Missing top level category, how to volunteer?

Hello,

I have noticed that the science category of DMOZ is missing an the important subcategory of ultraviolet light. This is a category that really does deserve its own treed somewhere on DMOZ. Is there a way to help to develop this category?

Thanks,
Chris

Where do you think it would fit in the directory? How many sites can you suggest which might fit in the category?

The Metas have been known to accept editor applications which state the intent of creating and maintaining a subcategory.

>>Where do you think it would fit in the directory?<<
Good question and something that I think would require some collaboration with some of the other editors and category admin. This issue came up after trying to submit our site to DMOZ and being unable to really find the right category.

>>How many sites can you suggest which might fit in the category?<<
Hundreds easily, although I suspect that some of the currently listed sites would probably transfer over to the new categories.

Where would be a good place to start should, who can I contact to find out more information about it? (i.e. an editor or a moderator within the DMOZ science tree).

I think it will likely be my father who applies as editor as this is his area of expertise. At this point I'd just like to gather some more information on it. If you're interested, here's a link to his credentials when it comes to ultraviolet. (http://www.boltonuv.com/consulting/945/). He is a consultant in the field still but this won't be a conflict of interest.

I could see a future category for this in http://dmoz.org/Science/Physics/Optics/

The way to go about getting there would be to become an editor for a related or sub-category. The Optics category itself is too large for a new editor, but one of the sub-categories would be good for a new editor who has some experience in the field. Then you would be able to build up an Ultraviolet category offline in what we call your Bookmarks, and then make a proposal to the Science editors that your offline category be moved into the live directory.

That's the category I was thinking of, too. There's also http://dmoz.org/Science/Physics/Education/Light_and_Optics/ as a possibility.

I've been thinking about this some as well, I've forwarded the thread to my father as well and will let him comment more on it.

Either of the categories listed could work, another that might be a slightly better fit is:
chemistry -> photochemistry -> UV

I agree with donaldb and etoile that http://dmoz.org/Science/Physics/Optics/
is the right area for this. Keep in mind that the Science branch is for informational sites, not business or shopping sites, although there can be links to appropriate related categories under the Business and Shopping branches. Another thing to keep in mind is that we try to represent all the logical subtopics under a topic (even though there may be more sites for one than another.)

In this case, I could see something like a new subcat under Optics called "Light", with subcats for the various portions of the spectrum.

Science/Physics/Optics/
--Light
----Infrared
----Visible
----Ultraviolet
----Microwave_and_Radio_Frequency

etc.

If you apply, you can apply to the parent category and propose a new subcat. However, if you do, I would include additional URLs in the "reason for application" so the reviewer can see that there are enough sites to justify a new subcat.

Good Luck!

lissa said:

If you apply, you can apply to the parent category and propose a new subcat. However, if you do, I would include additional URLs in the "reason for application" so the reviewer can see that there are enough sites to justify a new subcat.

Click to expand...

Actually, we probably wouldn't accept an application for http://dmoz.org/Science/Physics/Optics/ as it's a bit too large for a new editor, and we don't typically create new sub-categories when we are approving new applications. It happens, but it's rare. As I mentioned above we would prefer that someone apply for a smaller category and then work on creating the proposed sub-category in their personal Bookmarks category.