discuss: Clarifying confusion over editing vs reviewer
Subject:
Clarifying confusion over editing vs reviewer
From:
"Joy Y Goodreau" ####@####.####
Date:
20 May 2002 16:37:19 -0000
Message-Id: <OFB25ED283.06271519-ON85256BBF.00577E40@pok.ibm.com>
I'm not really concerned about what name you give to what me and my review
staff, but I do want it to be clear what the reviewers/editors do at the
LDP.
1. They contact the author and let them know that they will be working with
the document. This includes a request to work in the source. Most authors
have responded favorably that we fix grammatical errors in the source. It
creates less work for them and they seem to appreciate it. In the instances
where source is changing rapidly or they anticipate making changes within
the source before we can get the revision back to them, we don't work in
the source. This is also an option for authors who do not want us to touch
the source. I will tell you that this has been rare in my experience. The
authors I have dealt with are eager to make the documentation better and
more readable, and if we can save them time by working in the source, they
are fine with it. It has been great to work with these authors who see
their documents as belonging to the community and want them to be better.
2. Major revisions to format and organization are made as suggestions. This
may include putting in a bulleted list, introducing graphics, numbering
steps, and so on. There have been cases where authors have asked me to go
ahead and put in the bulleted lists and format changes to the source I have
been happy to meet their requests
.
Both steps 1 and 2 are done for reviews of existing documents and for new
documents. As far as I am concerned, this is policy. Because this is an
online organization if the majority of the LDP says that they do NOT want
quality control before submission, then so be it. It takes me any where
from 3-10 hours to work on a document and offer feedback. I read every
sentence and work on ways to make the document easier for the reader to
understand. If the document has only grammar problems then it takes me much
less time than if there are fundamental logic/organization problems. Part
of the time investment comes from not just informing the author that
something is "not quite right" but from explaining where the confusion
lies and possible fixes. If this is not of value to the LDP then there is
no sense me spending all these hours trying to make the documentation
better and I certainly don't want to recruit others to spend their time
doing the same. I am not interested in doing an hour "quick view" because
I feel like I am signing off on the document as at a standard that I'm not
sure it is. I know that most of my reviewers/editors feel the same way.
There is the potential for a real marriage of skills here that could
produce really good documentation that is easily read and usable.
I must say that the authors responses to the new document editing has been
phenomenal. Major improvements have been made to many of the documents. I
have been impressed with the responsiveness of the authors. The new
document reviews have been going on since April 23. IF your document was
submitted before then, it was NOT subject to a review before going onto the
site. The review for all new documents is a NEW policy. We had it as a goal
for a year, and it became reality on April 23.
NOTE FOR NEW AUTHORS: If you submit your document before April 23 or you
sent the document to the feedback list or to @submit as a draft then it
will not be reviewed as a new document to the site unless someone has spare
bandwidth to get it done. Basically if it appears on the "in progress"
page of the LDP, you will not be contacted for a review because it is not
"officially submitted."
I sometimes miss documents coming in as new if they are not clearly marked
as new. If your document was submitted as a new document after April 23 and
you have not been contacted within 3 days, send me a note.
Joy Y. Goodreau
Linux Information Developer
LDP Collections Editor
Ofc. (512) 838-4118
T/L 678-4118
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