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

>>>A 'What's New in Peer Review' thread, probably in Ask, is a very good idea...<<<

*nods head sagely*

I've been sumwhat inactive on the scouting front for a while, meself. Must. Get. Back. To. It.

I'm still the new kid on the block, so I'll not add a lot for now.

One thing I managed to stumble onto is the recommendation page buried in 'Why be a Scout', however this is a 'name' page so probably not available in Pliny.

We could have a camp fire from time to time

F S

Hi FS

The Scout Recommendation page is only visible to Scouts and the Guide Editors. Unfortunately it does not work in Pliny - we have tried since we took over to get it to work - but it is because not many editorial tools work in Pliny.

I've put the link to this page on a card in Trello. I keep it as a bookmark because I refer to it frequently and it is rather obscure to locate otherwise.

I did my last scouting years and years ago, and got very disillusioned with the Edited Guide (though I have written for it since).

An entry that I wrote which was (in my unhumble opinion) the best brief introduction to the topic on the internet. But it floundered at the bottom of peer review for about six months, if memory serves, while scouts picked light and fluffy stuff that had been there for two weeks. Part of the delay was because I didn't bump it or attention seek - just wanted to see what would happen. And it only got picked by a scout who was looking at the very bottom of peer review for stuff to be moved back to entry or wherever. So I threw my toys out of the pram a bit, wasn't happy with the reaction I got - which was essentially that it didn't matter, and that my entry can't have been that good if it wasn't picked up quickly. And that was that.

I think that's an important point to raise. Without knowing the article that you are referring to, I cannot comment other than in general. But it does raise the point - something Scouts should be aware of - that it is very upsetting for a writer who has spent ages researching and writing about something, putting in their time and effort into it, only to be ignored. That's probably the best way of ensuring that h2g2 loses contributors, which no-one wants.

I know what it is like - I've had entries that have hung around in Peer Review for over a year practically ignored and not commented on (I've had a check - of the 6 entries in Peer Review that entered in 2012, three were written by me). Do I personally believe that only good entries are picked up quickly? No. There are lots of entries that I've really enjoyed reading that no-one else has talked about. To say that all entries that aren't immediately picked aren't very good is just wrong - especially as Scouts should be trying a little harder to get articles that aren't quite up to scratch to the standard to make it into the Edited Guide.

In my experience, entries aren't always commented on if they are on a subject that is not known to a lot of people. If you write about something most people have experience or knowledge of, usually a lot of people will stop to read your article (but not always). If you write about something obscure, then no matter how well written your article, you won't receive as many comments. (Although if you can come up with a really snazzy title, it helps. I've never really developed that skill, alas...)

<BB<

*Thinks of snazzy titles for BB's next project*

Exploring the back of Cowes
Shanklin' for Beginners
The Ryde of your Life

{that's enough snazzy titles - Ed}

Dive into Lake
Chime in Time at Chine
Knitting at the Needles

I'm no help really, am I?


Geggs

It's a very good point and one which I've made (forcefully) elsewhere very often.*** We should be giving *more* help and attention to new writers. They may not be as good a writer as our prolific few, but they need to feel appreciated and selected, unless there is a very good reason why not. Being ignored and left out is tantamount to having a clique.

If you were an outsider/new member you might think that Peer Review was a backslapping/popularity contest at times, and I am sometimes really very glad that the authors don't get to see who'd been selecting whose Entries month after month. Small wonder people give up, elvis the site or just never bother to send stuff in again. (We have been getting better about this though!)

I try to bump these neglected Entries (from new members) to the top of the list when I have time, as I wonder whether we all realise there are more Entries in Peer Review than appear at the bottom of the page itself.

Here's my own personal bookmark to check on the state of play for PR

http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/alabaster/RF1?skip=0&show=75&order=dateentered&entry=0&dir=0#Guide Entries

***Part of Lanzababy's personal memoire 'How Not to Make Friends nor Influence People'

....and finally (don't they save the best til last? )

Rosie signing in!

I'm not really very aware of all the rules and regulations - if there are any - I think/hope my job is to just browse around and flag up anything I find an interesting read...correct?

Not being particularly academic, just a bit of an old art student (stressing student...) I'll be the one hunting down the more light hearted entries

...and I love the fact that BB has a lovely new hat....

I started off being very conscientious -reading and commenting on a range of articles. But I found I was spending hours trying to correct people's sentence construction. I cut back to concentrate on the articles which deal with subjects that I personally find interesting.

My guess is that the general reader will choose articles that are not too long, are written in good, lively English and deal with subjects that aren't too arcane.