[vsnet-chat 7542] re VSX submissions

[substellar at Safe-mail.net]

The AAVSO VSX new submission and revision subroutine part of the AAVSO VSX is a webform for inputting requested data, currently unavailable as explained below.

However, that is all it is.  The AAVSO VSX team of volunteer and staff based moderators then take that structured information (there are guidelines on what information is required with respect to a newly submitted and/or revised variable star) and examine it.  Given it passing, and/or further modification and then it passing, the system would then include it within AAVSO VSX.

However!  Currently new submissions are being included in AAVSO VSX, regularly.  This is likely because staff and moderators have another pathway for including new sumbissions and/or admissions into the system, and often these new objects come in an unstructured and unorganised form, either from the literature (with at times full articles having to be gleaned in order to obtain all relevant details needed) or via personal details from professionals in instances like the inclusion of a new object for a pro-am collaboration.

Therefore the only thing broken in AAVSO VSX submission is the webform, the rest of the procedure and mechanism is extant.

Thus it would be simplicity itself for new submissions and or revisions to be forwarded in a simple format email, with each needed datum presented a line at a time for example, with any necessary evidential light curve images and/or ascii formatted photometric data as attachments, to some temporary email address, for example aavsovsxsubmit at aavso.org .

As there already exists at least one if not two private AAVSO VSX moderators' maillists (according to what I have heard from four or five moderators over the years, and from an honorary non-AAVSO member of one of the lists) via which moderators can discuss submissions if needs be, it only needs for these emails to be forwarded to the moderators, bypassing the simple submission problem (ie the broken webform, which in effect is the least part of the entire pipeline/procedure) and then utilising the already extant moderating system and subsequently the ability of moderators and staff to include new submissions in AAVSO VSX, itself not a difficult task.

A simple redirection link on the submission form at AAVSO VSX could lead submitters to a webpage carrying an example template of the required email design/format and the submission address, and given the formal structure of AAVSO VSX summary pages such a design would not need to be very involved.  Probably take an hour to set such a thing up, including redirection url, itself a nontrivial addition.

I repeat, only submission is broken by all accounts, which is nothing compared to moderation and examining of the submissions by humans.

Given that quite a few AAVSO staff members and or council members have over time expressed openly on webarchived mailling lists their thoughts that GCVS no longer performed in this respect and that they felt they could replace it, and that they [AAVSO] should do this instead, even to the extent of the AAVSO director proposing similar at IAU triennial meetings, the statement of indeterminate suspension below is somewhat tongue in cheek considering the reason being given.

Resources at GCVS, or lack thereof, appear to have caused lag over time in inclusion of new objects, or new namelists.  That is, a tangible lack of resources.  Real reasons.  AAVSO VSX however has made great store of claiming it is the new provider of new variable star information, and that it is a primary product of AAVSO, which should be entrusted with the task of dissiminating such.

However, what has now occured in the statement below is tantamount to a store that retails a small line of specialised products stating that one of their promised core specialised lines would be unavailable for the foreseeable future because staff were too busy putting a new coat of paint on the store front.

Below can be interpreted more as a lack of will and management than a valid reason for AAVSO VSX to be unable to accept submissions.

John

Arne Henden wrote :-

"The AAVSO upgraded their web server a couple of weeks ago.
The old one was quite old, running operating system and
language software that was several revisions out of date.
The new computer came with the latest-and-greatest versions,
but unfortunately, the existing VSX code didn't run properly
under the new architecture.

Chris Watson has updated most of the VSX program, so that
you can access the variable-star database as normal.  However,
what has not yet been converted are major portions of the
administrative features.  This means that new variable star
submissions cannot be approved by the moderators.

Chris is currently working on the new AAVSO web site, and
it may be a few weeks before he has a chance to fix the
remaining portions of the VSX program and we can again
start approving new submissions.  Those stars that are submitted
are not lost; they are queued up and will be reviewed by the
moderators as soon as possible.  However, please bear with us
during this transition period and don't get too worried if your
discovery doesn't show up in the main catalog for a while.
Thanks!

Arne Henden
Director, AAVSO"