Miners' Home Page | Why be a Miner? | What do the Miners do? | Miners' Code of Conduct | Volunteer to be a Miner

The job of the miners is rather large. It can take up a bit of time, so we ask that you consider this before volunteering.

Picking Entries

The main job of the miners is picking exceptional entries from the Alternative Writing Workshop for inclusion in the UnderGuide. The crude technology used for picks is email, and we will alert you when it's time to pick entries. If you know you'll miss your pick date, be sure to alert the UG Editors and we can arrange something. Please don't miss your pick date without telling us. Keep in mind that if you repeatedly miss or ignore your pick date, you will be asked to leave the scheme.

Two votes are required every month from each miner. The voting period will generally start on the first friday of every month, and end on the second friday of every month. The voting time will be kicked off by an email from the UG Editors on the UnderGuide mailing list, and then all miner should email the group with their votes, in the way the editors instruct them to.

There are two different types of votes. The first is a nominating vote - which nominates an entry for inclusion in the UnderGuide. For an entry to be selected for the UnderGuide, a nominating vote must be followed by a seconding vote by a different miner. A list of entries to be seconded will be sent to the miners mailing list as the voting list begins. Bear in mind that a nominating vote carries from the round it was voted for into the next rounds, until it is seconded or until it expires.

Managing the AWW

The Miners are supposed to keep the AWW running. They do this by Minesweeping it (Cleaning it out) and offering advice and support to authors. Good miners will pick two entries every month. Great miners will help manage the AWW.

Minesweeping is a relatively simple process. You can look through the AWW for entries that are not suitable. If the author is still around, politely bring this to their attention and ask if they are still working on it. It is very important that you don't say that an entry isn't suitable for the UG, (Especially if the author is still working on it) as this is a matter of personal opinion and a miner saying this reflects the entire UG. Remember that the UnderGuide doesn't control the AWW, so 'this is not suitable for the UG' isn't a great excuse for it to be moved anyway.

Usually by bringing an entry to the attention of the author, you can either help them make their entry the best it can be, or make them remember it so that they can work on it or move it.

If an author of an unsuitable entry has left the building or 'Gone elvis', then you may propose a move in the AWW Review conversation to either the Flea Market (if it is a factual entry and was placed in the AWW by mistake) or back to the entry. Then you must wait for another miner to come along and second it. Then you email the UnderGuide mailing list asking for a move. The moves will be collected all at once and moved at one time, not all right away.