Here's an article on mentoring that I thought some readers of perlmonks would find useful.

Mentoring in Open Source Communities: What Works? What Doesn't?

Quote from the opening page:

I asked people from several open source communities to share their mentoring experiences. In this article you'll learn what works, what doesn't, and how to encourage these relationships.

In talking here about mentoring, I make a distinction between "learn on your own" (such as examining the changes others make to the code you contributed) and somebody offering specific, individual advice (e.g. "It might run faster if you did this..."), particularly in an ongoing personal relationship. For more on mentoring in general, see my older article, The Executive Woman's Guide to Mentoring.

In the past few months I've observed & experienced many helpful interactions here at perlmonks. Thanks to all those who make new & inexperienced members to feel welcome; and to those new members who jump right in with questions and responses.

Some related nodes and pages:

Making assessments,
q: is there a new user thread to add comments to?,
OT: A Volunteer's Lament, and
Where are the Novice Mentoring Opportunities?

In reply to Mentoring in Open Source Communities by clp

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