User:Daniel Mietchen/Talks/SOL 2012/What is Wikipedia

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What Wikipedia is...

• Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia.

• Unlike most paper encyclopaedias Wikipedia is not limited by size, but it is not indiscriminate; the subject of every new article must be notable.

• Wikipedia is also an online community of people interested in building a high-quality encyclopedia.

• Wikipedians are expected to contribute in a spirit of mutual respect; always maintain a civil manner when interacting with others.

• Wikipedia is free.

• With some exceptions, anyone can edit and reuse Wikipedia's content, with appropriate attribution. Nobody "owns" any article and everything you contribute can and will be mercilessly edited by others.
• Because Wikipedia is free, editors must never add material that infringes the copyright of others.

Logos of Wikimedia projects, with Wikidata missing. Counterclockwise, starting on top: Wikimania, Wikibooks, Meta-Wiki, Wikiquote, Wikispecies, MediaWiki, Wikimedia Incubator, Wikiversity, Wiktionary, Wikinews, Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia. Not yet included is Wikidata.

Logo of the Wikidata project, a collaboratively editable database from where information can be pulled into infoboxes and other data elements in Wikimedia projects, regardless of language.

Overview of Wikimedia projects

• Wikipedia is one of several Wikimedia projects for collaborative curation of knowledge.

What Wikipedia is not...

• Wikipedia is not a soapbox or a promotional tool.

• Do not edit for the purpose of advocacy, advertising, promotion or to reveal THE TRUTH! All articles should be written from a neutral point of view and free from bias.
• Resist the urge to add material about yourself, your friends or your family: doing so will result in an inherent conflict of interest and could backfire.

• Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought or a crystal ball.

• Do not use Wikipedia to espouse your latest experimental results, theory, opinions or gossip. Nor is it a venue for speculating on future events.
• Everything you add must be verifiable and referenced to a reliable source.
• This is particularly important when writing about living people. Defamatory material contributed to Wikipedia is not immune from libel.

• Wikipedia is not a scientific journal, a textbook, or an instruction manual.

• The purpose of Wikipedia is to present facts, not to teach subject matter. Inform, don't instruct. Describe, don't proscribe.
• Articles should be written for intelligent laypeople, not for academics. Avoid jargon and use apposition to describe technical concepts in simple terms.
• Exception: Wikipedia articles drafted in collaboration with journals

• Wikipedia is not a social networking site.

• Joining Wikipedia's thriving community can be socially rewarding, but remember that discussion pages are for promoting effective collaboration, not dating or blogging.

• Wikipedia is not a political experiment in democracy, bureaucracy, anarchy or any other system.

• Its primary (but not exclusive) method of determining consensus is through discussion, not voting.
• Wikipedia has key policies and guidelines that editors are expected to respect, but rules are not the purpose of the community.
• If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it..... but breaking rules simply to prove a point is bad form.

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