For the past ten years the BBC has been providing h2g2 editorial and hosting services. As we take our leave of the BBC, we are preparing to provide h2g2 with these services ourselves. This document explains our approach to the challenge of assuming the BBC's h2g2 duties.
BBC editorial services include setting and maintaining editorial standards and policy, publishing the Front Page, promoting Front Page entries through social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, and responding to inquiries from researchers and the general public.
BBC hosting services embrace a wide range of technical and community activities including providing servers, developing and maintaining software, encouraging and acknowledging researcher contributions, moderating content, and mediating disagreements. The BBC also has been providing the legal structure and business environment under which h2g2 operates, from copyright statements to bank account reconciliation.
In the face of our biggest adventure to date, researchers have carried on a long tradition of organizing volunteer schemes to meet challenges head on. The interim Editorial, Technical, Community, Arts and Design, and Business Teams have emerged from discussions in Magrathea's Workshop and elsewhere on h2g2. They have recently been joined by the newly formed Comms Team. These teams plan to work with and extend current Volunteer schemes.
Editorial Team
The Editorial Team will continue to fulfill the current Guide-related tasks of the BBC editors, including oversight of the Scouts, Curators and Sub-Editors. They will seek to improve existing editorial processes through a combination of automation and delegation. Additionally, they will work with current volunteer schemes, other teams and the wider community to begin the process of reinvigorating the Guide. To see what you can do to help ensure the health of the Guide, click here.
Technical Team
The Technical Team will take the lead in software development and coordinate with Noesis on h2g2's server and other technical needs. The Tech Team's first undertaking is the No Researcher Left Behind programme to migrate h2g2 from BBC to Noesis servers and match researchers with their contents.
Do you have experience coding or testing software? Please follow this link to volunteer.
Community Team
The Community Team will address the needs of the h2g2 community, coordinating the efforts of ACEs and Moderators, encouraging and acknowledging researcher contributions, and mediating disagreements. The Community Team aims to make sure the site remains a place where people want to be. If you wish to volunteer for moderator duties, please send an email to h2g2moderators at hotmail dot co dot uk
One of the Community Team's first projects will be guiding researchers through the No Researcher Left Behind program. Trained volunteers in all time zones will be needed during our transition to our new home. If you want to train to provide support to h2g2 community members during transition, please follow this link.
Arts and Design Team
The Arts and Design Team will coordinate the efforts of illustrators, photographers, animators, pod-casters and other artists to improve the usability of the site, illustrate entries, and provide artwork for h2g2 organizations and marketing efforts. To improve h2g2's aesthetics and design, please follow this link.
Business Team
The Business Team will work with Robbie Stamp and Brian Larholm to
coordinate the efforts of the other teams, keep the community
informed, develop and execute a PR and press strategy, establish the
Charitable Trust, and bring the Guide to a mobile platform. If you
wish to assist in any of these endeavors, please start a thread
below.
Comms Team
Comms is the newest team to join the NooHooToo league. The Comms Team publishes the Announcements From h2g2's Future and other notifications, chases down answers to questions, updates the FAQs, and keeps researchers apprised of changes here on h2g2 and through conventional and social media, including Twitter and Facebook.
Interim Teams
The Editorial, Technical, Community, Arts and Design, Business and Comms team assignments are temporary until after the completion of the No Researcher Left Behind program and a method of fair online elections can be adopted. Once we are safely transitioned to our new home, some volunteers may choose to stand for elections; others likely will stand down.
Your help and support is deeply appreciated.
