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== Introductory topics ==
== Introductory topics ==


'''What is the ''Citizendium,'' anyway?'''
===What is ''Citizendium''?===
:The ''Citizendium'' is a wiki encyclopedia project aiming to create the world's finest free encyclopedia (and general reference) source, one that is reliable as well as comprehensive.  ''Citizendium'' stands for "Citizens' Compendium."
:''Citizendium'' is a wiki project aiming to creating objective encyclopedic articles about virtually any subject, of a type which could not be written in Wikipedia. Our contributors use their verified real names, in a congenial and supportive online community.  We welcome experts as well as the general public who would like to share their knowledge.  Topics range from the universal to the highly local, including parks and school sports teams.


:To achieve this, we are inviting the general public to help create content, but we also have a "gentle guiding" role for experts. Our contributors use their real names, and the whole project is largely vandalism-free and friendly--but also productive and growing!
===How are you progressing?===
:Citizendium currently has [[:Category:CZ Live|{{PAGESINCAT:CZ Live}} articles]].


'''How are you progressing?'''
===Is this an experts-only project?===
:[[CZ:Statistics|Quite nicely]], with thousands of contributors signed up, hundreds participating every month, and [[:Category:CZ Live|{{PAGESINCAT:CZ Live}} articles]] to read or improve.  Our rate of article production has increased, and we're accelerating in other dimensions as well.
:Anyone can join Citizendium. Our essential feature is not expertise, but responsibility. We value expertise and ask our authors to declare a little about their experience, education and interests on their User page, but we believe generalists--non-experts--can create excellent and reliable material on many subjects, especially if they're good writers and researchers. In the past, Citizendium tried a management system whereby experts had a special role with decision-making power over others; that system is no longer in place.


'''This is an "Expertpedia," isn't it? Experts only, right?'''
===How do I apply to join?===
:No.  We are the "Citizens' Compendium," not "the Experts' Exclusive Encyclopedia."  Non-experts play an essential role in this project.  We could not survive without our non-expert authors.
Follow the instructions at [[Help:Index/Join]].


:Our essential feature is not expertise, but responsibility.  We want to give the world a new model of how to build responsible new "online constitutional republics" that are self-owned, self-managed, and devoted to serious purposes.  The fact that there is a modest role for experts in this project is only one aspect of our commitment to responsibility.
===How do I contact ''Citizendium'' staff?===


'''How does one join?'''
You can email manager A T citizendium.org.  If you are already a member, you can also post questions or concerns in the [[Forum:Home|Forums]].
:It's pretty easy.  Fill out [[Special:RequestAccount|a short form]]--we ask for a name, e-mail address, short bio, and (private!) information about how to confirm your identity--and then you'll be asked to confirm your e-mail address. When that's done, a community manager, called a constable can approve you and then read about how to [[CZ:Getting Started|get started]].


'''How do I get started? Don't you have a lot of complicated rules I need to read first?'''
===How do I get started? ===
:Again, it's pretty easy.  Do you have some knowledge you'd like to express?  About--well--''almost anything?''  Then search for an article about it.  At this early stage, we probably don't have an article about it.  So, [[CZ:How to start a new article|start one]]. That's dead simple to do.  Please ''don't'' worry about getting all the formatting right, and certainly ''don't'' bother adding the {{tl|subpages}} template!  Just use "the easy way" you'll see [[CZ:How to start a new article|here]], and start ''writing.'' What do we want you to do?  Write.  That's the main thing.  And writing for the ''Citizendium'' is about as easy as writing an e-mail.  For more "get started" links, see [[CZ:Getting Started|Getting Started]], and for a single, short, user-friendly page that contains all the basic getting-started info, read our [[CZ:Quick Start|Quick Start]]!
:It's pretty easy.  Do you have some knowledge you'd like to express?  About--well--''[[CZ:Content Policy|almost anything]]?''  Then search for an article about it.  If we don't have an article about it, then [[CZ:How to start a new article|start one]].   ''Don't'' worry about getting all the formatting right: just use "the easy way" you'll see [[CZ:How to start a new article|here]], and start. Writing for ''Citizendium'' is about as easy as writing an e-mail.  See [[CZ:Getting Started|Getting Started]], and for a short page that contains all the basic getting-started info, read our [[CZ:Quick Start|Quick Start]]!
 
'''How is "Citizendium" pronounced?'''
 
:We pronounce it [http://www.citizendium.org/cit.mp3 sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um].


