Journal

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OSGeo News is the working title for the official OSGeo Newsletter. This is the summary page for the project and for developing future editions.


Background

OSGeo News builds on top of the successful history of the GRASS-News production. Volume 4 (5.8MB) of that production was a joint GRASS/OSGeo effort. The next edition is broader and branded as OSGeo News.

Editions

Content Outline

This is the typical outline for an edition:

  1. Editorials
  2. News
  3. Event Reports (2-3 articles)
  4. Project Spotlight (Introductions) (1-2 articles)
  5. Case Studies (2-3 articles)
  6. Integration Studies (2-3 articles)
  7. Topical Studies (1-2 articles)
  8. Programming Tutorials (2-3 tutorials)
  9. Interviews (1-2 people)
  10. Developer Announcements

Short description of content

Suggested max. length of articles in brackets. Page counts are based on output in newsletter format. Word counts assume several images, about 1.5 per page.

  • Editorials: written by Edt. in Chief or/and well-known person - (1 page)
  • News: past 6 months and next 3 months, just keywords/URL/date - (all short notes: 1 page)
  • Event Reports: Brief article about meetings/conferences etc. - (1/2 page per report or 750 words)
  • Project Introductions: General introduction to one software project or particular new features of a project - (3 pages, 1500 words)
  • Case Studies: Highlighting specific application of technologies to a certain problem, user community or developer needs - (3 pages, 1500 words)
  • Integration Studies: Articles showing how many projects can work together in an integrated fashion, e.g. the power of GRASS, QGIS and GDAL all working together - (5 pages, 2500 words)
  • Topical Studies: Introductions to concepts and theories, e.g. what something means, how to work with certain types of things - (3 pages, 1500 words)
  • Programming Tutorials: Tutorials showing how to use a library or application at a programmatic level - (3 pages, 1500 words)
  • Interviews: Introducing open source community members or organisations - (1-2 pages, 2500 words)
  • Developer Announcements: Announcements about recent changes/improvements to projects - (0.5 - 1 page, 750 words)

Production Team

Typical needs include volunteers to collect, edit, format articles and design/proof layout. Because layout is done using LaTeX, volunteers familiar with it are always appreciated. By having several editors and categories we spread the word out and reduce the overall load for each volunteer.

Each editor is in charge of:

  • looking through submitted articles
  • doing a brief review and perhaps fwd. them to another more experienced user/developer or other Reviewer
  • asking certain projects to submit articles (for volumes covering one subject)
  • check for layout errors, so that the final files can easily be merged with all other sections
  • optionally converting content to LaTeX if needed

Team Positions

  • Newsletter Chair: Tyler Mitchell
    • Announcing new vol./call for articles; announce release dates
  • Editor in Chief: Tyler Mitchell
    • Merging all sections, check for final version, asking all editors to submit final versions, etc.
  • Editor, News: Jason Fournier
    • Compiling general new items from past 6 months
  • Editor, Project Spotlights: Martin Wegmann
    • Solicit, collect, edit and reformat content
  • Editor, Case Studies: Micha Silver
  • Editor, Integration Studies: Martin Wegmann
  • Editor, Programming Tutorials: Landon Blake
  • Layout/Design: Kevin Yam
    • Designing and changing look and feel of publication

Open Positions

Interested in helping? This section lists current positions that need filling. If you have other interests, you are also welcome to add them for discussion.

  • Editor, Event Reports - Compiling information about OSGeo-related events and to find summary reports that could be included as part of the newsletter
  • Editor, Topical Studies
  • Spell/grammer-checker
  • Reviewers - You have particular expertise and can review certain kinds of articles for content. Somewhat like a peer reviewer too, so logical questions can be turned back to authors if needed.
  • Formating/Conversion - moving non-LaTeX content into LaTeX forms (each author/section Edt.has to check for latex errors etc.)
  • Sponsor - interested in sponsoring the newsletter creation?

Reviewers

Please list yourself below with name, e-mail and field of expertise to review certain articles - individual editors will contact you if necessary:

  • Landon Blake - Coordinate Geometry, Geodesy, Surveying, Applications of GIS to Public Works and Parcel/Cadastral Records Management
  • Micha Silver - Using GIS and GPS in agricultural pest control projects; watershed analysis

Submission of articles

Your article should be written in Latex. For instructions which format/style shall be used, please have a look at this working GRASS Newsletter Latex template. If you do not know Latex yet, don't be scared as it is quite easy. You might want to have a look at the Latex Cheat Sheet to get to know a few commands, e.g. how to enumerate, make tables etc. Please send your zipped document to the respective Editors (see below).

If Latex is a problem for you or your article, please discuss it with your editor. At their discretion, editors can choose to help you convert your content into a suitable format for publishing.

Newsletter Software

Based on GRASS-News (which was based on R News) Latex is recommended, but other publishing packages might be considered for forthcoming issues. (For example, Scribus has been recommended.)

Contributors ought to submit articles in Latex and images as pdf (high res jpg is fine as well, kim (inside kde) can convert them easily to pdf):

links to templates will go here

  • template for article
    • template for inserting images
    • template for inserting tables

They can be copied from GRASS-News LaTex template.

Process

  1. Confirm editors/volunteers
  2. Set deadlines
  3. Solicit articles
  4. Collect/edit/review articles
  5. Format to LaTeX
  6. Produce draft
  7. Set deadline for review
  8. Revisions
  9. Final production
  10. Press Release and promotion
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