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

I think this very neatly summarises what we mean by the UGT. My only possible query would be having the Post as part of it. It would lose its identity as a newspaper and historical record of the site and life.
It also isn't Peer Reviewed, which might cause problems down the line.

I would keep it seperate rather than merging it in with the Guide but promoted as its own entity.

I agree, but I think that articles within the post should be eligible for entry, if they were also submitted to whatever peer review process we end up having.

Reviews, for example.

But apart from the fact that it's a pretty impressive institution, I think maintaining it outside the Guide would be useful too, as it would provide a showcase for people who for whatever reason didn't want to go through a peer review system, which was something that came up in Stockholm. Especially if we are going to get more rigorous about the standards for entry.

Okay, first off, I really love the Post (even though I contribute very little to it.) and I love that we have a periodical. Periodicals have the advantage of allowing snapshots of events, and that is a valuable thing for research. I'd like the Post and Post archives to be more accessible to present and future h2g2ers. However, I've run into problems finding things that I *know* originally came out in the Post.

Examples: While looking for a particular Post article in which Clive and I and someone else whose name escapes me were quoted, and I didn't remember the reporter's name, I couldn't find article. While looking for a comic that originally came out in the Post, I couldn't find it either. I've been similarly stymied on looking for reviews unless they came out in the EG, which is actually not where they belong because a review is generally opinion.

I am not criticizing how the archives are currently; I'm fully aware that as much as possible is being done with nearly nothing at all. However articles in the Post could be used for future research if only we could find them again.

A good chunk of my research for the Jefferson State Rebellion entry depended on 1940 and 1941 periodicals on microfiche (oh my poor aching eyeballs). Similarly future researchers could look to the Post articles if only they could find them.

I don't mean for the Post to be peer reviewed prior to publication as that would grind the news cycle to a halt. Nor should they be forced into an entry necessarily. But I do want them to be a very search-able part of the archives, just as newspapers, magazines and journals form an important part of library collections today.

Hear, hear!

Yes, I see what you mean. Hmmmm.

There are times, lately, when I fel a certain sympathy for our much maligned search facilities. Somehow we have this huge resource of stuff, which from my perspective, seems to have just crept up on us. I appreciate that's not quite how it happened...

Mind you, not that much sympathy. Clearly, the search facilities (we're back to categories and such) are going to be a pretty key part of this process of moving house.

HN: Yes. That's sort of what I meant to say, only you put it better.

Very nice. Totally with you on this, the only divide should be quality or not quality, which is what the search engine will not give you. Otherwise, it's all about categorisation, as discussed extensively elsewhere.

sprout

Good work, Happy Nerd

I hope we can add audio into the mix. I'd like there to be space for an h2g2 podcast.

I think discussing the practicalities of podcasting's not necessary right now, but I could see us being an attractive place for media students or just people who like the sound of their own voices to contribute.

Ben

Thanks to everyone who gave this a read-through. I've expanded on and its archives, specifically named the AViators to make clear the desirability of audio (and visual) information, included links to Jordon's entries, and placed this entry on the Magrathea's Workshop production line A81966171.

We can continue this discussion on one of these threads:
Design To-Be F20572348?thread=8094652
As-Is F20572348?thread=8094651
Documentation F20572348?thread=8094650


HN

There haven't been any new comments about this entry for a week. Tomorrow this time, I'll pop this in the Really Big Google Document.

I scooped it up yesterday.

I agree that it's not easy to find an article in the Post. Even I have difficulties at times. What you need is a proper search function. Fortunately, nowadays you can find a lot by googling it instead of using the h2g2 search.

For archives to work you'll need an archivist. As it is, we've been understaffed for years, and each team member does their own archiving - or not, since it gets forgotten at times. I'm trying to keep them updated, but it's just a lot of work.

Bel,

Suppose we adapted for our use something like the Dewey or the Library of Congress system of filing. I agree neither may be perfectly suited exactly, but just suppose we adapted one of them.

Both are able to catalog general interest periodicals, such as The Post, as well as specific interest periodicals, just as math or science journals, in a greater collection of books, videos, etc.

Now, all we want to do is parse The Post once a week and archive it sensibly. Suppose we had a script that did that automatically.

Now, archiving is down to clicking a button once an issue.

Pastey or other programmers can advise better. Right now I'm learning a scripting language to do something automatically at the radio station.