Goodreads Ireland discussion
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New Moderator and Discussion of Group Guidelines
Thanks for starting the thread, Sara. I like your idea of moderators from different geographical locations. I hate to be the first to rule myself out of an interest in the job, but I'm going to do that early...
I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but assuming Barbara and Cathleen don't want to take on the role, I think Sara would be an excellent moderator, in terms of her enthusiasm for reading, her wide and varied literary knowledge, her technical know how and, of course, her affable nature.
@ Sara if you are interested in the job I think you would be fantastic :-)
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My biggest concern is the time commitment. While I currently don't have a full time job, I hope that changes in the next 6 months or so. I currently have 2 part time ones, and I'm the co-director for a small LGBT conference (which takes up quite a bit of time).
I would like to purpose that whoever we pick, that their term initially be limited to 6 months (with an option for them to "re-up" if they still have interest/time and the group is happy with them). This way, nobody gets stuck for too long is they're unhappy.
I also think this thread would be a good place to discuss some not rules...but guidelines.
Some ideas I had:
(1) In the Chunksters group I belong to, if you nominate a book you are committing to read it and lead the discussion on it. That way the moderator(s) don't have to read every single book. This would also cut down on the number of nominations (making the moderators job of creating the poll easier)
(2) I'd like folks to really try to keep discussions in the appropriate thread (just for example, no long discussions of gun control in the book review thread :o)). I know I've gone to look for a book review somebody has posted and not been able to find it, because it has gotten buried. On most internet discussion forums I've been on, it's possible for moderators to move a message from one thread to another. If that's possible on Goodreads and if elected moderator, that's a power I'd use :o).
I quite like both suggestions. Its a bit ridiculous only seeing members once a month in the nominations thread and then getting forty books. To that point I'd add that if you vote for a book you undertake to read it , as your vote could be the deciding factor between popular choices.I'd like a moderator to step in on a thread if its gone badly off topic. Moving to Nothing to Do With Books or stopping altogether make sense.
To that I'd like to see a specific Buddy Read folder and Monthly Read Folder. There's a danger of having too many folders if every book has its own folder.
Sara you're looking a better bet by the minute :-) I agree that we should exert some self control with regard to staying on topic. I also think your suggestion about nominations makes a lot of sense. People will be more careful with their nominations and will lessen the burden on the mod.
Just checking....cathleen hasn't stated whether she's taking up the role yet or not??
Emma, you beat me to it-I was just about to suggest your name! You are someone who keeps well up with literary goings on, and also have a wide reading interest which compliments Sara's. I think you'd both make a great team! :)
At Emma I think you would represent the Irish wonderfully :-)
Fair play Emma. As a very active member you'll be great. You'll have to buy the coffee for visitors
@Seraphina. If Cathleen wants to moderate as well three could be the perfect number and split the time issue much better.
Well done for volunteering and its great to see both of you are already looking at ways of improving the group.
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I just messaged Cathleen to make sure she knew that Declan had listed her as a moderator when he left. I linked her to this thread and hope she chimes in soon. I agree that three moderators would be a good number.
I also like that if you three or two are Moderators you guys will cover a great range of book tastes between you.
@ Sara and Emma thank you for taking on the responsibilty. If there's anything we can do to help as you both settle in, let us know.
With regards to rules about whoever nominates a book leads the discussion, that may not always work. So I nominate a book which wins but I end up having a hectic couple of weeks and work overtime and don't get to read it until the end of the month....what happens then? Too many rules could hamper the flow of the group. Generally the book that wins has alot of active members discussing it anyway so are you dismissing perhaps some interesting recommendations by insisting the nominee leads???
Just playing devils advocate here
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Seraphina . I suupose a little common sense will come into play there. A very active member such as your self nominates a book but then gets caught up in stuff I can't imagine it being an issue. There are however members who's only ever post is a nomination and they have no intention of taking part in any discussion.
@ Seraphina I'm sure some flexibility will be allowed but in general if the person who nominates opens the discussion it will mean that the mod can also fit the book into their schedule rather than straight away. We are pretty good at getting discussions going so we will take into account when someone is particularly busy.
Ya I see what ye are saying, I just think it will be hard to enforce. You can't make people participate therefore could end up being a redundant rule
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Guidelines might be a better term than rules I suppose for some of the thoughts. I'd like to see a definition on Author / Promoters nominations and posts across the board. I've seen some new members promote a book in 5 or 6 threads before disapearing into the ether.I like to think we are primarily a reader group but at stages we are swamped with writers promoting.
Well maybe we should get our new mods installed and settled and then we can talk more about rules/guidelines.
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Hi all, I'm catching up on the thread, just home from work....I have a heavy teaching load, committee work, and a research/writing project, so I can't be a moderator. Thanks for all the kind words, though. Emma and Sara, you'll be wonderful moderators. Thank you both for volunteering.
Now I'm off to see about the instructions Sara sent.
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So Barbara has added me as the moderator. I'm going to be doing some folder/topic cleaning up tonight. I apologize if people have trouble finding things. So far I've started a Buddy Reads folder and moved the "Whose Body" and "Jane Eyre threads there.
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I've also changed the name of this thread to reflect that we're also talking about what guidelines the group should follow.
