organic

Hi all! We're finally ready to get this baby off the ground.

The next post will contain the "official" library volunteer guidelines. Don't be put off by the tight-assed tone I am hopeful that this will be a fun process for all involved, but we have to have a set of rules in place in case things start to get out of hand.

Please read these guidelines carefully, and if you're interested in volunteering add a post to the 'Library Volunteers' thread in this forum, along with any preferences you might have for topics to research. I can't promise everyone will be assigned exactly what they want, but I will do what I can.

The list of topics we'll be researching will be posted to the Library Topics Master List thread in this forum. This list is not complete and not set in stone, so if you have suggestions for topics you may submit them to that thread.

Above all let me emphasize that we need to do this in as orderly of a fashion as possible. This is because if it isn't, we're going to end up duplicating one another's efforts, and nobody wants that. Plus I have to try to keep track of the whole shebang, and my supply of brain cells ain't what it used to be.

OK! Let's hit it

O

__________________

Hie thee hence to The Library
__________________

organic

Becoming a Library Volunteer

This is an opportunity to be part of a great undertaking from the ground up. After years of contributions from our dedicated members, we are ready to start searching out the best of our collected information, and assembling it in one place. If you have gained anything from this site, this is a great chance to give back.

The Library is an enormous project - we will be sifting through almost 40,000 threads. Because the project is so big in scope, contributors will have to have to work within the structure that is set up, or chaos will quickly ensue. We need your participation, but it needs to be orderly.

For this reason, we are going to have to be fairly strict policies regarding volunteer efforts. All volunteers will start under probationary status - if assignments are given to a volunteer and not completed within a reasonable time frame - or completed poorly - that volunteer will not be given any more assignments.

The success of the Library will be in large part dictated by the efforts of volunteers. The assignments you will be given are open-ended; you will be assigned a topic with the expectation that you'll research it to the best of your abilities. Remember, the work you do will be utilized by all our present and future members (16,000 at last count).


Member Volunteer Assignments.
Library staff will assign you a topic to harvest threads on. Using the search function, track down several of the threads that seem to explain the topic best, and if you want to go the extra distance, write a short summary of each thread (highlighting what makes it different from the other threads). Submit the list of thread names - with thread ID# (the 4- or 5-digit number at the end of the URL for the thread) and summary if included - to the Library incoming threads subforum.

Some notes to help with more successful searches:
- Make sure the 'Default Thread View' in the 'edit options' section of your user CP is set to 'show all threads'. Otherwise, older threads may not be visible to you. Also make sure the 'Search for Posts From' section in the search panel is set to 'show all posts'.
- Try variations on a phrase and use wildcards (*) to help pull up a wider range of threads on a topic.
- To help narrow down a search that returns many pages of hits, the threads with a higher number of replies are often the most useful. This is not an absolute rule however.


The form for a submission is as follows:
THREAD SUBJECT
Thread Title - ID#
Summary (if available)
Notes: (if applicable)

example
____________________________________________
WORM CASTINGS
bat guano? - 20003
Basic primer detailing some of the various properties of worm castings.
Note: thread title and first several posts are about bat guano.

WORM CASTINGS
worm castings - 29601
Another basic primer detailing some of the various properties of worm castings, including a listing of average NPK.
Note: contains claim about w.c. acting as ant repellent.

WORM CASTINGS
can worm castings be "watered in" effectively? - 28350
Discussion of using worm castings on top of the soil with cautions of this practice being a potential insect magnet.

WORM CASTINGS
Use of Worm Castings/Tea - 16945
More thorough discussion of worm castings and their various properties.

WORM CASTINGS
A question for Organic - 2198
Discussion about worm castings.
Note: Also contains useful information about using egg shells as organic fertilizer.
____________________________________________


To assist your search, specific forums to search will be included with each assignment so you can narrow down the options when using the Search function. If you are having trouble narrowing down a search or finding good quality threads on a subject, the Library staff will assist you. Also, it's better to submit more entries rather than less.

Once you have compiled a list of entries, please submit them to the Library Submissions thread in the New Forum Suggestions forum. (This forum will serve as the meeting place for the Library for the time being.) The Library staff will take it from there.

__________________

Hie thee hence to The Library
__________________

Fgid1

About the no commercial links rule...Seems like this was not such a biggie in the early days of HC,that is I find them alot in the early pages.Sometimes its just 1 or 2 comm links in an other wise AOK should be added thread.I dont have to pass on the whole thread cuz of that huh?And,what about thread w/ a comm link that does not let you link to any other page on the site from the link in the thread?Like you can see an info page related to the thread that just happens to be on a comm site but no advertisements or buy now,shopping cart links or buttons.Youd have to manualy type in the site to your browser to get to any of that.
Thanx.This is fun.

organic

Good question Fgid, and I noticed the same thing when I was editing threads. I even had to edit out some direct links from some of my own posts from back in the day

The guideline on that is, don't worry about commercial links if they are in an otherwise good thread. When the threads are being edited by library staff, we'll take care of reviewing/removing direct links in threads. That's the beauty of your job - you don't have to worry about all the extra stuff, you just get the fun of finding all the gold nuggets in the compost pile. And hopefully, increasing your own knowledge, 'cause that's why we're here right?

Thanks for the input, and glad you're having fun!

O

__________________

Hie thee hence to The Library
__________________