Projects: 2024

These are the projects I worked on in 2024.

1 Department of Sports, Arts and Culture / ANFASA

I applied to be a member of the selection panel for English manuscripts submitted to the Publishing Hub initiative and was pleased to be chosen. This involved evaluating novels, non-fiction manuscripts and children's books, writing reviews of each one, and motivating for the one or two that I felt to be the most appropriate, in the context of a collegial team. 

2 Corporate: Henley & Partners

Project management, editing and proofchecking (sixth annual edition I've worked on).

Investment Migration Programs 2024 (H&P website). The flipbook, which I also worked on, seems not to be online any longer, but you can see the 2025 edition of it.

Also: small amount of editorial work on The USA Wealth Report 2024.

3 Oxford University Press Southern Africa (education dictionaries)

Content development and DTD optimisation: Dictionaries

A new dictionary (forthcoming: currently the free extras are available for download)

I reviewed 700+ existing dictionary entries and then revised and adapted them to meet the market needs identified in market research I had conducted with teachers earlier. I also developed new entries in line with existing entries and added new example sentences and other data types (e.g. usage notes) where necessary.

Before the main adaptation work could begin, I reviewed the existing DTD (underlying structure of the data) in TshwaneLex (dictionary development software) and optimised it. This involved automating certain data types (so automatic attributes / elements appear as the main data type is created, to save compiler time), renaming and colour-coding data types for clarity and order, and general restructuring and tightening (I love deleting unnecessary types!). With a project that's been in an unstructured format such as rough SGML or similar, putting it into a structured and constrained environment such as TshwaneLex often reveals a multitude of inconsistencies. Throughout it all, not losing data or data integrity was obviously really important.

Working out what structures and dictionary data types are needed, and which can be thrown out without damaging anything. Keeping track of numbers of items so none go missing...

I also wrote "How to" docs to guide other members of the team in their work, which followed mine.

4 Maskew Miller Learning

Editing, styling and developing the artbrief of a grade 1 English FAL reader in the Platinum series.

5 I also cleared out and sold my father's house. So glad that's done!