User:Missvain/FAQ

We have a set of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Wikipedia in general: Template:WikipediaFAQ

In addition, questions specifically relevant to the cultural sector are listed below. If your question isn't here, ask on the discussion page (also known as the "talk page").

Article subjects

What are the criteria for creating an article about an item in our collection?

Objects that have been published in an exhibition catalogue, or a scholarly book, or a journal article would normally be considered appropriate subjects for articles on Wikipedia. Try to include references to more than one source; please see the general notability criteria. Even works which are not particularly "well-known" to the general public, for example all of the different ancient Roman sculptures of Livia, may well be suitable for Wikipedia, so long as they are known within their scholarly field and are sufficiently well-covered in the literature. On the other hand, if an object has no bibliography other than the standard catalogues of your institution, or say, a listing in a published record of an archaeological excavation, the object may not be sufficiently notable to warrant a separate article.
See also the discussion of Notability in the glossary (below).

Resources:
Case Study:

Should I create an article for every item in our catalogue?

Probably not; it is most unlikely that all are notable in Wikipedia terms. Creation of large numbers of articles should always be carefully discussed in advance, particularly if any automation is involved. Each article requires considerable "wikification": adding links, categories, and adopting the correct style and format for consistency with similar articles. It may be best to do a sample article or two and then ask for comments on the talk page here, or at the relevant WikiProject. For a new article, asking at the article talk page is generally not productive, as few if any editors will see it. A common mistake is to create numerous short articles for individual items, especially paintings, giving little more information than the gallery label. Try to make each article at least 400 words long, and include a picture of the subject if possible. It is also possible to create an article about a class of pieces and have a separate section devoted to each work.

What about non-unique works?

Mass-manufactured objects, and those from the applied arts, especially if they are not unique (for example, pieces of European or American factory porcelain) are less likely to be individually notable than "creative" works such as paintings or drawings. The article should normally be on the object as a type rather than your own example of it, as in Colt Single Action Army for example. It may sometimes be appropriate to mention or illustrate non-unique items in a general article related to that type of object (for example on the porcelain factory, or porcelain style in that period, or type of gun). A potential mistake of cultural sector institutions is creating an article that is more about their collection of a work than the work itself. For an example, see an old copy of our article on the 1614 Low German Bible that was about a specific copy of the bible on display. That did not warrant an article. However, the current version is fine because it focuses on the Bible edition itself and just mentions the specific copy (one of only seven extant) under the 1614 Boerne Bible section at the end – if the edition were more common even the inclusion of this detail would be excessive. Natural history specimens will only very exceptionally be individually notable.

Why is citing sources more important than the expertise of the editor?

On Wikipedia editors are judged by the quality of their contributions not the extent of their professional expertise. It may be frustrating to know something to be true, yet be asked to provide verification. But, without this requirement, other non-specialist editors could insert incorrect information, claiming (or believing) it to be true. In addition, elaborate hoax articles have been created – hoaxes that lasted a long time and were uncovered only when their sources were found to be unverifiable (for example, see Slow Blind Driveway and Upper Peninsula War). So, although it might seem confronting to have Template:Fact appear next to something you have written, the burden of proof lies with the person making a claim: you need to provide a reference showing the claim is true; the person contesting the claim does not need to prove it is false.

Links

Can I add a link to our special exhibition on an artist or subject, or mention it in the text?

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a news site. Material posted temporarily on your site should never be linked. Permanent material can be linked in limited cases if it complies with our guideline, however you should not promote your exhibition and adding a link to a current event is frequently seen as being promotional. How much information useful to a reader who will not visit the exhibition does your website contain? If you have as much information as the Metropolitan Museum of Art often does—several pages of material and PDF attachments—then that will probably be fine. If you just have a couple of pages that are mostly visitor information, it probably won't be. A good test of whether current event material is encyclopedic is if it will remain relevant to readers long after the event is over. Normally the page to link from will be the article most relevant to the subject, for example the biography of an artist for a retrospective exhibition.

To which articles can I add external links to my institution?

