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

Hi Guys.

We're coming together. What I need you all do to now is carry on talking. Carry on talking about what your ideal site would look like.

What would the peer review process look like? Lets discuss structure, editorial process

What about the community, moderation, etc..

Spread the word. Where you find discord, and woe on h2g2 bring harmony, mention, h2g2c2.

Wow, wow, wow, it's incredible how much support is pouring in! Guess we're not the little insignificant backwater we all thought we were, after all...

Anyone read "The Mouse that Roared"?

I've got the film of that on DVD, Mala. Not got round watching yet (although I did watch it many years ago)

We are a bit of a backwater - even 606 has over 1000 users on their 'save us' campaign - but I still think we're pretty good regardless.

They may have 1000+ users, but do they have so many people willing to donate money, cash and server space? We have a guide, which is a unique selling point...

Exactly; its not that* hard to drum up signatures on a partition, but I'm still pretty astounded at the offers of dedicated servers, admin time, etc., not only* from within our community, but from outside it as well, combined with those wh have sprung up from our past in the last day or two, who clearly still care for the site, regardless that the're own lives just didn't get round to including us in the past few years, often for reasons (such as ID sign in change), beyond their control

"Exactly; its not that* hard to drum up signatures on a partition"

Well, quite. Look how many people signed the Berlin Wall.

Thinking out loud: since you mentioned moderation in the OP, what would everyone think of rotating moderation among the community?
Think jury service for a model of what I mean. Nobody need shoulder the burden all the time, no need to worry about anyone going on a power kick (though I like to think most of us are above that...)

Of course, just as with jury service there would need to be some restriction on who's eligible.

Someone mooted the idea of merging the Sub-Ed and Scout roles. Opinions on that? I think it's interesting, but a good scout won't necessarily be a good Sub-Ed. They serve quite different functions.

Internationalism: Can we use the opportunity of parting from the Beeb to break out of the UK box a bit more? I know many of our users are from the UK, but it would be great if we could broaden our scope and be a truely Earth-ian site.

I agree that while they're sometimes the same people, the roles of Sub-Ed and Scout are very different.

I agree with Malabarista.

A Scout looks about and sees if something has promise, even if as yet unfulfilled. The Scout keeps an eye on the entry while the author gives it a final polish.

A Subeditor, given a fairly well-written submission, performs copy-editing, making sure the entry fits in the Guide, both literally with links, etc., and by ensuring the entry adheres to the accepted format and House style.

That's what I was getting at. The skills aren't necessarily interchangeable, although they often are.

To broaden it a bit - what changes (if any) would you like to see with the editing process? Or is it fine as it is?

I can't really comment on the editing process in much detail, having been away for so long, but to me it seems that the basic structure of roles played by members of the community is about right. More volunteers to speed up the process would doubtless help, but the best way to get volunteers is probably to keep all the roles small and specialised so that people can volunteer for the bits they enjoy without having to take on lots of other responsibilities.

To me, the big challenge looks to be finding enough volunteer moderators. On sites which rely on volunteers for this, it can be a time-consuming role, and some people won't want to do anything that involves getting into arguments. There needs to be some mechanism for breaking down the moderator role so it's not too frightening and doesn't prevent moderators from also being normal community members.

Lux

How do I get to h2g2c2 and post if I decide to?

h2g2c2 is a group that is here to preserve h2g2, and continue it, but to keep the website we've got. We have an offsite forum, so it's easier for people who aren't h2g2 memebers to join and post. We also can share documents etc on google.

We would love your input, just pop along to
http://groups.google.com/group/h2g2communityconsortium

Dr.Zen. I shall certainly come along at some point, but I'm at present still so grief stricken about the BBC's treatment of h2g2 and the fact they will dump us...and now the full realisation of what has happened to Aunty.

I heard Eric Sykes interviewed today on the radio which cheered me though, I was amazed he was still alive.