With respect to "looking it up in the archives"... they are a wonderful research tool and they should never be ignored in one's spare time but we join email lists because they are interactive and we can get a near immediate response from all of those informed experts we have in the "club". I sometimes feel rather warm and fuzzy (read important) when I get on-and-off-list support from our generous members. Online lists are inherently redundant in this way but this is part of their attraction and usefulness.
The signal-to-noise ratio does tend to fluctuate up and down...I think people who get most frustrated with the chatter should experiment with managing their emails in a more efficient way...ie: using filters, sorting by subject, learning to delete blocks "en masse" without succumbing to the temptation of reading every post. I belong to 3 lists, work full time, raise 2 kids and 2 pets (with Elizabeth) , fix and ride bikes and motorcycles etc etc, just like the rest of you. This list is well-moderated without being too draconian. You can't control people's thoughts and expressions without resorting to facsist rules and regs. So I just learned to deal with it.
My 2 cents...sorry for the bandwidth.
Warren Young
Toronto