As a reminder right now the group info (which everyone gets when they join) says "Please introduce yourself in the Introductions Folder. It's not compulsory, but it would be nice to meet you.
When making a new discussion, make sure to put it in the correct folder category!
Please don't post spoilers unless explicitly stated in the heading of your discussion!
Please be polite. We don't want discussions to get out of control. Moderators may have to remove offensive comments. If somebody is harassing you on the forums please contact the moderator.
*Please note that Goodreads Ireland is primarily a book club and discussion forum. It is important that our selection procedures remain in the spirit of the group. This means that any reading nomination made by a member should be with the intention of generating discussion with other members. NOT for the purpose of promoting a given novel. Practises such as canvassing outside of the group will result in a nomination being disqualified.
Other practises deemed against the spirit of the group will also result in disqualification.
I believe the group has worked quite well under the current guidelines, I wouldn't like to see an introduction of a whole heap of new ones that could destroy the ebb and flow of the current group.
I can't see the older group read duscussions. Have they moved.
Its great to have the Mods as part of the Group reads but i certainly wouldn't force it on them . Declan contrubuted so much but left as the time involved got too much . If onr of the Mods takes part that will be great .I think most of what has beeb suggested by people so far is in the group guidelines so its more a gentle nudging than drastic change really.
I don't think we need an overhaul at all. But a little tweaking with a test period as Emma suggested sounds good to me
On the folders issue it seems there is only a limited number of folders the Goodreads Android App can see so I can only navigate to twelve folders and can't see older book discussions on my phone
I would just like to say that I have been with this group since it first started, as we split from another group that had too many rules. I liked the way Declan ran the group, I understand he probably got a bit overwhelmed with the whole thing, I wish he had asked for help rather than just deleting his profile. I hope the ethos of this group does not change too much as I have left other groups due to the mods being a bit too controlling.
Kate
I can't see it all changing too much Kate. A little stream lining maybe. Sara and Emma are very sensible.
At the end of the day, it's the active members in the group that have created the ethos that it currently has. The fact that we have two valued members of the group 'taking the reins' will help maintain this. All the ideas that I've seen posted above are sensible and in my opinion will only help things run well. I'm very pleased that Sara and Emma are giving up their time in taking up the joint post-it's put us on a sound footing again very quickly-thank you! :)
Emma you're in as moderator. Thanks so much to Sara and Emma.Just as the _ _ _ _ hit the fan here, the same happened at work and yesterday I was dealing with work from 9am til 9 PM and starting at 7:30 this morning.
I think the issue of polls is worth some discussion. I know that occasionally I vote in polls in other groups in which I am otherwise inactive. I never considered how it might throw the vote. But the books I vote for in those groups don't win. I think if they did I'd read them. In other words, I am a GR member who belongs to other groups. I read the discussions but seldom comment. Lurking is OK. Being a research scientist, perhaps someone who is interested, can look at the previous votes and see who voted on the winning books.
Authors have always been welcome to nominate their own books, including self-published books.They rarely get many votes, though we have read at least two books by members - The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie Mc Gill and Bending the Boyne by JS Dunn. Both are physical books as well as ebooks I think the incident that Sara is thinking of when she posted her proposed guideline was that one month an author joined GRI just before a monthly poll and then seemedly recruited others (friends, family) to join GRI to vote for his book. This was pretty blatant manipulation so Declan removed the nomination and told the group why he had done so.
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D.C. probably is not as exciting a destination to folks as Dublin (although I quite like it), but if folks ever make it here I can buy you coffee and show you one of the best independent bookstores around. You will, however, be responsible for the purchase of your own books. My wallet is not that deep!
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I thinks its a great suggestion as it reduces the number of folders and will make it easier to access on android
And feel free to use sreamline and guidlines as much as you want
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Sorry for the confusion . I think less main folders will help us all in the long run.
Its a hard cal JL . Some people are members a long time but have never posted. I like how welcoming this group genrally is to new members and its great to get them involved straight away as well.
I suppose we can ask nicely in the email that people only vote if they intend to participate at some stage . A gentle request rather than a rigid rule
I don't think we've ever had more than 50 votes in a poll, it must be added, certainly in my time anyway.
But if you've joined a book group , then voted for a book , it would be nice to think it means you intend to read and discuss it if it wins.Thats not forcing anyone . Life can get in the way of course and thats understandable but i honestly believe there's a fair number vote with zero intention of reading or discussing that book . Thats what annoys me. Its unfair on the people who really do want to contribute. I dont read every group read but Thats when they arent ones I'm interested in and I didn't vote for.
Just on a side note. I do know a member of this group who reads the monthly read but doesn't ever comment so that is something else to think about.
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Once we decide I assume there's some kind of tool/mechanism by which Barbara (and Cathleen if she's not interested) can transfer the moderator position. I think that at least one moderator should be from Ireland (as this is Goodreads Ireland) and one should be from somewhere in the Americas. Since we're a geographically diverse group discussions happen at all hours, and I imagine that makes it hard for a sole moderator to keep track of. There's also nothing to stop us from having more than two moderators. At least one moderator should be comfortable learning how the technical tools Goodreads has work, so he or she can offer advice.