[EM] self-promotion / helpfulness part I

[James Green-Armytage]

Dear election methods fans,

	Like many listmembers, I too have begun to create web pages which supply
information about voting methods. 
	The address of the main/contents page is
[http://fc.antioch.edu/~jarmyta@antioch-college.edu/voting.htm]. 

	Partly, sure, I'm using the pages to tell the whole story from my own
point of view so I can feel big. Most people with web pages are guilty of
that, probably. 
	But that said, I think that the content of some of my pages might be
quite helpful to some people if they become aware of it at the right time.
Actually I worked rather hard for an extended period of time with the idea
in mind that I was creating a useful resource. 
	My intention was to write something that would enable a person who was
interested in voting methods to become conversant in the topic rather
quickly, with a minimum of flailing about. In turn I would hope that if it
is easier for people to learn about the topic, fewer people will give up
on it, and more people will become engaged with it. That's the idea, at
least.   
	Anyway, the centerpiece of the work I've done so far is the rather big
"Survey of Basic Voting Methods." The direct link to that is
[http://fc.antioch.edu/~jarmyta@antioch-college.edu/voting_methods/survey.htm],
but of course it can be reached quite easily via the main page as well. If
some of you'all visit that page and give me your comments, it will make me
happy. I do not doubt that there are several improvements which can be
made, so I welcome constructive criticism. 
	There are a few voting methods tutorials that have been published on the
web or in book format, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. For
example, I read "Behind the Ballot Box" by Douglas Amy, and felt that it
provided a helpful overview which was quite easy to follow. While the Amy
book has advantages over my survey, one advantage of my survey is that it
provides detailed material on quite a few methods which Amy doesn't go
into, such as the different Condorcet methods, CPO-STV, the proxy system,
and really quite a few more. In Amy's book Condorcet is relegated to an
appendix and treated rather shabbily.
	One of the main strengths of my "Survey" is that it goes along at a very
slow and painstaking pace, explaining each concept very carefully and
using many numerical examples for illustration. This is not true of most
internet resources which I'm currently aware of. 
	The survey provides material on both single and multiple winner systems,
treating each category in detail.
	One of the weaknesses of the survey, which I have been aware of since its
inception, is that it doesn't give a formal treatment of voting methods
criteria. It is organized method by method, and I bring up different
criteria when it seems relevant to my rather informal evaluations of those
methods. Luckily there are other sites which deal with such criteria with
better organization, such as the condorcet.org and electionmethods.org
sites.
	So yeah. I'm hoping that various links will appear to my main page or my
survey from around the web, so that people who get interested in voting
methods are liable to find it in the course of their quest. I don't really
know how that happens, but that's what I've been hoping for since I
started writing the thing.
	Whether there are any novelties in the survey for a seasoned voting
methods person, I don't know. There are some amusingly esoteric-looking
diagrams which I use to illustrate complex Condorcet cycles : ) for
example 
http://fc.antioch.edu/~jarmyta@antioch-college.edu/voting_methods/diagrams/image017.gif]
	Oh, and there's a links page, which many of your'all's pages are on. I
really am sorry if I forgot anyone. Feel free to e-mail me and berate me
for leaving stuff out.
	As for the rest of the stuff on the page besides the survey, it's sort of
hit or miss so far. There's an introduction which is passable but not
spectacular. And there are a couple entries which are nothing more than
former list entries of mine which have subsequently been proofread. I
intend to add more stuff relatively soon, circumstances permitting. I will
post little updates on the site from time to time, which I imagine will be
deleted at the speed of light.
	I am embarrassed in advance for any goof-ups which I have committed.

James