American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Tue, 06/11/2024 - 14:39
Hi
Is anyone else having trouble getting their spectra validated? Mine have been in the "pending" status for over two months. They seem to be spend all of their time on alerts at the expense of everything else.
Please remember that the validation of the spectra is performed by volunteers, that also might have other duties and activities within the AAVSO and their normal pay jobs. They do not receive a dime for their efforts and valuable help from the AAVSO, so please be patient and, most of all, empathic.
I appreciate the concern about spectra in the validation queue for extended periods of time and the above comment asking for patience. I would only add that the work to validate the spectra is not by multiple persons, but instead a single individual. I have brought this up with the Executive Directer and he understands the issue. We will continue to work through to a solution that streamlines the validation process. We are aware of the issue and are working it.
We faced a similar problem with the BAA spectroscopy database. The approach we took was to moderate new users and support them if needed to produce good quality data. After that we trust them to screen their own data. If users find any suspect results in the database they can flag these to the database manager, much as is done for submitting magnitudes to the photometry database.
Bert and I are presently managing the AVSpec queue while Lauren is out of the office. As of this morning, there were 214 spectra in the queue, about 150 of which were contributed by a single observer. As of this moment, there are 34 spectra that remain in the queue. All of the remaining spectra have some outstanding issue and the observers in question have been contacted. If your spectrum is among those remaining in the queue, please reach out to us at avspec@aavso.org and we'd be happy to discuss.
Please remember that the validation of the spectra is performed by volunteers, that also might have other duties and activities within the AAVSO and their normal pay jobs. They do not receive a dime for their efforts and valuable help from the AAVSO, so please be patient and, most of all, empathic.
Enrique (BETB)
I appreciate the concern about spectra in the validation queue for extended periods of time and the above comment asking for patience. I would only add that the work to validate the spectra is not by multiple persons, but instead a single individual. I have brought this up with the Executive Directer and he understands the issue. We will continue to work through to a solution that streamlines the validation process. We are aware of the issue and are working it.
We faced a similar problem with the BAA spectroscopy database. The approach we took was to moderate new users and support them if needed to produce good quality data. After that we trust them to screen their own data. If users find any suspect results in the database they can flag these to the database manager, much as is done for submitting magnitudes to the photometry database.
Cheers
Robin
Greetings,
Bert and I are presently managing the AVSpec queue while Lauren is out of the office. As of this morning, there were 214 spectra in the queue, about 150 of which were contributed by a single observer. As of this moment, there are 34 spectra that remain in the queue. All of the remaining spectra have some outstanding issue and the observers in question have been contacted. If your spectrum is among those remaining in the queue, please reach out to us at avspec@aavso.org and we'd be happy to discuss.
Kind regards,
Brian Kloppenborg
Executive Director, AAVSO