The continuation of my reply....
Rich Chrylser wrote:
> Believe me, if everything that was to go into the guidelines was up for
> discussion by a forum like this list, we'd never get anything accomplished.
> It's involved enough with the 11 or so people on the steering committee.
I disagree. Put a system in place so you can manage the suggestions;
open source software projects do it all the time.
One system I would suggest is to "freeze" a certain section of the
Guidelines for a number (two?) of years, so that it wouldn't change.
This might accomplish two things. First, it would allow someone who is
restoring their car to be sure that the Guidelines are somewhat stable
through a period of time, so that the Guidelines aren't so much of a
"moving target". Second, it would allow the Committee and the "many
eyes" to concentrate on areas that are being updated, channeling
everyone's efforts.
Plus, think of the wealth of information you could get. I have seen at
least one place in the Guidelines where there is a footnote that says
"Five original examples have been found this way." What if that five
could be turned in to 10 or 15, or more?
> As for the "many eyes" idea, we already have a system to introduce material
> for each new year's guidelines and that is for the 11 committee members to
> always be open to individual's accurate, concise data so the committee can
> research and review for inclusion each winter for the next year's edition.
With the limited number of Guidelines distributed every year, I would
have to say that the Committee's system would be a "few eyes", rather
than "many eyes". An excellent start, flawed only because of the limited
circulation.
> Now, let's get back to fixing our Healeys.
That's what I am trying to help everyone do!
John
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