h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: For All the Good They Do: Microbes in Perspective - A1000378
Author: Farlander - U206300

hello there. this is an extensively re-written version of my original article 'blame it on the microbes' (A854444) which was too seriously biased. i hope this one isn't! anyway, i would appreciate any comments or suggestions - especially suggestions on how to make the title *slightly* more concise. thanks

Hey Far-,

Have you thought about writing two articles instead of one?
1) The light side of microbes
2) The dark side of microbes

I only glanced at your article and then i tried to scroll down, only I realized that the scroll bar was really really tiny (a small indication of how thoroughly you covered the topic!).

I *know* you know your stuff, and i will take a longer look when I'm not at work. But my first thought is that you're trying to cover too much ground in one article. Of course, the SUB-ED could cut it into two, but you might look to create two (or more) more bite sized articles. Almost creating a series on microbes.

Anyway, the first page that I reaed I really liked. It was clever and clear, and I would like to read more later. . .


Friar

Loooong. But at a first glance it looks good. Now that this thread is in my convo-list I'll hopefully be reminded to take another look later.

I'm a good boy

I read it all. Unfortunately I have only a lay person's knowledge so cannot comment on the accuracy of the content, but found the article interesting and informative. Its well written and non-patronising.



On the breakdown of human excreta by micro-organisms I thought the first work on this was done by the vicar (whose name I've forgotten) who invented the earth closet.

Fascinating anyway - though I don't love mushrooms - I'm alleric to them.

hi friar. hi naita. hi all.

yeah, i know it's looong. that's because i originally intended to write *only* about the good side of microbes. i scrapped the plan because i was afraid people would accuse me of being biased in favour of microbes, so i decided to be fair and cover *both* the good and bad aspects. so instead of being a decent, well-behaved article, it became a homer epic

oh well-

Yeah -- 5,500 words, or thereabouts. The problem there, is that most people who *don't* know about microbiology will be scared away by something that long. The people who *do* know microbiology won't be learning tons of new material. I think one of the most important things here is to decide who you want your audience to be, and to tailor your material to that.

Personally, I think a good bet would be to turn this into a shorter, more user-friendly entry on the benefits of microbes. Maybe even on human normal microflora, in specific, and the ideas of commensalism and whatnot.

Just my

Mikey

Or you could go the other way and hack n' burn and cover the same amount of ground, but be A LOT more general.

Basically all authors have to make decisions about their work. And while most foks here like this work, just abuot everybody is clamoring for a shorter version. . .somehow.

If you want to do the topic professional-type justice, narrow your focus. Maybe this means dividing the material into more managable sizes. Maybe it means just picking one area and digging in.

Shoot for 1500-2000 words.

If you can't say it in that space, it's too big or your going too deep.

Friar

ps. I'm trying to be really encouraging because I really think this entry and your writing should be in the edited guide in some way!

do you think i could split it up into a two-parter then... sort of like

microbes in perspective: the good side of microbes
microbes in perspective: the dark side of microbes

although, if i were to break that up, where do you think the 'are microbes really at fault' should go? the second?

(i would've kept the 'good' part concise, but there were just stories clamouring to be told, so...)

thanks!

One possibility -- each of your "headers" could be it's own entry, easily.


Mikey

yeah, i kinda did that on purpose... i did that to two other articles of mine because i didn't know whether to keep 'em as one or separate them, and decided that i'd let the editors handle that. happily the sub-ed fissioned them for me

so, do you think i should do the same thing? kinda let it stick together, hope that someone will pick it for the guide, and let the eds decide what to do with it? (the first time this happened, sir bossel - i think - recommended that i keep them together first because it would be harder for people to pick up both halves on the same day... assuming of course anyone picks this one... rather than if the ed split it him/herself)

any comment on what to do would be of great help! (i don't really think the 'cover one topic at a time' would help because people have written entries for some of them already. the purpose of this article is not so much to discuss processes but to let people see how great a role - good or bad - microbes play in life. i suppose i *could* trim the stories down a bit...)

