editors: Thread: Determining our strengths

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all your responses!

I want to start off by saying we have a task that needs tackling, but
before I get to that, I want to find out how comfortable everyone is
with the review process.

I've explained the system I follow on the discussion list, and I am
wondering if you are okay with that system, see where improvements could
be made, and so on.  I know my process may differ slightly from that in
the Reviewer HOWTO, but perhaps changes can be made once we determine as
a group what kind of approach is the best.  

I also want to find out how all of you are with DocBook, since most of
the new documents are coming in this way, especially XML.  We do have
several formats though, that at least some of us should be familiar
with, namely SGML for DocBook and Linuxdoc.

Hopefully this initiates a discussion about bringing our skills all to
the same level, and our process, so that readers and writers alike will
be able to rely on some degree of consistency.  Perhaps some of us are
better suited to some tasks than others, and we should capitalize on our
strengths!

Besides new documents receiving the highest priority, we currently have
a large list of documents "In Progress" - some of which have been on
that list for a very long time.  I'd first want to determine which of
these documents have actually been published and simply need to come off
the list, and then for the remaining, contact the maintainer/author and
find out the progress of the work.

I'm thinking that with the size of the list being what it is, we can
probably sent out canned email.  I have a script that I use to send
emails to groups for my work at The Linux Counter that might be handy
for the task.  A message can be created, a list of recipients created,
and a script run to send it out.  Details on how it works are at
http://www.merlinmonroe.com/counterdoc/resemail_.html, but if you want
the script, I disabled the link in the doc, so you'll have to get it
from me via email.  (It could be used as a spam tool so it's not
something I offer freely!)

I can do this myself if no one wants it, but I figured since there
aren't a lot of new documents rushing in, this is a good time to both
clean up the list, and organize our collective skills into a sleek,
editing machine!  :D

(Visions of grandeur...)

Thanks everyone!

Tab



-- 
Tabatha Marshall
Web: www.merlinmonroe.com
Linux Documentation Project Review Coordinator (http://www.tldp.org)
Linux Counter Area Manager US:wa (http://counter.li.org)