Do you want to rescue at-risk fan archives? Do you know MySQL? Would you like to help wrangle AO3 tags? The Organization for Transformative Works is recruiting!
We’re excited to announce the opening of applications for:
- Open Doors Staff – closing Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
- Open Doors Technical Volunteer – closing Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
- Tag Wrangling Volunteer – closing Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 100 applications]
- Tag Wrangling Volunteer (Russian) – closing Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 35 applications]
We have included more information on each role below. Open roles and applications will always be available at the volunteering page. If you don’t see a role that fits with your skills and interests now, keep an eye on the listings. We plan to put up new applications every few weeks, and we will also publicize new roles as they become available.
All applications generate a confirmation page and an auto-reply to your e-mail address. We encourage you to read the confirmation page and to whitelist our email address in your e-mail client. If you do not receive the auto-reply within 24 hours, please check your spam filters and then contact us.
If you have questions regarding volunteering for the OTW, check out our Volunteering FAQ.
Open Doors Staff
Are you interested in the rescue and preservation of fanworks? Enjoy coordinating projects and liaising with people? Still guiltily–or not so guiltily–love the first fanwork that opened your eyes to fandom?
Open Doors is a committee dedicated to preserving fanworks in their many native formats, and is looking for volunteers to support this goal. The work we do preserves fan history, love, and dedication to fandom: we keep online archives from going down, divert fanzines from the trash, and more.
If you’re interested, click on through for a fuller description of what we’re looking for and the time commitment.
Applications are due Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Open Doors Technical Volunteer
Do you know MySQL and want to rescue at risk fan archives?
The Open Doors project receives many requests to rescue fan sites which are at risk of disappearing because their owners can no longer maintain them. The sites we import to the Archive Of Our Own range from database-driven archives based on common software packages like eFiction and Automated Archive, to hand-coded HTML sites that are over twenty years old!
As a technical volunteer for Open Doors, you will process the contents of legacy sites to do the following:
- analyse the original data to find all the content and metadata needed for the import
- remove spam, legacy navigation and personal information from HTML files
- convert tags to official AO3 tags as specified by the Tag Wrangling team
- ensure chapters are correctly combined into complete works
- resolve duplicates, such as works already imported to AO3 by their creators or previous imports
- convert the cleaned data to MySQL tables in a standard format that can be ingested automatically into the Archive
As the person responsible for ensuring that all the content from the original site is correctly imported to the AO3, you will have an excellent eye for detail and an ability to work independently within the rules of Open Doors. You will also liaise regularly in chat with other Open Doors volunteers, keeping them up to date with your progress on your assigned tasks.
Applications are due Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Tag Wrangling Volunteer
The Tag Wranglers are responsible for helping to connect and sort the tags on AO3! Wranglers follow internal guidelines to choose the tags that appear in the filters and auto-complete, which link related works together. (This makes it easier to browse and search on the archive, whether that’s Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán with ABO Dynamics, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark with angst, g-rated Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam fluff, or Jeon Jungkook & Kim Taehyung | V Are Childhood Friends.)
If you’re an experienced AO3 user who likes organizing, working in teams, or excuses to fact-check your favorite fandoms, you might enjoy tag wrangling! To join us, click through to the job description and fill in our application form. There will also be a short questionnaire that will help us assess whether you have the skills and attributes that will lead to your success in this role.
Please note: You must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role, we’re currently looking for wranglers for specific fandoms only, which will change each recruitment round. Please see the application for which fandoms are in need.
Wranglers need to be fluent in English, but we welcome applicants who are also fluent in other languages, especially af Soomaali (Somali), Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian), Español (Spanish), Italiano (Italian), Polski (Polish), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), Українська (Ukrainian), తెలుగు (Telugu), ไทย (Thai) and 中文 (Chinese) — but help with other languages would be much appreciated!
Applications are due Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 100 applications]
Tag Wrangling Volunteer (Russian)
The Tag Wranglers are responsible for helping to connect and sort the tags on AO3! Wranglers follow internal guidelines to choose the tags that appear in the filters and auto-complete, which link related works together. (This makes it easier to browse and search on the archive, whether that’s Roque Alva/Richard Oakdell romance, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark with angst, g-rated Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam fluff, or Jeon Jungkook & Kim Taehyung | V Are Childhood Friends.)
If you’re a fluent Russian speaker who likes organizing, working in teams, or excuses to fact-check your favorite fandoms, you might enjoy tag wrangling! To join us, click through to the job description and fill in our application form. There will also be a short questionnaire that will help us assess whether you have the skills and attributes that will lead to your success in this role.
Please note: You must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. We’re currently looking for applicants who are fluent in both English and Russian. The work will involve both regular Tag Wrangling work and translating tags from Russian into English.
Applications are due Wednesday 14 July 2021 at 23:59 UTC [or after 35 applications]