Manual:FAQ
| Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
This space is provided to address questions about use of the wiki in general. Wiki contributors should check here first to help understand their role in developing content for the wiki. If you have a question not addressed here, CONTACT US and we will response soon. |
General
What is this Environmental Restoration Wiki project about?
This project is funded by ESTCP as part of their technology transfer program to develop a new and sustainable resource that maintains the most up-to-date information about environmental restoration technologies. This new resource will take the form of an online collaborative "Wiki" website providing two major components:
- Easy access to the most complete collection of internet-based repositories of published materials
- A collection of concise articles by the most trusted and recognized experts in their respective fields on an ever-growing list of environmental restoration topics.
The ultimate goal is to provide a single source for accurate, easily accessible information that enables environmental restoration practitioners to improve their learning and make the best decisions about their remediation projects.
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What are important due dates/contributor deadlines?
The terms "author" and "contributor" are synonymous when referenced in the Enviro Wiki. The wiki will tend toward the term "contributor". Initial topics have been assigned to specific contributors. Here are the important due dates:
- Submit brief bio information for all contributors on your article by October 30, 2015
- Submit outlines of article by October 30, 2015. Include with the outline any figures, tables or images that are available.
- Submit article(s) in draft form by January 15, 2016.
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Definitions
What is an article?
An article is the presentation of content on a wiki page. Each article is a uniquely identifiable topic. An article may have one or several sections. The sections are logical divisions of topics (or subtopics) within the article.
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How is a page different from an article?
A page is essentially the location of the article on the wiki. It can be easily accessed with links from one page to another. The terms "page" and "article" may be used interchangeably as long as it is recognized that the article is the content and the page is the place where the content resides.
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What do we mean by "content"?
Content is the collection of text, tables, images, and videos that Contributors provide to create an article.
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Who is a contributor?
The Enviro Wiki is initially being developed with select input from experts in their respective environmental restoration topic areas. Recognizing that these experts may collaborate with their peers and/or staffs to complete an article, the project will collectively recognize them as "contributors". Original authors of the content will be noted as the first contributor as is customary for science papers and reports. Since a wiki is organic on the web and not static as in a physical book, it is anticipated that facts and understandings will be updated as they are developed. Consequently, future contributors may be recognized leaders in a given environmental restoration topic that have not yet been included in the original work.
Each contributor's name will be linked to a special contributor's profile page that provides the reader with a short bio, contact information and relevant links (e.g. a contributor's website). To that end, contributors are asked to provide their personal profile information at the time they submit articles using the format described in the Format Section of this FAQ.
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Content
How should contributors submit their content?
In General
For the Enviro Wiki ( previously called ERWiki), contributors may submit their text and tables to wiki staff in a standard MicroSoft Word format (.doc or .docx extension) and their images in high resolution .jpg or .png format. The contractors who are developing this wiki platform will convert the contributor's materials to wiki format using standard wiki markup code. Any contributor who is already familiar with wiki markup is free to format their article directly on the wiki. If a contributor has ever provided content on mainstream wikis such as Wikipedia, they will be able to write directly to the wiki. Any contributor interested in / comfortable with editing within the wiki framework can receive help from the Wiki Staff to accomplish this.
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Outline
The outline has two standardized sections; an introduction at the beginning and a "See Also" section at the end. The introduction should give a general overview of the topic for readers at all levels of understanding. The See Also section should provide links to any relevant existing papers or reports that are useful to the remediation community.
Inside of these two standardized sections, the contributor should use their knowledge of the subject matter and provide an outline that identifies the major sections and, if applicable, subsections of the anticipated article.
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Main Article
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Who is the main target audience for this wiki?
The main target audience of the wiki is Department of Defense (DoD) Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) and regulators who actually manage and regulate environmental restoration (ER) projects. However, we also want the Wiki to be useful to a range of audiences including consultants, students and researchers.
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How long should a wiki article be?
Contributors should limit content to concise, easy to comprehend pages so that a reader only needs to scroll 2 or 3 screen lengths (assuming a standard 21" monitor) to read the full article. If your article needs to be much longer, consider dividing your topic into multiple pages so that appropriate sections can be "stand-alone" articles linked to each other. When an article needs to be longer to provide meaningful continuity of topic, exceptions are made, realizing that some topics will be complex and require development of concepts not easily condensed.
