The Help Desk Committee -- Annual Report
========================================

by: Matthew Darwin


Introduction
------------

Since it's inception in April 1994, the Help Desk Committee under the
direction of Matthew Darwin (aa673) has been attempting to do many of the
following tasks: 
 
  *  answering all questions asked on the help desk, or
     forwarding the question to the appropriate individual(s) or
     location(s).
  *  developing tools that help to diagnose problems. "gripe"
     command, "report a bad modem", ...
  *  keeping help files current.
  *  producing a other version(s) of all the help documents found
     on the help desk.
  *  user education.


Highlights of in 1994
---------------------

April: 
  - Formed as a Task Force as a result of the
    approval of the volunteer co-ordination strategy with the recruitment of
    Matthew Darwin to lead the project
    - Menu area set up under "go helpers"
May: 
  - Conversion from Task Force to Committee.
    - Menu area moved to "go sub-comm"
June: 
  - First public meeting run by the Help Desk
    - Format: Users can come and ask questions
    - Subsequent meetings first Tuesday of every month.
      - Format: Introduction for new users3
  - Creation of Documentation sub-committee
    - Mandate: deal with all documentation aspects of the Help Desk Committee
    - Interim Chair: Miranda Gray (ak717)
July: 
  - Appointment of Heather MacFadyen (ai529) as Documentation Committee Chair.
  - Overhaul of "go help-desk" into sub-committees
  - Implementation of help@freenet.carleton.ca so users who do not
    have NCF accounts can ask questions.  Mail to "test" also goes here.
August:
  - Development of outline for training course by Dan Gallant
September: 
  - Start of the Survival Guide revision project.
October:
  - Survival Guide re-written and published.  
    - People working on the project: Matthew Darwin, Colin Dickinson, Pat
      Drummond, Miranda Gray, Ben Kennedy, Heather MacFadyen, Don McCallum
November: 
  - Public meeting for beginners pre-empted to give a session introducing
    the Municipal Elections Project.
  - Revisions and updates to the Survival Guide.  The survival guide project
    brought in $900 ($8 per copy) from November 1994 to February 1995.
December
  - Creation of dynamic FAQ via ncf.help.answers

Miscellaneous projects
  - Minor revision and enhancements to on-line documentation proceeded
    as new functionality was added
  - On-going recruitment of volunteers to help out with projects


Challenges and Recommendations for 1995
---------------------------------------

 - move the Help Desk Committee and it's sub committees into the new
   volunteer co-ordination strategy.
   - Help Desk Task Force
   - Documentation Task Force
   - User Education Task Force
 - find leaders for each of these new Task Forces
 - Help Desk
   - deal more efficiently with the increasing number of questions asked.
     possibilities:
     - break down ncf.admin into sub-groups
     - development of a "gripe" system
     - enhancement of Frequently Asked Questions file and newsgroup
       (creation of a FAQ database)
   - work with the Documentation Task Force to update on-line documentation
   - continue to ensure that all questions asked in ncf.admin and
     ncf.help.* get prompt answers (within 4 days)
 - Documentation
   - Publishing:
     - revise and re-print the Survival Guide in April and October
     - create Information Provider Guide
   - Documentation
     - create help for new services provided by the Hardware/Software
       committee
     - Work with the Help Desk to update existing on-line documentation
 - User Education
   - Develop training course & meeting outlines
     - Monthly public meeting: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Policy,
       Behind the scenes, etc...
     - Training courses: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
   - Run sessions according to those outlines


Help Desk Volunteers in 1994
----------------------------

aa103 Kathy Crabbe
aa328 Sandy Shaw
aa331 Al Seaman
aa610 Ian D. Allen
aa673 Matthew Darwin
aa724 Jessica Cohen
aa937 Noreen Dertinger
ab149 Arleigh Crawford
ab388 Jules E. Lafrance
ab401 Paul Tomblin
ab627 Ed Barrick
ac534 Colin Henein
ad995 Pat Drummond
ai529 Heather MacFadyen
ai578 Slawek Chmiel
aj218 Arie Peter Valstar
aj672 Wojciech Peszko
ak717 Miranda Gray
ak915 Francisco Zain De Freitas
al326 Robert Hawley
an171 Anthony Hill
an626 Jack Wilson
an803 Eric Paquette
ar077 Colin Dickinson
ar251 Kerry Scrivens
at722 Meyer Kalin
aw785 Ben Kennedy
az253 Ginette Leduc
az311 Michel Charlebois