== The justification and prospects of the project ==
== The justification and prospects of the project ==
'''Why require real names?'''
===Why real names?===
:There are at least three reasons. First, it improves the credibility of the output: people can see who contributed some content, and whether they appear to know anything about the subject. Second, by making people take real-world personal responsibility for their contributions, it becomes possible to enforce rules. When problem contributors can make up a new pseudonym as soon as they get out of line, this makes it in principle impossible to enforce rules effectively. But if you can enforce rules effectively, you can do the work of a project a lot more efficiently. Third, people do tend to behave themselves better when their identities are known and their behavior is out in the open, and good behavior is crucial to a smoothly running knowledge community.
:We believe the use of real names improves the credibility of the output: people can see who contributed some content, and whether they appear to know anything about the subject. We also believe that people tend to behave themselves better when their identities are known and their behavior is out in the open, and good behavior is crucial to a smoothly running knowledge community.
 
:We take no official stance on the common practice of anonymity online, as a rule.  We assume that most of our contributors are in favor of it.  But the ''Citizendium'' is a special sort of project: the arguments for real names in a serious "knowledge project" are much stronger than in other contexts.
 
'''Why make a special role for experts?'''
:Experts are needed to play meaningful roles because only they can be counted on to recognize when some content represents the latest expert knowledge. Amateurs and dilettantes are sometimes perfectly capable of creating excellent and reliable material on many subjects, especially if they're good writers and researchers; but they are inconsistent in doing so, and they generally lack the expert's ability to judge when some content actually represents the latest expert opinion on a subject. It seems obvious that the intelligent use of experts in a collaborative project can help to improve the quality of the output.  For further discussion of the editor role, look at [[#The role of editors|see the FAQ section below]] and in [[CZ:The Editor Role|The Editor Role]].


'''Why think it is important for people to agree to a [[CZ:Fundamentals|Statement of Fundamental Policies]]?  Why enforce a policy of [[CZ:professionalism|professionalism]] in behavior?'''
===Are you against pseudonymity or anonymity in general?===
:Anyone who has spent a lot of time working in online communities is familiar with certain types of problematic characters and certain patterns of bad behavior. Governance of online communities is very hard. But what makes it hard is that such communities are generally volunteer communities of equals, and in such communities, it is hard to get buy-in from participants for resting some decisionmaking authority in anyone's hands. This may be a problem about the Internet's thoroughgoing egalitarianism.  This is why it is so important that online communities adopt constitutions which institute sensible, representative governance--as it were, just as real, offline communities do.  See our [[CZ:Fundamentals|Statement of Fundamental Policies]].  Beyond that, they should require their members to sign onto the rules explicitly, and then give the members a key stake in the governance of the project.  We believe that giving members an active stake in governance gets them personally invested, and great things can result.  See our [[CZ:proposals|proposals system]].
:We take no official stance on the common practice of pseudonymity and anonymity online, as a rule.  The ''Citizendium'' is a special sort of project: the arguments for real names in a serious "knowledge project" are much stronger than in other contexts.


:A bedrock principle of the ''Citizendium'' is professional behavior: while you need not actually be a "professional" to participate, you are still expected to behave like one. Offline communities have effective social pressures to keep impolite, insulting, and inflammatory conversation to a minimum: frowns, uncomfortable silences, social ostracism.  Online communities cannot use these same mechanisms, and so they need something different.  Some of the longest-lasting, most interesting, and best-behaved Internet discussion groups feature "moderation"--that is, a referee can tap someone on the shoulder if he is getting out of line, and may eject him from the conversation if necessary.  While articles or [[CZ:Talk Pages|talk pages]] are wide open to edit, ''Citizendium'' [[CZ:constabulary|constables]] are empowered to remove comments that are disrespectful.  See [[CZ:Professionalism|Professionalism]].
===What are the project's [[CZ:Policies|policies]]?===
:Our [https://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Policies policy document] shows the minimal rules.  The Citizendium has existed for many years, and our management team is familiar with certain types of problematic characters and their patterns of bad behavior.  We have revised our policies in ways which we hope will minimize interpersonal conflicts--such as, by allowing lead authors and (possibly) multiple articles about a given topic.  In part due to the modest size of this project as of 2020, interpersonal conflict has been thankfully rare.  We hope to keep it that way.  One thing we'll be doing, going forwards, is trying to intervene privately if we see possible troubling behavior without needing to resort to public slap-downs.  This is exactly the kind of behavior you'd like of management in a job situation.