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What level of detail should my article include?
Wiki articles will vary in degree of detail. A well researched and proven technology, for example, may offer rich detail. A new technology or innovation in the research & development stages may offer less detail.
As a rule of thumb, articles should offer a general introduction/summary of the topic that is easy for all readers to understand. The topic can develop more detail in subsequent sections within the article. If a topic looks like it might contain one or more sections that would easily be their own self contained article, the contributor is advised to develop such sections as a new page linked back to the original page. The contributor must balance the need for detailed subtopics spanning multiple pages with the need for a single cohesive page with the goal of simple concise page views.
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What should be the subheadings of my article?
Contributors have latitude to construct sections (headings) and subsections (subheadings) as needed to organize content in a meaningful way. The only structural exceptions are for each article to begin with an introduction and have a "See Also" section at the end to provide the reader with additional links to related content that may be on Enviro Wiki or another source, such as SERDP/ESTCP reports.
"References" is another standard section heading that will be automatically populated using the references you provide inside your article content.
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Format
What is the format for my article(s)?
Text
Submit any document format that is easily accessible on the average computer. Most contributors will likely use Microsoft Word format (e.g. .DOC, .DOCX) or Word compatible document formats (e.g. .TXT, .RTF).
Tables
Tables are typically formatted within documents so that they will be extracted from text submittals. For simplicity and consistent appearance between articles, create tables with the following format guidelines:
- MSWord
- Arial 12 pt Font
- fits within 8.5 x 11 page, portrait orientation
Please avoid sending screen shots, .PDFs or .JPGs of existing tables.
Images
Appropriate image formats are .jpg and.png. High resolution images are preferred (300 ppi or greater).
Video
MP4 is preferred. However, most video formats can be converted if necessary.
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What is the format for my Contributor Personal Profile?
- Contributor's Name: [TITLE] [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME] [CREDENTIALS]
- Contributor's Work/Contact information: [PLACE OF WORK] [EMAIL ADDRESS] [PHONE NUMBER] [WEBSITE] [SOCIAL MEDIA (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)]
- Brief Bio: One hundred (100) words or less
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Organization
How do I find things on the wiki?
The single-most focal point on the wiki is the Main Page. The main page is an introduction to the wiki with some navigation links provided. The reader can return to the main page from any other page simply by clicking on the Logo in the upper left corner. The main page is NOT a "starting point" for a linear reading experience per se. There is no complete table of contents that directs the reader to various sections as in a book. The wiki is ever changing and never really complete so the most useful navigation experience is by following links within articles of interest.
The second most useful navigation tool is the Search Window located in the upper right section of each page.
The third most useful navigation tool is the sidebar that is present on every page. The Enviro Wiki has included some persistent links that will be located in the sidebar on every page. The reader may access the sidebar on any page to find useful links to major sections of the wiki.
The basic structure of the wiki can be visualized as a matrix with pages as the core element. Any page can be accessed by using the top right search window. A page may be associated with one or more related pages by assigning them to a category. A category page is like a directory of related articles that the reader can access to find select topics of interest. For example, the Enviro Wiki includes a category page called Contributors. The Contributors page is useful to find a specific person who may have written one or more articles.
In a similar way, any content on a given page may be linked to one or more related pages either internally or externally to the wiki. For example, the article Chlorinated Solvents refers to several chlorinated compounds that are already well documented on Wikipedia. Therefore, if a reader wishes to learn more about a compound, a new and redundant page within the Enviro Wikiis not required, but rather a link can take the reader to Wikipedia.
Categories and Links provide a way to organize related topics over multiple pages (articles) and provide the reader an opportunity to obtain a more complete understanding of the subject matter. Contributors are encourage to observe how their individual articles may relate to other articles on the Enviro Wiki and recommend links or category names that will enhance the reader's experience.
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References
How should I reference my article content?
References are encouraged and add validity to content. Contributors should provide as much information as possible to allow readers to find the referenced materials themselves. Ideally all references will be more reliably accessed by using standard permanent catalogs where they exist, such as Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or International Standard Book Number (ISBN). The Defense Technical Information Center may be a source. When referencing SERDP/ESTCP reports and papers, please link to the SERDP/ESTCP Source Repository.
For examples of standard reference formats used in the Enviro Wiki see Working with References
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