Page
From: Rob Toreki <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] The DCHAS-L Archives are BACK and GOING PLACES! Part 2 of 2
Date: Jun 15, 2026 19:50 UTC
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
In-Reply-To:
0. Automating the processing of new posts in near-real time, and updating the site’s sitemap file + indexer rather than doing it in batches.1. Convert the older posts to the new format and get them into the database. I have to write a program to do that, but I should be able to map most of it. If someone happens to have a virgin mailbox full of DCHAS posts prior to August of 2022, contact me off list, as that would be very very useful to the project and also provide a copy of the raw data prior to mid-2022 that I did not retain.2. Once I have the older posts converted, I will be embarking on a project to enable threaded post viewing. So you can see a post and then, right below it, a list of all the responses sorted by date. The Previous and Next will work within the thread instead of unrelated chronological posts.3. The user will be able to order the yearly indices by chronological or reverse chronological in either the current or threaded format.4. The database format will also permit author indexes, subject indexes, attachment index etc.5. With a little help from AI, I can probably come up with “Related Posts” we can add to pertinent posts.6. The new database architecture will allow me to easily generate statistics reports or leaderboards so one can see at a glance what the most popular discussions have been or who has posted the most. I did this in my award presentation (https://acsdchas.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/m3-toreki-12000-thoughts.pdf) but that involved a lot of manual manipulations. It would take about 1 second in the new architecture.7. When I did the ILPI site revamp to have a universal navigation and sitewide search, I put in a powerful search tool: https://www.ilpi.com/dchas/2025/20251021.htmlBut down the road, I might consider leveraging the SQLite database that I've generated to add search features to the archives so one could search by specific author or organization etc. based on all that metadata. Or one could search only on particular subject lines etc.8. All of this really moves me towards an ultimate goal I have discussed with a couple of folks off-list already. And that's these recurring questions we see all the time on DCHAS-L. Well-plowed ground on stuff like floor drains, service animals in labs, satellite accumulation, employee v student etc. There is a lot of good data there. And it's time to assemble that in one place.
So basically an FAQ, but much more than that. For select topics, we put forth an answer that isn't necessarily The Authoritative Answer, but more of a Community Consensus. Each summary would start with a succinct summary of the issue, a list of concerns/considerations, whether there is a consensus or how the answer depends on the particulars, pointing to the comments made in posts. Pros and cons, issues of concern etc. So, a one stop, easily maintained place where folks will find all the well-plowed ground sprouting a well-considered, thorough answer.Now, in theory, that is the sort of thing that AI does easily these days. But AI gets stuff wrong. However, AI does do a great job of generating an initial summary if we tell it to start within only the DCHAS-L data set. That gives a jumping-off point that could be reviewed/created/updated by a DCHAS experts or small group. So the final summary answer we create would be RI (real intelligence). Each article would contain author information, links to authoritative/regulatory sources, and include a revision history.And once we create a summary I can put a link to the summary from each of the posts that led to the summary’s creation for good measure. So a robust resource. Assuming the data conversion project on the legacy posts proceeds smoothly, I think we could be able to try one of these out in the next couple weeks. I look forward to hearing YOUR thoughts on this.