Your purpose in editing Wikipedia should not be to promote your institution's website. Links are appropriate in certain cases as explained in our guideline. Generally, links should only be added to actual online information on the article subject, not to pages saying you have information but not showing it – for example, library or archives catalogues, or a page saying what a fine collection you have, without much illustration of it or discussion of the topic. A link to your home page should be the first "External link" in the article on your institution. Other links depend on how much detailed information useful to a non-visitor your website contains. If your website has extensive material on particular topics, direct links to the material may be appropriate in related articles. In articles on specific objects in your collection, a link to a specific page should be used. There can be a limited tolerance for large numbers of items in the "External links" section of any article, even if all are relevant. On many articles they are kept at a maximum of perhaps four or five. If your link is removed but you feel it is more relevant or informative than others kept in place, raise the matter on the talk page. If a specific object in your collection is mentioned in the article, especially if there is no image on Commons and your site has good information on it, it may be appropriate to add a link to the object's page as a reference, but do not add mentions of your objects in the text yourself, unless they are clearly appropriate.

To which articles can I add Wikipedia internal links to the article on my institution?

Most institutions should add such a link to the article on their city, or sometimes to a list article of museums in a large city. There may be other lists of museums by country or state, or by subject: see Ceramics museum, for example. You might also add an external link to your museum as a reference. If your collection is really a global leader on a particular subject, a brief mention with a link may be appropriate in one or more articles on the subject – for example if you are a museum on a single person, a paragraph is probably justified at their biography. The same principle applies to libraries with the personal archives of an individual. In articles on specific objects in your collection, a link should be added. In any article mentioning your institution the first mention should be linked, following the usual Wikipedia policies.

What about categories?

Categories are a sometimes neglected way of linking articles on your institution. If there are at least four articles on objects from your collection, no one will object if you establish a category to be a member of Category:Museum collections or Category:Manuscripts by collection etc, or add appropriate articles to an existing category (but not objects loaned for exhibitions etc). Generally only very large and internationally known institutions should also establish a category in Category:Categories named after museums – currently only 20 museums worldwide have these. There are a handful of similar categories in Category:National libraries.

More on external links to cultural sector institutions: a personal essay by a very experienced editor

Can I add links to digital objects curated by my institution from relevant pages?

Web materials not covered by a preservation policy should not be linked to. Permanent materials that your institution is committed to preserving on the web at a given URL may be linkable to a single appropriate article if they are unique and significant. This uniqueness may be that your institution has the largest collection of information on this subject/item/creator; that you have negotiated a liberal licence for redistribution with the creator; or that these are digital surrogates of your globally unique holdings (novel manuscripts, archival content, etc etc). Significance is related to notability; all wikipedia articles should ideally be illustrated with, and linked to, a small number of relevant examples. It is preferable to upload them to wikimedia and embed them in the page, where this is not possible they may be linked to. Where there are many potential examples that could be linked to, it is preferable to link to collections of examples. All material must comply with guideline.

For further reading on Links, see:

Editing

Who should edit from my institution?

This page is focused on curators and their assistants for a good reason. Such people are more likely to be neutral and to focus on the cultural works themselves rather than on the institution that houses them. It is almost never a good idea to have someone from the business or marketing departments edit, with the only exception being to provide releases for copyrighted material. Note that a curator's assistant can include a volunteer or intern working under the supervision of an established curator. However, you should not assign an intern to find the best Wikipedia article in which to place a link to many items in your collection because that would clearly be promotional. Editors must be willing and able to build the encyclopedia first and foremost.

I'm the expert on this topic, why can't you stop other people from changing what I've written?

There are many reasons. In addition, keep in mind that Wikipedia is written for its readers, not for other experts. A contribution can be completely correct and yet not be understandable to the average reader, or the contribution may conflict with Wikipedia guidelines. An experienced editor may have little knowledge of the topic, yet be able to identify a problem with the style used in an article; ideally, the subject expert and the experienced editor would collaborate to develop the article. However, if no convincing reason was provided in the edit summary that changed your contribution, simply change it back, while providing a detailed edit summary explaining why your change is desirable. In your edit summary, it is helpful to mention a specific error in the text that you are correcting, but it is not helpful to comment on the other editor. You can and should remove unsourced claims and patent nonsense inserted by others, however it is essential that you do not enter an edit war: if your changes are removed twice in one day, seek assistance by raising the issue on the talk page.

If my work gets changed for the worse, how do I stop people saying that I wrote something that I no longer agree with?

Articles are not attributed to any single editor; instead, the full history of all article changes (in the "history" tab) shows who did what. In addition, it is possible to list only your user contributions to make it simple for anyone to see exactly what you wrote.

My work got removed and someone wrote an unfriendly message saying I'm a vandal/spammer. Why?

