What do you call the person who does this...?

[sheila]

OK, I'm helping my sister get a web site up and running for a new organization she is starting.

So, among the MANY things we have discussed, this last week we were talking about how the webmaster will set up the site so that other people in her organization will be able to update the content of the web site through a form.

She wanted to know what title would typically be given to the person who entered in the content data to the form (for updating the content and keeping the web site "fresh").

Obviously this is not the webmaster. I'm not aware of any industry standard term. I'm inclined to just invent something, unless someone else knows of a term for this?

[Joseph]

I would say "Editor" fits well in this sense. You could spice it up with "Executive Editor" or "Content Editor" or something like that, but in general "Editor" seems right to me...

[sheila]

That seems so obvious now that you point it out. LOL. But we have been going over so many things, and she is total non-techie. I've had to explain everything to her in such basic terms...I was just having a total block on this one.

Thanks, Joseph. ;)

[Joseph]

Thanks, Joseph. ;)

You're welcome. :yeah:

[Wassercrats]

If it's just entering the data, then editorial assistant might be more exact.

[sheila]

If it's just entering the data, then editorial assistant might be more exact.
Good point. I'm forwarding these suggestions to my sister, and will probably continue to do so over the next few days, if people still want to put additional input here. In the end, it is her decision what to call the position, so I just want to give her as many ideas as seem useful.

[Wassercrats]

There's also typist.

[Andilinks]

If she types with both hands she would be a stereo-typist, but I think "data entry clerk" superceded "key punch operator" sometime in the 1960's.

Probably allowing for some flexibility in assigning duties, possibilities for growth and stroking the ego of the "typist" would be a good idea bringing us back to the "executive editor" title. There is a large body of work on motivating employees and keeping them happy beyond plying them with cash.

[hobbes]

Sheila - in corporate environments where we've set up intranets/extranets allowing specific individuals to update specific pages, the term used is information custodian. The page's custodian is typically listed on the bottom of the page for internal pages so people know who to contact if an update needs to be made.

[Randall]

Sheila - in corporate environments where we've set up intranets/extranets allowing specific individuals to update specific pages, the term used is information custodian. That's interesting -- never heard that term before. Possibly because I avoid corporate environments like the plague, but corporate jargon does tend to creep into general usage eventually.

If you're talking about one person responsible for all of the site's content, then I agree with "editor," though it doesn't fit as well if that person is simply posting stuff other people wrote verbatim, with no authority to edit any of it. "Site maintainer" might work in that sense, or if you need a corporate-style title, you could say "web communications specialist" or something along those lines.

Randall

[Andilinks]

information custodian...This makes me think librarian or archivist.

[frankc]

I too was thinking Content Editor, but Content Manager also fits.

[Wassercrats]

Information custodian isn't listed here (http://www.stepfour.com/jobs/titlesi.htm), but information clerk is.

[Andilinks]

If I had to pick something mentioned in this thread it would be...

Content Manager

[Evoir]

Yup, content manager or editor. :) That's what I'd go with.

[Wassercrats]

Editors get paid a lot more than what the described job would pay, so I'd avoid that one. If not editorial assistant, then make it associate editor. Content manager sounds ok, but it's not as descriptive.

[Andilinks]

Content manager sounds ok, but it's not as descriptive.Being narrowly descriptive is not always a good thing. If a position is more loosely defined it gives greater flexibilty to the employer when work of that particular description becomes scarce. The employee does not feel as hemmed in either, she may aspire to expand her horizons within the job and a broader job description allows this both in reality and in the abstract.

Editors get paid a lot more than what the described job would pay...Not necessarily. But an inflated title is often traded for compensation so it shouldn't be avoided for that reason.

Andi

[Slim]

That's interesting -- never heard that term before.

Randall

The Personal Health Information Protection Act (Ontario, Canada) defines a "health information custodian" though I'm not convinced it's the same set of duties. A seach on "information custodian" and title seems to indicate they are responsible for protecting data more specifically than updating it for public dissemination

[Andilinks]

From the American Heritage Dictionary:cus·to·di·an
n.
One that has charge of something; a caretaker: the custodian of a minor child's estate; the custodian of an absentee landlord's property.
A janitor: worked nights as custodian of a high school.Yes, "custodian" implies responsibility and in most cases means legal responsibility but I must confess the term still makes me think of that weird guy that hung out in the high school sink closet.