Methodology
===========

.. _process_structure:

Process Structure
-----------------

This section describes the methodology of the OARC BCP initiative.

- **Cataloguing**: Identifying DNS operational best current practices, and
  referencing them from a gateway, pointing to existing initiatives, and
  identifying gaps to be filled. This allows for BCP statements to be
  **located** easily.

- **Documenting**: Writing BCP documents for missing practice statements.

- **Curating**: Selecting those that are most likely to have a positive
  outcome on DNS operational resilience, documents that are **actionable** and
  **testable**.

- **Shepherding**: Ensuring practices stay relevant, and updating documents
  when necessary.


.. _roles:

Roles
-----

To ensure that we can achieve these goals, it is important to have broad and
prolonged buy-in from the community. We need a lot of eyes on the content, and
a willingness to not just write, but keep material up to date. Members of the
community can serve one or more different roles.

.. _roles_curator:

Curator
```````

The role of the curator is to categorize and select the documents for the
right audience, and keep this up to date.

.. _roles_shepherd:

Shepherd
````````

Per document there should be a shepherd (there may be a single person
shepherding multiple documents). The role of the shepherd is to make sure the
practices outlined in the document are still up to date. This assessment
should be community driven. Discussions on mailing lists, merge requests on
documents, etc. are indicators that a document requires a new version.

The shepherd oversees the process for getting to a new version.

A shepherd is made the developer of the document's repository and is
responsible for managing updates, ensuring updates are reviewed, and new
versions are published.

.. _roles_contributor:

Contributor
```````````

Anyone that provides text for a document is a contributor. Ideally contributions
are made by creating a new merge request for a BCP repository.

.. _roles_reviewer:

Reviewer
````````

Anyone that reviews the document and/or reviews merge requests for a document
is a reviewer.