# Why are so many articles from the archive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 25, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439 "2009-09-25T00:19:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/1 "2009-09-25T00:19:56Z")
Everybody is on vacation during the summer? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/2 "2009-09-25T00:27:06Z")
db crash: Why are so many of the daily articles reprinted from the archive? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/3 "2009-09-25T00:29:45Z")
Cecil has always done one new article per week. Quite often there is also a Staff report that week. The other five days are archived articles. Cecil ain’t getting paid to do five or more articles/week. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/4 "2009-09-25T00:57:41Z")
I know this has been discussed before and knocked back, but perhaps someone could go through a “Classic Cecil” column before it’s run and make sure the information in it is still correct? I mean, some of them are quite old now and the information in them is often out of date or has been superseded… ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/5 "2009-09-25T16:30:23Z")
**samclem** , the last time I payed any attention, there are only 5 articles run a week. Weekends are off. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/6 "2009-09-26T00:14:28Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > **samclem** , the last time I payed any attention, there are only 5 articles run a week. Weekends are off. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/7 "2009-09-26T00:16:29Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I know this has been discussed before and knocked back, but perhaps someone could go through a “Classic Cecil” column before it’s run and make sure the information in it is still correct? I mean, some of them are quite old now and the information in them is often out of date or has been superseded… Good suggestion. The good thing is that quite often running the original column with the “state of the art information” that Cecil knew at the time produces some interesting visitors to the Board–some to complain, and some to help provide new info. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/8 "2009-09-26T00:22:58Z")
I really, really wish that we could do the fact-checking and updating. Unfortunately, that would take a lot of time, effort, and energy… and we just don’t have the resources to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/9 "2009-09-26T00:40:53Z")
Why not see if one of the members wants to do it? Kick them a free year’s membership and a “Thanks to SDMB [PosterName] for updating this Classic Cecil article”? ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-articles-from-the-archive/511439/10 "2009-09-26T05:13:53Z")
You would get a lot of ad-hoc volunteers to go over articles if you were to post the reposting schedule in advance. I know it’s been asked before, but could please someone update the article dates somehow whenever they get changed? Preferably, a footnote at the bottom saying “this article was last updated on so-and-so date” would solve much of the confusion that follows whenever he updates an article, and continues to use relative rather than absolute dates within the text.