From: macman@bernina.ethz.ch (Danny Schwendener)
Subject: README for FAQ file maintainers

Friends,

Thanks for your participation in the rec.scouting FAQ series. The
current FAQ set can be retrieved from ftp.ethz.ch through
anonymous ftp. (Path: rec.scouting/faq). The current how-to kit
for rec.scouting FAQ maintainers (this file and some other files)
can also be found there (Path: rec.scouting/maintainers).

There are currently nine FAQ files, namely:

0_introduction
1_skits/part1
1_skits/part2
2_scouting-around-the-world
3_games/part1
3_games/part2
3_games/part3
4_unit-administration
5_silk-screen
6_cub_leader-hints
7_fund-raising
8_USA-official-policies

I have more material available, but the volume is too small to make it
worth making a FAQ out of it at this time. (Samples are: mixed groups,
mixed leaders, coping with new young scouts/age gap, space derby
secrets, discrimination discussion, cub scout promise/law, jungle book
names, etc).

If you would like to work on one of the current files, let me know
before you start, to prevent duplicate work and to make the merging
easier. The file '00_faq-signouts' shows if a file is currently signed
out by someone for modification. Most of the currently signed out
files are permanently booked by their maintainers. 

If you're starting a new FAQ theme from scratch, use the current
FAQ files as framework and follow the instructions in this file
religiously (this will save you from having to re-edit your FAQ
completely to make it conformant to the *.answers and rfc1153
requirements).


FAQ WRITING GUIDELINES

In your maintenance work,please stick to the following simple rules.
They're here to to make life easier to the reader and to put some
consistence between the different files. 

 o Follow the rfc1153 guidelines. In summary, rfc1153 says to precede
   each article or new topic/chapter by a header composed of
   - a blank line, followed by
   - a line containing _exactly_ 30 dashes
   - a blank line
   - a Date: line (optional)
   - a From: line
   - a Subject: line
   - a blank line
   
   Although rfc1153 gives the order date-from-subject for the headers,
   most of the Usenet programs are intelligent enough to accept
   header lines in any order.
   
   rfc1153 by the way is the digest/FAQ standard for Internet. It
   allows FAQs and digests to be automatically 'undigested' by
   News reader programs such as rn or nn, and by gateways between
   Usenet and other BBS forum networks.
    
 o As first message in the file (preamble), describe the 
   contents of the file and how to read it. Use one of the
   current FAQ file preambles as framework.

 o Use the subject line to describe the contents of the article in
   one single line. E.g. from "Re: Re: Another fun game to play"
   to "Wide Games - Steal the Bacon"
 
 o Remove _all_ other header lines from the individual contributions
   (such as path, newsgroup, sender, lines, etc). The three permitted
   headers are From:, Subject: and Date:.

 o Remove _all_ signatures from the contributions, except for your
   own (optional) signature in the file preamble.
   
 o Keep an eye on the newsgroup for new articles that should be
   part of your FAQ. If you want to be more active, post a question
   which you would like to have developed in your file, collect the
   follow-ups and edit them using these guidelines.


SUBMITTING NEW RELEASES

Once you think that a new release of your FAQ is due, E-mail me a copy
at macman@bernina.ethz.ch or upload it with anonymous FTP to ftp.ethz.ch
(path /rec.scouting/maintainers/incoming) and let me know about it.

I'll add the new release to the FAQ set or replace the old version. 
The master site for all FAQ parts is ural.ethz.ch, which is also from 
where the files are automatically posted on the different newsgroups.
This will save us all from a lot of trouble resulting from de-sync'ed
FAQ sites and FAQs disappearing as the accounts of their maintainers
are dropped or renamed (see the debacle on misc.kids or one of
the music groups).

These are the only rules. Aside of this, you're free to do whatever
you think is best. I'll take care of the file header to have
it compatible to the news.answers posting requirements, but won't
change anything else in the file body without your consent. You
are the maintainer.

Here are a few additional suggestions to keep your FAQ up-to-date.
Feel free to follow or ignore them, depending on the spare time
and passion you have for this job...

 o If you have the time, edit the text to make it as concise as 
   possible, without removing the important information. 
   This becomes increasingly important in time: the larger a FAQ
   grows, the more tedious it gets to a reader to find the items
   of interest in it.

   However, be aware that editing is _the_ time-consuming task in 
   maintaining a FAQ file.

 o If you feel that the information you have is too small or incomplete
   to make a FAQ out of it, post a request on rec.scouting.
   You may also want to mail a copy of the request to the bitnet scouter
   mailing list scouts-l@tcubvm.is.tcu.edu. Collect the incoming replies and
   use them for your FAQ file. Don't forget to post a summary to the two
   newsgroups after some time, to satisfy the me-too's.

 
Thanks again for your help.


--
Danny "Spike" Schwendener                      macman@bernina.ethz.ch
Wolfsmeute Orion/Glockenhof, Sihlstr. 33, CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland
rec.scouting FAQ coordinator and ftp.ethz.ch scout archive maintainer