Section 7. Development and Management Processes for CompPile

7.1 The Indexing Process

CompPile depends on volunteers to index, or create records, for items that are published pertaining to the field of writing studies. This indexing can be done by uploading batches of records (each record is one article, chapter, or item), or one-by-one by an individual author (see 7.2). These volunteers are journal/book editors and/or editorial staff, individual scholars/volunteers, and students in graduate courses. Volunteers interested in indexing should the managing editor or any member of the editorial team listed on the website. Matching a volunteer to a journal or book will depend on that volunteer having access to it at their institution’s library, which has created difficulty in the past. Volunteers need to confirm they have access to at least tables of contents with page numbers, but electronic versions of journals (PDFs with page numbers are preferable if printed) and electronic articles with abstracts are preferred, due to the ease of cutting and pasting citation information and ability to gather page numbers.

Once a journal, book, or other item has been assigned to a volunteer and they’ve confirmed they have access to it, they can begin indexing. Below are the steps of that process:

  1. The CompPile Editor will send the volunteer the indexing Excel worksheets with the most recent formatting rules. It is important to follow the formatting rules, so the records upload correctly. Formatting rules include the order of authors’ names and separation by commas, the removal of curly (smart) quotes (‘ or “) in favor of straight ones (' "), the removal of all accents, and formatting the date column as text (not number). Further instructions and sample records are provided at the top of the indexing worksheet, including for book reviews, multiple authors, and special issues.
    1. RE: curly/smart quotes: To change preferences for quote format on a Mac in Word, Go to Word-> Preferences-> Autocorrect -> Autoformat as You Type-> Unclick “straight quotes with smart quotes.”
  2. The editor will instruct volunteers on which issues/volumes/items from that source have already been indexed (if applicable), so duplication does not occur. Still, it is recommended that volunteers search the CompPile database for relevant journal/book titles to ensure that they use the same version of the title as has been previously used by indexers, and to make sure they don’t duplicate work that has already been done.
  3. Volunteers enter all the relevant citation information into the spreadsheet, using one line per record, including the URL or DOI, if available. DOI is preferred. Multiple issues and journals can be indexed on the same spreadsheet. No extra notes or columns should be added. See the sections below for detailed discussion of the keyword and annotation fields.
  4. After all the records are entered, the spreadsheet should be emailed to the appropriate editor. The editor will submit it to the WAC Clearinghouse dropbox in csv format, so it can be uploaded into the database.

7.1.1 Keywords and Annotating. Two of the fields of a record are “keywords” and “annotation.” Knowledge of the discipline comes into play in identifying keywords and annotating an item in completing the indexing task. The keywords or “terms” in CompPile make up a comprehensive system that was created by Rich Haswell as he created CompPile and has been used for the majority of the records in the database. To identify keywords in Haswell’s system, it is recommended that an indexer have the CompPile Glossary open while indexing. The indexer can use the “custom search” and “potluck” field to search for appropriate terms. In the results, looking at the “definition” and “as distinct from” fields will help determine appropriate terms. Some of these terms are quirky, like:

  • wcenter (writing center)
  • fyc (first-year composition)
  • wpa (writing program administrator) and jwpa (pre-tenure WPA)
  • Hyphens are used to connect common words for a specific meaning (first-year-seminar)
  • “writing” is not a keyword in CompPile

It is better to use too many than too few terms, as this will help users find records. Matching Haswell keywords as much as possible will allow a scholar’s search to connect new records with older records in the database, and allow scholars to have a more comprehensive view of the discipline.

7.1.2 Adding Keywords. Adding new keywords when needed allows the indexer to represent the current vernacular of the field. New keywords allow the database to evolve and create networks of items that are related, helping scholars find these items. New keywords should be terms that are used more broadly than by a single scholar or publication; however, the indexer should use their judgment the importance of a term.

7.1.3 Annotations. Annotations are an optional part of a record. An annotation can be cut and pasted from the source; however, the indexer should remove all formatting that will not work in the upload process, like curly/smart quotes and accents.

7.2 Methods of Submission

CompPile utilizes a mixture of batch and individual submissions. This section details how these methods of submission work.

7.2.1 Batch Submissions: Contributing as a Journal Editor. Journal and book editors are encouraged to index their volumes as they are published in order to keep the database current. This is frequently a good task for a student worker, with supervision and guidance for keyword choices. These submissions should use the same formatting and keywords as discussed in 7.1.

7.2.2 Batch Submissions: Annotating or Indexing as a Class Project. Faculty can have their graduate students annotate existing records in CompPile or add new records. Faculty should contact a CompPile editor if they want to complete this project. These submissions should use the same formatting and keywords as discussed in 7.1.

7.2.3 Individual Submissions on the Website. Individual scholars can enter their own publications into CompPile by entering them directly on the website by clicking on “Add a publication.” That record will be reviewed and uploaded into the database. These submissions should use the same formatting and keywords as discussed in 7.1.

7.3 CompPile Resources/Research Bibliographies

CompPile hosts the WPA-CompPile Annotated Research Bibliographies, the NCTE Latina/o Caucus Publications List, the CBW Archive and History project, The Research Exchange, and other bibliographies and archives. Anyone interested in creating or updating an annotated bibliography or archive should contact a member of the CompPile Editorial Team.

7.4 Current Coverage

While CompPile has comprehensive representation of the field from 1939-1999, CompPile is currently indexing these journals partially or in full:

Assessing Writing

College Communication and Composition (CCC)

College English

Community Literacy Journal

Composition Forum

Composition Studies

Computers and Composition

Enculturation

Journal of Academic Writing

Journal of Basic Writing

Journal of Business and Technical Communication

Journal of Second Language Writing

Journal of Sociolinguistics

Journal of Writing Assessment

Journal of Writing Research

Kairos

Literacy in Composition Studies

Pedagogy

Peitho

Praxis

Present Tense

Prompt

Research in the Teaching of English

Rhetoric Review

Rhetoric Society Quarterly

Teaching English in the Two-Year College

Technical Communication (also as: Technical Communication: Journal of the Society for Technical Communication (begin-46.4, 1999))

TESOL Quarterly

Writing Lab Newsletter

WPA

Writing Center Journal

Written Communication