Here in the Vice-Presidential Wing of Alabaster House, we take a hard line against typos. One of the Ozark slogans we kicked around during our campaign was 'Dno't let this happen to you — Stop Typos in thier Tacks'. It was ultimately never used because when we ordered a banner with the slogan, the mailing address had a typo in it.

That's why the news of the new Curators Group came as welcome news to me. It means that the Edited Guide will be cleaner and more accurate. It means that the italics will have more time for other, more important things and that typos will be corrected at all hours of the day. It also means a new hobby for the estimable Gnomon, perhaps. But more than anything else, it means that the citizen-soldier-Researchers of h2g2 can use the Peer Review forum more effectively. I've said for a while that Peer Review can be used for much more than what it's being used for now, that long lists of typos drive people away and that Peer Review isn't really the best place to root out typos anyway. To me, it's always seemed ridiculous that Sub-editors, who sign up for a job of proofreading and format adjustment, often don't handle the bulk of those tasks, but rather the PR denizens tend to. It's always seemed ridiculous that when the author, sub-ed, italics, Editorial Feedback persons (and now add Curators to that list) can handle the tasks with relative ease that such menial duties are carried out in a medium that is poorly suited for pointing out errors and which is easily distracted from meaningful feedback that needs to be given.

Many of you (if there are any of you) have heard this from me before though. My real point is that Peer Review should appreciate the words in an entry, not just how they're spelled. Delving into a new online community is hard. For those who don't believe it, try starting in a new one from the ground up. One thing that a newbie doesn't want to see when he tries to help make the guide to life, the universe and everything is a list of typos confronting his entry or that of an experienced Researcher. This is when there are not one, but two volunteer groups now set up to combat them.

My new year's resolution for 2006 is to approach every entry with the hope of injecting a little, as the first footnote on the first surviving entry on h2g2 ever said, élan. I further resolve to do the same with my commenting in the Review Forums.

Here's to a happy, healthy 2006!

The h2g2 Presidential Election 2005 Archive

Jodan

12.01.06 Front Page

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