-- DATASET MANAGER DUTIES --

The position of Dataset Manager (DM) will replace the RAL 1-year position. 
A member volunteering for a 2-year position on the EC will serve one year 
as a regional EC. The year of training will coincide with the first year 
on the EC. Then s/he will change to the DM position for the second year. 
His/her regional position will be considered vacant when the next call for 
volunteers goes out to the membership. An exception would occur if a 
former DM returned to the EC for a new term. In that case the chair could 
appoint the former DM to the position again on an "as needed' basis.

Duties of the DM include, but are not limited to:

1. New member adds

2. Project adds to members’ records
--As new members and projects are added, the DM and EC are making every 
effort to also add the dates and specific county.  Adding dates is 
important for verification if a member decides to run for an office.  
When the date joined is not sent by the SC, the date of notification is 
the one used.

3. Member removals when s/he has no other projects
--There is a box to record the date of his/her removal.

4. Member project removals
--On the personal data page there is a "Notes" box.  When s/he removes a 
project but remains an active member, the information is recorded there. 
This note box is not visible to the member viewing their record.

5. Email address updates
 
6. Approve records that the member has accessed
  --An automatic notification is sent to the EC mail list when a member 
accesses their records.  The programming places a "Check Me" in the 
record. The EC regional member verifies any project additions or removals. 
The DM checks for name changes and/or spelling corrections, email address 
updates, password changes, and whether the member has checked the "No 
Mail" box or has registered to vote. Once all information is corrected and 
in the master spreadsheet, the records are marked "Approved."  Sometimes 
this involves cleaning a member's records. The position data is added by 
state, position and/or project. Each position creates a line in the 
member's records. The easiest way to explain this is to give an example. 
The member held the position in the state of "Military Records."
  a. State - LA
  b. Position - LC
  c. County or Local Project Name/Description - Military Records

That is what the record should have looked like.  Instead the member added 
a separate line for each war. All of those lines had to be deleted.

7. Periodically the DM checks the UNAPPROVED list in the dataset to make 
sure that the automatic notification has occurred for all registrations. 
If the DM finds a record that was accessed but notification not received:
   a. The DM will send a message through the EC mail list including the 
information that is in a usual Registration notification.
   b. From this point the record is updated as per the guidelines in #6.

8. Bounces
The DM checks the Bounce spreadsheet for any email addresses that were 
previously recorded.  Records are marked by the number of bounces received 
from a member's email address. When the third bounce is received, the 
record is marked as "Check Me" and their voter registration is unchecked. 
This keeps the password from bouncing. If the member is going to vote they 
write to the EC. This enables the EC to receive a new email address. 
The records are reset and the DM sends the information to Larry for 
uploading. Bounces are collected into lists by region and sent to the 
appropriate EC regional member. The EC member then sends a letter 
requesting updated email addresses to the SC, with a cc to the region’s 
AB representatives.

9. During the year the DM regularly runs a duplicate email list.  Most 
duplicate emails are caused by:
  a. Two members sharing one email address.
  b. A duplicate record was accidentally created and is now in the dropped 
section. To keep these records from showing up on the list, the email 
address is renamed xxx@duplicate.net. A second advantage to running this 
duplicate email list is the opportunity to find and correct any 
duplications the DM has accidentally made, e.g., giving two members the 
same email address.

10. If a member is having problems with their password, the DM can request 
permission from the member to reset the password.

11. June and July are the busiest times for the DM. During June the site 
is closed for new members to be entered, but the DM must also make sure 
that all new voter registrations are approved, email address updates are 
done and members no longer with the project are removed, so that they do 
not receive a password.

12. Throughout the year the DM and the programmer work together to resolve 
members' access problems and questions concerning the dataset. During the 
National Election Larry becomes the DM’s best friend as he works on voter 
problems, resets the database because of email changes, and resends 
passwords. All of this interaction leads to changes and improvements in 
the dataset. Larry has been wonderful about working with the EC to add 
features that make our work easier and more accurate. Note: The DM always 
copies the chair when contacting the programmer.

13. BACKUP DATASET
   a. Sign in using your “all” password.
   b. The first page is the EC Oversight Members.
   c. Go to the bottom of the page:
      i. Make listserv file
     ii. Email copy of datafile to:
        1. Empty box – put your email addy here.
        2. Hit send.
The backup of the dataset will now be emailed to you.  This needs to be 
done on a weekly basis.

14. The DM will provide the membership numbers for the quarterly report to 
the AB.
    a. Number of members
    b. Number of members removed
       i. Number of members removed with no other projects.


One EC member's comment as we were working on the Manual: "My 
opinion...when you put it all together,…[we] have to do new/adds, 
removals, page checks, email checks, etc., at the same time. Somehow...the 
AB needs to understand that. The DM is a technical position, not unlike 
the Web Page manager they are discussing right now."