The Date view gives a list of the messages ordered from oldest to newest. If you want to read a months worth of postings in the order they occured this is the index for you.
The Thread view provides a more organized, discussion oriented view on the archive. Each topic discussed on CEDA-L is organized into a hierarchy with the responses to a message indented beneath it. This is ideal if you want to get deep into a Korcokian--Broda-Bahm counterplan discussion.
The Author view organizes the months postings by who wrote them, listed in alphabetical order. If you are vain and want to see how many times you posted, or remember a message from someone, but arn't sure what the subject was, this is the index for you.
If you have something particular you are looking for try the Search Tool.