Personally, I would turn them into separate entries but put them through the university rather than through PR. But that's just me.


Mikey

(i have the unfortunate tendency to rant interminably until someone gags me. people have accused me of making them afraid to go out, and to eat an incredible variety of otherwise-enjoyable food )

er, university, mikey? what university?

(i have the unfortunate tendency to rant interminably until someone gags me. people have accused me of making them afraid to go out, and to eat an incredible variety of otherwise-enjoyable food )

See here: University



I've done a University project on Girl Scouts -- it had 18 entries in all, 11 by me and 7 by someone else, and they were all interlinked, and they all showed up on the front page together.

The University is currently undergoing an underhaul, but the powers that be say you can still submit and do uni projects in the meantime.

Plus, if you do a uni project, you get a special badge for it -- just check out my personal space -- it's the one that says "university field researcher" or somesuch.

Uni projects are especially good for people who like to go on and on and really go in depth on lots of subtopics. I think this entry would be a good head in that direction...


Mikey

oaky... maybe i could do this... since my target for this is more to entertain and inform, i think, maybe i could leave it where it is. (i think i've already tinkered with it a great deal) then maybe i could work out expansions in certain areas that people have not gone into yet, and apply for the field researcher post. assuming there are enough microbiology-inclined people out there who are willing to volunteer. you think?

thanks for telling me about the university site! i'll see what havoc i can wreak there (most people think that the stuff i write - or want to write - about is thoroughly bizarre)

One idea before heading to Uni-

Aim for a goodly number of entry titles. Read the previous Uni entries to get a good idea about how many and how long each should be.

Write much of it BEFORE you submit it. This way you can do some writing and have the SUB edit some at the same time. this will prevent a lot of writing then waiting then writing then waiting, plus it'll get done faster. Anyway, you're well on you way with what you've written so far.

Good luck,

Friar

See, many of us have done our time in Uni-dom.

If you want an idea of what it all looks like, here's the project page for my original uni page on the Girl Scouts: A427619 (or you can see the listing here -- C1042 )

And here's a bizarre one: C1046


Mikey

thanks, friar. i think, however, that what this piece needs is not more material, but heavy editing to cut it short, and therefore might not make too great a university article subject. but i *would* like to start a project on microbiology and immunology subjects... should i try and look for people first, seeing as not all that many people have heard of the university (hey, i didn't... until today)? i can think of one or two people off-hand, whom i think may be interested... speaking of which, how will these articles be categorized in the guide? will they still go into 'biology', 'medicine' etc, or go into some special category on 'university topics'?

You can do a university project all by yourself, if you want. Or you can start a project page and recruit people from there if you want people to help you. No matter what you end up needing a sub-ed, but the Italics can help you can get one of those once your project is approved -- then you get added to the special h2g2uni yahoogroups list.

I wouldn't worry too much about the categorization system -- many entries show up categorized more than once. All uni entries show up categorized under the uni system (but within there they're split by topics -- my Girl Scout entries are in sociology, or somesuch), but I think they show up under the regular category trees as well. But few people actually go looking for entries under the categories, most people use the search engines, and entries show up there no matter how they're categorized.

Anyways, we're going off track of this PR thread. If you want to know more about uni projects, come stop by my personal space and leave me a note and I'll answer any questions you have.


Mikey

Another excellent article, Farlander.
I do have a few notes. Simple stuff really.
I'm sure in the first paragraph you mean to say that microorganisms make up two thirds of the worlds *biomass* rather than mass.
Under "Microbes as symbionts..." it should be "Googols of them thrive on our skin." The number is a googol, the search engine is Google.
In the Stanley Falkow quote there's a typo. Populatiosn->populations.

But a very nice article indeed. I'm not so sure it needs to be split or that it needs much editing. Sure it's long, but sometimes I like reading long articles, especially if they are informative AND entertaining.

I do think you should do a Uni project. I actually think you've probably already started one without knowing it, seeing how several of your articles are related.

Keep up the good work.