Talk:Journal

Article Length
We need to define article lengths - do you have any past experience setting lengths or have you left them wide open? I think we should add them to the categories on this page. Tyler

Previous editions
I just did a quick skim through the last GRASS News volume and came up with some rough word counts. The following also include several screenshots, on average 1.5 images per page:
 * Event Reports - 750 words (1 page)
 * Short updates - 1200 words (2.5 pages)
 * Short Reports - 1500 words (3 pages)
 * Extended Reports - 2500 words (5 pages)
 * Interview - 3000 words (4 pages, only 1 image)
 * Project Reports/Announcements - 500-1000 words (0.5-1 page) (GRASS report was several pages in past, probably should reduce to make room for others)

Do these make sense?

main non-Wiki page for submission
shall we add a non-Wiki page for authors who want to submit articles? Just instructions and contact e-mail add. of Edt.? Wegmann 13:50, 28 February 2007 (CET)
 * Good idea - Tyler
 * Who do we have to contact to have a non-wiki OSGeo page for contact, download of templates + releases? Wegmann 18:05, 1 March 2007 (CET)

call for volunteers
Here is my call for volunteers, focused on building our team: --

Hi all, As you may be aware, last year the GRASS News production offered to transition their great production into a brand new OSGeo Newsletter. Although branded as OSGeo, all open source projects are welcome to be part of it.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the last volume, have a look at this: http://osgeo.org/files/news/GRASS_OSGeo_News_vol4.pdf (5.3MB). As you can see it is much more than just some news clippings!

Well, now is the time to get a new team together to help make a great production. You are invited to be part of that team! Want some exercise for your writing skills? Would you like to get some more exposure for your project? Want to learn the ins and outs of some publication software? Or do you just want to help spread the word about some projects or case studies that you love?

There are several positions available for any volunteer who would help to coordinate collecting articles, writing content, reviewing content, helping with layout or graphics, and more. Want to sign up just for one volume or to test the waters first? That is fine too.

Please see the Newsletter wiki page for a list of open positions and categories for content that need editors: http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Newsletter

If you have any reservations, comments, questions or concerns please just let me know! As we will work as a team, please do not be shy about your interests, even if you are going to need some help getting started.

After the team is gathered and production deadlines are finalised, then we will make a more general call for contributors. If you already have something that you would like to contribute, you are welcome to sign up now on the page: http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Newsletter_Volume_1

Hope you will join us in putting this together!

Tyler

Following needs to be forwarded to more lists. Copy raw text from edit more to get something that works well in an email. - From: 	 tylermitchell@shaw.ca Subject: 	Call for articles - OSGeo Newsletter Date: 	March 5, 2007 11:14:56 AM PST (CA) To: 	 discuss@lists.osgeo.org

The OSGeo Newsletter development team invites you to contribute news, articles, event summaries, programming tutorials and more for the upcoming OSGeo News - Volume 1. There are several sections planned for the newsletter. General descriptions of each category can be found on the Newsletter wiki page [1]. Specific committed articles are listed on the Newsletter Volume 1 wiki page [2].

There has been already been a lot of interest to contribute articles and some sections are already quite full. You are welcome to propose an article for any section, but we are specifically looking for more articles in the following categories:


 * News - any particularly newsworthy items you would like to pass along
 * Event Reports - have a conference summary that you would like to share?
 * Topical Studies - introduce a theoretical topic that is of general interest
 * Programming Tutorials - serving as an introduction to coding an application or task
 * Interview - conduct an interview with someone in the community
 * Developer Announcements - brief summaries of what your project team has been doing recently and future outlook for the project

To volunteer for an article add your name and article title to the Volume 1 wiki page in the appropriate category, along with contact information. Or join the Newsletter mailing list [3] and tell us about your idea. An editor will follow-up with you to arrange delivery and timing. Articles need to be delivered by March 23st. Length can vary depending on type of article and should be discussed with the editor for your category. If you want to contribute but a particular category is full (or you need more time), you are more than welcome to add yourself to the list of articles for the subsequent volume, Volume 2 [4].

We look forward to working with you on producing a great newsletter that is of interest to everyone in our communities and beyond.

Sincerely, Tyler

[1] Newsletter general wiki page: http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Newsletter [2] Newsletter Volume 1 wiki page: http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Newsletter_Volume_1 [3] Newsletter development mailing list: http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter [4] Newsletter Volume 2 (future): http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Newsletter_Volume_2