Dear Webmaster...

One of the more interesting aspects of the growth of the Perseus Digital Library has been the increase in traffic we've seen at our WWW site. Traffic has grown at a stunning rate since the site was introduced, and along with it, the volume of mail the project has received is also increasing. Since December, 1997, the Perseus staff has answered over 1900 e-mail messages to the Perseus webmaster, webmaster@perseus.tufts.edu. During the school year, the Perseus webmaster receives an average of 43 messages per week to which we respond. The average for the current quarter is over 47 replies per week, a marked increase from the winter of 1997-1998, which saw an average of 30 responses per week.
Many messages express appreciation for our work or amazement at the scope and depth of Perseus. Another set of messages falls into the category of technical support. The most interesting and unusual kind of mail we receive comes from general users who request a wide range of general classical information. Some ask for translations to and from Greek or Latin; others are students with homework queries. We've also had our share of "Would you please settle this argument?" questions. Our special exhibits on the Ancient Olympics and on Hercules generate lots of mail from kids who have questions and comments. Occasionally, we hear from grateful parents who've discovered Perseus while surfing the 'Net with their children, or those who participate in home schooling. Program Coordinator Lisa Cerrato notes, "Sometimes the question is simple such as the one from the person who's always wanted to know what the Latin on the one dollar bill means. Other times, it's impossible to give a short answer because the question is so complex. We cannot and do not provide answers to all of the questions. What we do is give advice on how to use Perseus so that our users can find the answer on their own. In the cases where the information is not covered in Perseus or pertains to something which is not classical, we try to direct the user to another WWW site or searching engine. We aren't a research and translation service but we don't simply turn people away, either."
Perseus has added a "FAQ" (frequently asked questions) list"FAQ" (frequently asked questions) list in the on-line help section. The FAQ addresses some of the most common questions. Still, as Lisa says, "We aren't a translation service, but it's too tempting to resist translating, `Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.'"

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document placed on-line 12/29/98, LMC