Volunteers Needed!
Oct. 30th, 2024 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doranwen posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
yahoogroupsThe tagging process is moving out of beta mode; while minor improvements may be made over time, we are hopeful that no big changes will need to be made from here on.
We therefore invite any and all willing volunteers to come help. Attention to detail, the ability to work in Google Sheets/Docs, and the willingness to ask questions when in doubt are all you need.
Tagging is the process of reading through group metadata (names, descriptions, and a couple other useful fields) and deciding what the group is about. Then you copy/paste the correct information into specific columns. You will be assigned a 'tab' of groups to keep the process manageable. Each tab has between 100 and 300 groups on it, from one or more categories on Yahoo. You can work at your own pace and drop in when you have time.
The guidelines for the process are in a Google Doc and cover most of the situations you'll encounter. If you run across something difficult, we encourage you to paste it in the correct channel on our Discord server and ask for advice.
Yes, but you're limited to a) categories that Yahoo actually had, and b) things that haven't been tagged yet. Not all fandoms that were popular during that time had their own categories, and except for the very large (such as Harry Potter, Star Trek, Dragon Ball, or Backstreet Boys), most will be on a tab with other fandoms. (When you volunteer to claim a tab, you're volunteering to tag all of the groups on that tab, not only the categories you're interested in.) Nonfandom areas also vary wildly in their size; there are enormous quantities of classmate and alumni groups, software groups, genealogy groups, romance groups, recycling groups, and adoption groups for instance, but there may only be one or two groups for a particular automotive make or health condition.
Tagging isn't exceptionally difficult, however, and once you successfully complete one tab, you will probably find the second one even easier. Plus, you never know what gems you may run across while you do it!
Yes, there are many other ways to help.
1. Importing
We need people who are willing to install an email program called Sylpheed on their computers to import Yahoo Groups into a format that will help us tag. Not everyone can install the program, so you can help with importing. That way we have a steady flow of groups for people to tag.
2. Languages
If you can read a language other than English, you can help on the server by opting into a role for your language. Then if someone is trying to tag groups in that language, they can call on you for help with anything confusing.
3. Boost!
We also need more visibility on this project, which brings us to…
Yes, please! There are about a million groups left to tag, on over 5000 tabs. The more volunteers we have, the fewer tabs each person has to tag.
If it's useful, feel free to share this text in quotes:
We therefore invite any and all willing volunteers to come help. Attention to detail, the ability to work in Google Sheets/Docs, and the willingness to ask questions when in doubt are all you need.
What does tagging involve?
Tagging is the process of reading through group metadata (names, descriptions, and a couple other useful fields) and deciding what the group is about. Then you copy/paste the correct information into specific columns. You will be assigned a 'tab' of groups to keep the process manageable. Each tab has between 100 and 300 groups on it, from one or more categories on Yahoo. You can work at your own pace and drop in when you have time.
The guidelines for the process are in a Google Doc and cover most of the situations you'll encounter. If you run across something difficult, we encourage you to paste it in the correct channel on our Discord server and ask for advice.
Can I ask to tag something specific?
Yes, but you're limited to a) categories that Yahoo actually had, and b) things that haven't been tagged yet. Not all fandoms that were popular during that time had their own categories, and except for the very large (such as Harry Potter, Star Trek, Dragon Ball, or Backstreet Boys), most will be on a tab with other fandoms. (When you volunteer to claim a tab, you're volunteering to tag all of the groups on that tab, not only the categories you're interested in.) Nonfandom areas also vary wildly in their size; there are enormous quantities of classmate and alumni groups, software groups, genealogy groups, romance groups, recycling groups, and adoption groups for instance, but there may only be one or two groups for a particular automotive make or health condition.
Tagging isn't exceptionally difficult, however, and once you successfully complete one tab, you will probably find the second one even easier. Plus, you never know what gems you may run across while you do it!
What if I'm not comfortable tagging groups? Is there any other way to help?
Yes, there are many other ways to help.
1. Importing
We need people who are willing to install an email program called Sylpheed on their computers to import Yahoo Groups into a format that will help us tag. Not everyone can install the program, so you can help with importing. That way we have a steady flow of groups for people to tag.
2. Languages
If you can read a language other than English, you can help on the server by opting into a role for your language. Then if someone is trying to tag groups in that language, they can call on you for help with anything confusing.
3. Boost!
We also need more visibility on this project, which brings us to…
Can I advertise this somewhere I know?
Yes, please! There are about a million groups left to tag, on over 5000 tabs. The more volunteers we have, the fewer tabs each person has to tag.
If it's useful, feel free to share this text in quotes:
Five years ago, with little notice, Yahoo announced Yahoo Groups was being deleted. An army of archivists swung into action and saved nearly a million groups in all - 14 terabytes of data.
The next step of the Save Yahoo Groups project is tagging the groups.
We need volunteers who:
* are detail-oriented and careful
* ask lots of questions when in doubt
* can use Google Sheets/Docs at a basic level
Also helpful:
* able to read languages other than English
* able to install a simple program and follow a visual guide to importing mbox files
* extensive knowledge about a particular subject
If this interests you, check out our Dreamwidth community and volunteer to help: https://yahoogroups.dreamwidth.org/profile
