Pre the UnderGuide - Draft Why be a Miner
Created | Updated Jan 24, 2004
As Ben said when she started this there is a great deal that still needs to be discussed, so this is a draft [V01.03.03] based on the official scouts and sub-ed volunteer pages. Where this involves an issue that is not yet decided/needs to be discussed it is shown in red. Where something is a comment on, rather than part of the draft it is in green italics. I think Ben's suggestion of keeping discussions on issues in the general Underguide discussion threads and comments on typos, wording, grammar etc. here was a good one.
Miners' Home Page | What do Miners do? | Miners' Code of Conduct | Volunteer to be an Miner
Here's a quick introduction to the Underguide Miners' scheme. It summarises the advantages of becoming a Miner1. It also explains what we hope h2g2 will get out of the scheme, and then finishes off with details of the Miners' mailing list.
What do you get out of Mining for the Underguide?
Your fellow Miners hope that you get as much out of helping the Underguide as the volunteers for the official h2g2 schemes get out of helping the Edited Guide. You are a volunteer, and only need to be as involved as you want to: we hope that you enjoy being one, but no-one will ever question you if you decide that it isn't really for you. Just let us know if you change your mind and of course you can always join one of the official volunteer schemes instead or, indeed, as well.
Unfortunately we cannot offer the glamour and kudos of the official schemes; the Underguide is not yet an official part of h2g2, and although we are all committed both to the Edited Guide and to the Underguide, we do not have access to all the cool tools that the Editors and official volunteers have.
On the other hand being a Miner is one of the most positive contributions you can make to bringing about an official status for excellent entries which, for whatever reason, do not conform to the Edited Guidelines.
You don't automatically get a Miner's badge on your home page, but you get some nifty GML to add to your home page if you want to.
That said, there are benefits of being a Miner. Here are the main ones:
- Taking part in the Miners' scheme is a brilliant way of reading entries that you'd never normally read.
- You come to realise just how many good quality writers we have on the site, and how widely and variously they express themselves.
- You are helping to extend the boundaries of the Guide, helping gems of entries reach a wider audience, and helping talented authors get the kudos they deserve.
- You are also helping make the site a richer place for people reading it, both regular researchers and people who drift through, by helping to highlight Underguide Entries so that they stand apart from other unofficial entries in the site.
- You get a candle2, a canary, a hardhat and a pick (or three).
What does h2g2 get out of the Miners?
The Edited Guide is well established, it has clear guidelines for Edited Entries, and it can be searched. But there are some wonderful entries written by many talented people which are just not suitable for the Edited Guide. These may be first-person experiences, poems, musings, fiction, or any of the many other forms of writing which are informative, thought-provoking or fun but which are for various reasons unsuitable for the Edited Guide. At present theses entries can get lost in the great h2g2 undergrowth.
The Underguide seeks to complement the Edited Guide, by selecting the best of these entries, presenting them in a way which means that they can be readily identified, and making them easier to find. This is good for the site as a whole and good for the community of writers and readers. This takes time and effort, which is where the Miners come in.
In short, Miners are helping extend and deepen Douglas Adams' original vision for the site.
The Miners' Mailing List
We have set up an MSN list at http://groups.msn.com/theH2G2Underguide At the moment (February 2002) it is an open list, but it will become a closed list3, available by application only, and only accessible by Miners.
This is a private mailing list and is available to invited members only, so you can be perfectly candid here. Indeed, that's the point: it's for discussions about specific entries. General Miners conversations, though, should be conducted on the Miners' Home Page, where everyone can see them and join in, (or throw tomatoes, of course). That said, any questions can be fired at the mailing list, and you'll find the other Miners very happy to help you out.
When we subscribe you to the mailing list you receive an email detailing the URL and the various ways of accessing the mailing list. It's worth having a quick tour round the site, if only to discover who the other members of the list are.
