DB Admins

[omrail]

as per MikeOxlong i was recommend that I should ask these question here

Is there a point that if you are not active in you DB Admins role that you lose the states?

[blantonl]

Yes, Eric Carlson (our lead database administrator) review administrator participating and removes access for folks who don't participate over time.

Warm regards,

[omrail]

thank you Lindsay C. Blanton. I am asking this as some of use in Canada and on the western Canada forums are getting frustrated that it is taking up to half a mouth to have are Submissions worked on. It has been informed that there is 16 Admins for Canada of which 10 are not regularly active. we just like to see are effort to find out the info be added in a faster time frame and help other scanner hobbyist. also a member from western Canada i believe has sent a email to Eric Carlson saying he was not able to do the duty of a DB Admins at this time, but still has that icon.

I invite you to have a look at the current discussion on the western Canada forums. http://www.radioreference.com/forums...or-canada.html

Thank you

[lowboy654]

Originally Posted by omrail

thank you Lindsay C. Blanton. I am asking this as some of use in Canada and on the western Canada forums are getting frustrated that it is taking up to half a mouth to have are Submissions worked on. It has been informed that there is 16 Admins for Canada of which 10 are not regularly active. we just like to see are effort to find out the info be added in a faster time frame and help other scanner hobbyist. also a member from western Canada i believe has sent a email to Eric Carlson saying he was not able to do the duty of a DB Admins at this time, but still has that icon.

I invite you to have a look at the current discussion on the western Canada forums. http://www.radioreference.com/forums...or-canada.html

Thank you

Like you where told before You need to take this up with Eric. he is the only one outside of Lindsay that can Grant you access to be A Admin and is your best shot at this, and given the fact that you are kind of new here, you have a 50/50 shot at it.

[lowboy654]

P.S. I hope to welcome you to the DataAdmin forum.

[newtoscanning]

My two cents worth, they are probably looking for a database admin that has been with the forum for more than a few months (Prolly more than a few years), and that has more than just a few hundred posts.

As well they are probably looking for someone who has a 'insider' view as they can provide a bit more than just scanner end information. (Not that current DB Admin's are violating confidentially agreements with their employers, or that they are expected to; but when you work as a system tech, a dispatcher, sales/services/support, you are bound to know more than the average hobby scanner)

Likewise I don't think the DB Admin's get paid, so if it takes them 14 days to enter database information into the site, so be it. I'd much rather wait 30 days to get solid A+ information, then have weak/unconfirmed info entered immediately.

And for the people with tin foil hats on, no I didn't apply to become one, didn't even know you could apply.

[mtindor]

Originally Posted by newtoscanning

Likewise I don't think the DB Admin's get paid, so if it takes them 14 days to enter database information into the site, so be it. I'd much rather wait 30 days to get solid A+ information, then have weak/unconfirmed info entered immediately.

I have nothing to do with admining anything in CA. However, I can say that all of what you said is true and sensible. And we believe data integrity is key. Quantity doesn't matter if quality is sacrificed.

From the admin side of things (i've only been one for a few months), it's rough sometimes when submissions come in - they look legitimate, but unless an admin can confirm for themselves what is being submitted - we ultimately must put some amount of trust in the integrity of the submissions. How each admin determines the "value" of submission is likely unique among each admin. In my short tenure as a state admin, I have worked some submissions where those who submitted the information have a historical record in place of submitting quality information - which allowed me to put some trust in that submission based upon that fact alone. In the case of somebody "new" submitting information, I try to do a significant amount of research [but won't bore you with the details] before i'll add the information. I try to pick up and handle submissions as fast as I can, but this "research" takes time.

Fortunately, at least in the state where I admin, there are multiple admins - some familiar with a great portion of the state, some familiar with particular sections, and all of us intimately familiar with the particular counties where we live / work / play and that surround us. We try to leave the submissions for areas that we are unfamiliar with so that other admins who are more familiar with that area can pick them up and work them. But if an admin is unavailable to work it after a period of time, somebody else will pick it up and work it. If, for example, I had to pick up a submission for Hamilton Co, Ohio (other side of state from me, zero familiarity), I would be stumbling to determine whether the data is valid and how it should be entered into the DB - and I would have to have a bit of dialog with the submitter. Whereas, if radioscan (Mark) picked up the ticket he could determine much quicker if the submitted data was adequate for addition to the DB or if the submitter needed to provide more information, etc.

