Chapter Two: Guidelines

Here's my idea. A list of likely faqs to make the system as simple as possible for my users. It's also the best way for me to get my own head around the problem.

I would really appreciate any thoughts or comments on this so please have a look through and give me any suggestions. Particularly if you see something that doesn't make sense...

Why is the Annual Report being produced as a wiki?
To be true to this year’s theme (and to put our money where our mouth is) it would be good if the IDS Annual Report could reflect the views of all IDS members (staff, students and partners) rather than a few heads of teams and DRC/RPCs. It has been proposed that this could be achieved by initially producing the report as a wiki, which will then be turned into a hard copy. The introduction of Sharepoint would facilitate this within IDS although it would then not be accessible to external partners.

Will the wiki cover all aspects of IDS?
Members of all of IDS’ research teams, the Info Team and major projects will be engaged with and asked to contribute entries. The wiki will include an organogram that pictorially depicts how IDS works together, we are investigating whether this can also be made interactively.

Who will contribute?
Ideally as many IDS members and partners as possible. Participation could be encouraged through in-team project champions and JG attendance at team meetings. Inevitably there will be some people who are very involved and others who aren’t involved at all but everyone who wants to take part should be able to do so.

Partner involvement will be more difficult since they will not have access to Sharepoint. If we decide to do this by Sharepoint – and that we definitely want partner contributions – we will have to send selected pages through to them for comment – which goes against the idea of wikis. We will also have to build time into the schedule to allow for this to happen.

What if no one contributes? – risk of shared responsibility
There is a risk that when if everyone’s responsible for something noone will actually do it – although at IDS I think this risk is slight. To avoid this risk I suggest that each team/DRC is asked to nominate someone who will take responsibility for writing their initial entries (either a piece about the team or an article based around the theme) by a fixed date and another person who will add comments to this first piece. At the same time anyone else who wanted to contribute an article would be welcome to do so and personal viewpoints would be welcomed. Entries will be accessible for editing by others as soon as they are written.

How will deadlines be maintained?
Deadlines for initial articles will be critical – we need to allow at least one month for wiki-editing to take place. Initial authors will need to understand that deadlines are not moveable. There will come a point when further additions will not make it into the printed version (probably the end of June). This needs to be made very clear to contributors and we also need to decide whether further online changes will be allowed beyond that point.

Will anonymous edits be allowed?
No. Edits to each other’s work should be traceable. The user guidelines will include notes on user behaviour and respect to other users. It may also be necessary to let some authors know why their pieces won’t be included in the final printed version.

How will the wiki be managed?
JG will be responsible for regular wiki checking to make sure that it is not being misused. However reports suggest that, while vandalism occurs from time-to-time, the less controlled the usage the better the results (see quote from Dr David Weinberger in the Independent).

How long will articles be?
Article lengths for the final report will be approximately 400-500 words for general articles and 600 words for the team pages. Article sizes on the wiki can be longer if necessary but contributors should bear in mind the reader’s attention span and break longer entries up with subheadings.

How long will it take to write/ edit?
The AR planning schedule usually allows for six weeks from author briefing to first submission followed by two weeks of Comms Team editing time and a further two weeks for author re-writes. One of the advantages of using a wiki is that authors are encouraged to submit their original copy in a quick, rough version – which is then improved by editors. This should reduce Comms Team editing time
I suggest the following timeframes:
Initial article submission: three weeks
Wiki editing: one month from time article goes up
Partner editing: This will depend on how we involve them
Comms editing: at same time as above, plus an extra week to make final changes for hard copy

How will the online wiki be turned into hard copy?
JG will brief the designer at the start of April and will work with him to produce a design that reflects the wiki nature of the report. Some additional editing of the web pieces may be required. Contributors will be made aware that not everything on the wiki will be able to go into the final hard copy and that some further edits may be made (e.g. the best articles from the wiki will be chosen but will also need to balance different parts of IDS’ work).

How will the final report be shown on the website? Will it continue as a wiki?
JG will investigate the best way to transfer the wiki from Sharepoint to FarCry. If the print version of the report is able to properly reflect its wiki nature then it may be possible to put it up as a pdf. It is unlikely that it will continue as a wiki once it has gone live on our website.

Who will edit/ proofread?
For the online wiki everyone will be an editor.
As per usual members of the Comms Team will be responsible for editing and proofreading the final printed version. However the majority of the Comms Team editorial input will be part of the wiki process rather than a final add-on.

Will authors be sensitive to editorial changes to their pieces?
Guidelines and team briefings will emphasise that the wiki is a collaborative editorial process and all authors will be aware from the start that their work will be subject to edit and addition. JG will be monitoring the wiki to check for vandalism and misuse.

What content won’t be created by wiki?
The director’s page and the finance pages will not be created by wiki. The former because it is meant to be one person’s voice and is an opportunity to explain about the wiki nature of the report and how this links to the theme. The latter because it is factual and audited information.

Guidelines for use of IDS wiki Annual Report

How can I contribute to the wiki Annual Report?
All IDS members are free to contribute to the IDS wiki Annual Report – either by submitting a new article or editing an existing one.

What should I write about?
Entries must reflect the theme of this year’s report – ‘Knowledge from All’ and should reflect IDS’ work – through finished projects, current work or personal reflection – other innovative ideas are welcomed. They should be based on the period from 1 April 2007-31 March 2008.

How much time should I spend editing my entry?
Don’t waste time and effort in submitting a well polished article because of the Wiki format. Concentrate on your key ideas and allow for the fact that it will be edited and polished by others.

What language should I use?
Keep language clear and simple – the annual report is not an academic report
How much freedom to editors have when making changes?
Editors should feel free to make bold changes to fix problems, correct grammar, add facts and simplify language. Remember that all contributions are valid. Contributors should treat each other with respect – editorial changes will not be anonymous

Can I add images?
Please feel free to add images but make sure that you include a caption and photographer and only include if you have the photographer’s permission. The Communication Team reserve the right to remove images if they are not of high enough quality.

How will the wiki report be converted into a printed report?
The wiki Annual Report will be used to create the final printed report. Some further editorial from the IDS Communication Team will take place. Not all material from the wiki will be guaranteed inclusion in the final report and this decision will be made by the Communication Team.