Either you misunderstood something on this page or you have run into a user not familiar with the unique characteristics of a culture sector professional. Wikipedia policies evolve over time and many people aren't up-to-date on the latest changes. Another possibility is that the other user has been down in the trenches fighting serious vandals and you were caught up in what looked like a similar pattern of behavior. So long as your first task on Wikipedia isn't to add 100 links to your website with no other content, you should be fine. We are trying to make the standard warnings more friendly, but this has not yet been completed.

Wikipedia's article about my institution, general-manager, government department isn't very good. Why can't I improve it just like I would improve the article about my area of expertise?

Because you have a vested interest in the article and are unlikely to maintain a neutral point of view. You may make comments on the article's discussion page to alert other editors and let them make the improvements if they agree. It is in your best interest to not give anyone a reason to question your motivations for editing. The same advice is given to people who have articles about themselves and even Wikipedia's founder as been asked to not edit his own article[1].

If someone takes a section of my work here and includes it in their own commercial book, do I get a royalty or a credit? Do they ask my permission first?

They do not need to ask permission or pay a royalty, but they are required to credit contributors. Beware that there are many websites that illegally copy Wikipedia content without attribution. This is no different than a website illegally copying material directly from your site. However, Wikipedia material is frequently targeted due to the site's popularity.

My boss wants me to edit Wikipedia but only if my editing-pseudonym (username) is the name of my institution. Why can't I do this?

Usernames that are the name of a company or group create the appearance of intent to promote that group. We understand that organisations wish to present a consistent public-facing brand but Wikipedians are individuals, not corporations.

How do I get a template to reference material from my institution?

It would be best to first post on the discussion page to determine if a template is warranted. There is resistance to creating templates unique to a single organisation. The Louvre has one, but this is focused on its buildings and history, and excludes individual objects. The best justification would be an abundance of good and legitimate articles about specific items in your institution's collection.

How can I promote my organisation in Wikipedia?

You may not promote your organisation in the sense of marketing; do not advertise upcoming exhibitions or link heavily to your website's collection. However, you are encouraged to improve articles relevant to your institution, and that may increase awareness of your institution. You may also wish to contact your local chapter (see "contact" at the bottom of this page) to arrange an event or partnership with them.

What if the description or metadata of a work in an existing article is incorrect?

You may, of course, edit the information to improve the description. If this is the metadata for a multimedia item, click through until you find the page on Wikimedia Commons where it is stored and fix the metadata there. Alternatively you could Contact someone at Commons to help you improve it. You can also leave a message at the discussion page where you saw the mistake.

Multimedia

Wikipedia contains pictures from my institution's website, why won't you delete them when we asked?

If the images or other multimedia items are out of copyright ("in the Public Domain" or PD) then they are legally allowed to be copied and redistributed by anyone even if it is the policy of your institution for people to ask permission before use. We understand that this may be confronting; we do not mean to cause offense. Many institutions do not allow photography of their works by the public and this is legally permissible because those works are the institution's physical property. However, this right does not extend to copies of public domain works as there is not right over copies – no "copy-rights". Attempting to claim rights over copies when copyright has expired is called copyfraud. Therefore, if there is a copy of a photo from your institution's collection that is in the public domain on Wikipedia then we are under no obligation to delete it. If the original object is still in copyright then please contact us and we will delete it immediately. See copyright violations for details. Wikipedia also applies the decision of the US court in Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp., by which photographs of two-dimensional objects which are themselves out of copyright cannot be copyrighted under US law, though under most other legal systems they can be. This is the core of the issue with the National Portrait Gallery in London. See Non-free content, Public domain and Image copyright tags

Wikipedia contains pictures from my institution that are poorly cited/references/attributed, can I fix them?

Yes, please do, initially in the picture file (click on the picture, and if there is a link to Commons, follow that for the main file).

Why does Wikipedia have some images that are definitely still in copyright?

All media files require a copyright status statement. In some cases, low-resolution images may be used without permission under the "fair use" copyright exception in United States law. This is applicable because Wikipedia is hosted in the US. This means that, when no freely available alternative exists, Wikipedia may include a low-resolution version in extremely limited circumstances. To claim this exemption the image must be uploaded directly to Wikipedia rather than Wikimedia Commons. There may also be a question of "freedom of panorama", covering photographs taken in public spaces (variously defined), where the relevant law is that of the jurisdiction where the photograph was taken.

If I release material under a license applicable to Wikipedia does that mean that my institution can no longer sell that material?

You may continue to sell products with material that you have released. However, once it is released, others may incorporate it into their own commercial products as well. Releasing content to be used on Wikipedia does not hinder your ability to use it in whichever way you choose. What it does is allow other people to use it too.