And, sometimes the submitted data is merely one piece of a 1000-piece puzzle. Think about a new P25 trunked system and all of the people submitting site information and talkgroups. In that case, some of it might get added quick and in other cases the submissions might become "owned" by an admin but "sat on" while more submissions flood in and a profile of the collective data is built and entered into the DB.

So it does take time - but we strive to process things as quickly as possible without sacrificing the quality of the data.

And, of course, I'm sure sometimes one of us just needs a kick in the butt

Mike

[colby4601]

And Mike makes the point of having more than one DB Admin for some states in some cases. My question is, why can't something like that happen in Canada? We have something like 10 Admins. That truly is unacceptable.

[ericcarlson]

I just skimmed the current pending submission queue and I see only one Canada submission and it was just submitted this afternoon. We have recently expanded the number of Canada admins and the roles of several admins. At this time, I don't see a problem with us being unable to handle the submission load in Canada (this is your invitation to submit away!).

In the interest of adding some transparency to the db admin selection process, I would like to provide some information on what we consider when evaluating new admins. First, there are no rigid rules; we evaluate a number of criteria and make a decision based on a combination of factors. Specifically, the things that we consider include the following:

• Content of the db admin application form.
• Length of time as a RR member.
• Forum participation (volume and quality).
• Submission history (volume and quality).
• Existing geographic coverage and geographic diversity.
• Opinions of any existing administrators in the relevant geographic area.

[omrail]

that is after I started to bring up the submission queue time in the western Canada forums the submissions in the queue were worked on. there has been a lot of green in the last 35h.

Originally Posted by mtindor

Fortunately, at least in the state where I admin, there are multiple admins - some familiar with a great portion of the state, some familiar with particular sections, and all of us intimately familiar with the particular counties where we live / work / play and that surround us. We try to leave the submissions for areas that we are unfamiliar with so that other admins who are more familiar with that area can pick them up and work them. But if an admin is unavailable to work it after a period of time, somebody else will pick it up and work it. If, for example, I had to pick up a submission for Hamilton Co, Ohio (other side of state from me, zero familiarity), I would be stumbling to determine whether the data is valid and how it should be entered into the DB - and I would have to have a bit of dialog with the submitter. Whereas, if radioscan (Mark) picked up the ticket he could determine much quicker if the submitted data was adequate for addition to the DB or if the submitter needed to provide more information, etc

That is what I was trying for. now that ericcarlson has confirmed that he expanded the number of Canada admins I hope that we can now have what you have in Ohio. In the time frame I was talking about above all were open non were owned. If it showed owned I would not have a problem.

Thank you and have a good night every one.

[MikeOxlong]

Originally Posted by colby4601

And Mike makes the point of having more than one DB Admin for some states in some cases. My question is, why can't something like that happen in Canada?

Who says that we don't already have more then one Admin per province in Canada?

[MikeOxlong]

Originally Posted by omrail

that is after I started to bring up the submission queue time in the western Canada forums the submissions in the queue were worked on. there has been a lot of green in the last 35h.

Your post in the Western Canada forum had nothing to do with it.

Lindsay and Eric challenged the Global Admin's to clear some of the backlog of older submissions and at that point, I noticed Jay911 hadn't taken care of anything for a while. I was unaware that he had stepped down as a Database Admin but figured he must have been busy so I stepped in and worked the submissions.

Global Admin's have always deferred submissions to Local Admin's. Only when a submission sits for a while or the Global Admin knows that there isn't a Local Admin to handle the submission, will they work it. In this case, I left the submissions for Jay911 to handle.

Now that I know he's not handling submissions anymore, I have been keeping a closer eye on anything for Western Canada.

Hopefully the lag time between the submission and the database entry time will be shorter now.

[stuck22]

Do we get to find out who the new DB Admins are?