When a student asks a question on this site it will be forwarded to several mentors who's area of expertise may be related to the question posed. The mentors would then reply with any ideas they might have for references on the topic and such replies would be forwarded back to the student. The student would then be responsible for looking up the references and eventually typing up and posting what he found. This site needs mentors to operate. The more mentors we have the less the responsibility of any one individual.

Responsibilities of mentors

As a mentor you will be periodically asked what you know about a particular question. You need not give a complete answer, in fact we would encourage you not to. Rather simply provide some information that can point the person who asked the question in the direction of an answer (perhaps suggest the enquirer look at a paper by "John Doe" from the 1980s). Complete references are not even required. It is the responsibility of the individual asking the quesiton to then use the information you provide to track down, and eventually type up an answer.

Even if you do not know the answer, you will not be asked to look it up yourself. Even "I don't know" is a valid answer that has information content. However, if you have any ideas of where to look or who to ask, that information would be appreciated (perhaps it could even help bring another mentor into the system). Be aware that we will ask several mentors any given question and that even if you do not know the answer, others may.

All personal information will be kept private, in particular, names of mentors will NOT be published.