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Guidelines for editors and correspondents

Network of Correspondents Activities     1. Updating     2. Expanding     3. Mail     4. Advice Network of SocioSites Names of correspondent

Network of Correspondents

This is a concept for the rules that we might agree on when you decide to become a SocioSite editor. They are not "instructions" in the strict meaning of the word, but guidelines or 'activities you might like to do' for the SocioSite.

The idea of the network of correspondents/editors is simple. The SocioSite has been a one-mans-band for too long. It has become a very large, wordwide recognized sociological information system, that needs to be maintained and explanded on a daily basis. I'm trying to find people who might like to participate in the SocioSite project by 'adopting' one or more pages. As you might have seen there are many pages in the SocioSite, especially in the category "Subject Areas" on a broad diversity of social issues.

If you would like to participate you can choose your own page, depending on your own specialized field of knowledge.

Activities

What we hope a correspondent/editor will do is:

1. Updating
   Checking the links on the adopted page(s)
   1. is the URL still alive?

   2. is the description/annotation still adequate?
      Check:
      • Title and subtitle
      • Editor(s) or maintainers
      • Description of content
   
   

   Checking Links Checking links can be done in different ways. You can use: Special 'Link Checkers': programmes like 'Linkbot' of 'Big Brother' are specialized in automatic checks on all the hyperlinks of a website. General 'Website Creating and Management Tools': programmes like 'Adobe PageMill', 'GoLive CyberStudio', 'HotMetal Pro', 'Frontpage'. 'Online LinkCheckers': they check all the links on your site to make sure they are still valid. Some of them also check your Web site for HTML syntax errors, spelling errors, popularity, and loading times. Examples are: 'LinkCheck', 'NetMechanic' en 'Web Site Garage'. Hyperlinks to these instruments can be found on the page "Internet for Beginners and Designers". In a few days the whole SocioSite will included in de linkchecking service of the ICAAP. Correspondents will get access to this service..

   Checking the description of sites requires that you visit these sites at regular times. There is no software to do this - you can only use your own 'headware'.
    
   

2. Expanding
   Finding new information resources
   • are there new information resources which are relevant for the adopted subject?
   • what is the URL, the title, the content, the editor/maintainer?
   • give short description of the content.
   • evaluate the quality of the resource.
   What "evaluating the quality of the resource" means? The best thing we can do is to advize you to visit the site of the Internet Detective. This is a great site, an interactive tutorial on evaluating the quality of Internet resources. The 'easiness' of the interactivity is not only combined with avery instructive content, but also with a clear and stimulating style of writing and presentation. You seldom see such a nice exception.
   New resources can be found using search engines, other subject guides, and general and specialized directories etc. Searching on the Internet is a trick you can learn. "The Art of Searching" has been described in Searching in Society. There you will find all the search instruments you can use to catch new sites and documents.

   You can also use the Wat's New? page of the SocioSite. There you will find a listing of sites that are specialized in finding new sites. They are important instruments for keeping the information system at a high level of actuality.
    
   

3. Mailing
   Sending this information to the SocioSite for corrections and additions. This information can be send:
    
   
   1. by E-mail in text or html-format
   2. in an attachment to an Email
   3. filling in the Add URL page.
   
    
   Adopting a page doesn't mean that you are not allowed to suggest new websites for other pages or sections of the SocioSite. All suggestions are welcome and will be used to expand the SocioSite.
    
   
4. Advice
   Giving advice on how to improve the structure and functions of the SocioSite. The topics you might want to look at are:
   1. Raising the level of transparancy and ease of use.

   2. Expanding the SocioSite with new pages or sections.

   3. New interactive features.

   4. Strengthening the position of the SocioSite in international networks related to the social sciences.

   5. Possibilities for sponsoring: how to raise funds.

Let us know which topics you are interested in and on which fields you are or want to become an expert.

Network of SocioSites

The SocioSite can only be "the Web's definitive reference for researching any subject in society" [Lycos Top 5%] when we are able to internationalize and professionalize the project. The SocioSite started as a megalomaniacal individual undertaking - but it can only grow further when it's carried by an international team.

SocioSite affiliated with the "International Consortium for Alternative Academic Publications" (ICAAP). It is dedicated to the development of an international alternative scholarly communication system outside of the commercial mainstream. ICAAP is a non-profit service dedicated to furthering the academic and financial interests of editors, academic institutions and libraries. It provides the technological and professional infrastructure for scholarly communication on the WWW. It is an initiative of Mike Sosteric, the chief-editor of the "Electronic Journal of Sociology" (EJS). Both EJS and ICAAP will publish an appeal to stimulate their visitor to become editors / correspondents for the SocioSite.

The SocioSite can be further internationalized by building mirror-sites in other languages. The idea is to create a 'Network of SocioSites'. At this moment we are talking with people who are interested in translating the SocioSite in French and Spanish. We would like to make contact with people who are able to translate the SocioSite other languages. The international aspirations of the SocioSite project can be realized also by an adaption to and expanding for a specific language area.

As we said before, this is just a concept. But we can use this text to make a better one. We should do this together. We don't have a complete plan which can cover all the possibilities and problems of the SocioSite. It started as an experiment, and we have to keep our experimental energy at a high level.

Don't hesitate to write us if you have any questions or suggestions. Please tell us something about yourself and let us know what your fields of interest are.

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