'''But don't the above points really mean the project is some sort of top-down, "fascistic" or at least old-fashioned sort of system? Isn't this a step backward?'''
===Why enforce a policy of [[CZ:professionalism|professionalism]] in behavior?===
:No--definitely not, and those who say such things about the ''Citizendium'' system have no experience with it, and presumably do not understand it.  One glance at our [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes log]] makes it clear that the project operates as much as a "bazaar" as any other wiki or open source software project.  People contribute as they want, when they want; they are going off in a thousand different directions at once.  And, like other open projects, out of this chaos, order emerges.  Work does not proceed only after someone orders it.  Work can begin as soon as a person signs up.
:A bedrock principle of ''Citizendium'' is professional behavior: while you need not actually be a "professional" to participate, you are still expected to behave like one.  Offline communities have effective social pressures to keep impolite, insulting, and inflammatory conversation to a minimum: frowns, uncomfortable silences, social ostracism.  Online communities cannot use these same mechanisms, and so they need something different.  Some of the longest-lasting, most interesting, and best-behaved Internet discussion groups feature "moderation"--that is, a referee can tap someone on the shoulder if he is getting out of line, and may eject him from the conversation if necessary. While articles or [[CZ:Talk Pages|talk pages]] are wide open to edit, ''Citizendium'' [[CZ:Moderator Group|Moderators]] are empowered to remove comments that are disrespectful.  See ''[[CZ:Professionalism|Professionalism]]''.


:In fact, our system is a decided ''improvement'' over similar systems, made in full knowledge of the virtues of those systems.   
===But don't the above points really mean the project is some sort of top-down, "fascistic" or at least old-fashioned sort of system? ===
:No.  One glance at our [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes log]] makes it clear that the project operates as much as a "bazaar" as any other wiki or open source software project.  People contribute as they want, when they want.  And, like other open projects, out of this chaos, order emerges.  Work does not proceed only after someone orders it.  Work can begin as soon as a person signs up.


'''What exactly is the point of the project, when Wikipedia is so huge and of at least reasonably good quality?'''
===What exactly is the point of the project, when Wikipedia is so huge and of at least reasonably good quality?===
: If we can do better than Wikipedia--or more positively, if we can pioneer a truly effective way to gather knowledge--then shouldn't we?  See "[[CZ:Why Citizendium?|Why Citizendium?]]" where this valid question is discussed at length.
:Like Wikipedia, this is an open/free content wiki.  We do not see The Citizendium as competing with Wikipedia, although this project was intended (many years ago) to do so.  We use Wikipedia too, and we recognize it for the things it has done very well--for example, in keeping a complete record of the latest versions of an operating system.  This "complete cataloging" function is valuable and there is little reason for us to duplicate that effort here.  The Citizendium's strength lies elsewhere.  There are things Wikipedia is not so good at, because of the nature of its system of massive, anonymized crowd-sourcing.  Some Wikipedia articles are written, not for persons unfamiliar with the topic, but rather for those who are already subject matter experts.  Some articles are tightly controlled by unknown editors who suppress the expression of concerns they do not agree with.  Software, for example, cannot be evaluated in terms of its advantages or disadvantages in Wikipedia.  Many times, people want an overview of what is most important to know about a thing.  Not everyone will agree on what that is, but here we use our real names, and so you can try to evaluate the quality of an article here in terms of who has participated in its creation.  Wikipedia articles show bias in a variety of ways, and it is impossible to understand that bias, given that it is impossible to know the identities of the individuals who are controlling the content of an article.


'''How can you possibly succeed?  Wikipedia is an enormous community.  How can you go head-to-head with Wikipedia, now a veritable goliath?'''
===Are you going to run out of money and have to close this site?===
:The solid interest and growth of our project demonstrates that there are many people who love the vibrancy and basic concept of Wikipedia, but who believe it needs to be governed under more sensible rules, and with a special place for experts.  We hope they will join the ''Citizendium'' effort. We obviously have a long way to go, but we just started.  Give us a few years; Wikipedia has had a rather large head start.
:So far, the project has benefited from a number of financial donations from various people, and we hope to continue raising funds to keep the server online far into the future. You can keep track of the situation via the [[CZ:Financial report|financial report]].


'''You began as a fork of Wikipedia, and then decided not to fork after all, but start most of your articles over from scratch. Why?'''
===People tell me that this project has failed. Has it?===
:The short answer is people appear to be more motivated to start their own articles than they were to edit old Wikipedia articles; the prospect of starting over and simply doing better is more attractive to more people than trying to clean up Wikipedia.  Please see [http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/01/18/bye-bye-to-wikipedia-articles-hello-to-our-own-work/ this blog post] for further explanation.
:Citizendium has been around since 2006 and has always had a pool of regular contributors and enough funds to keep going. The wiki has gone through several major different management teams. While it is true that activity on the site has declined since its inception, it is also true that the number of articles, including expert-approved ones, slowly but surely keeps going up, and we believe some of it is very high value.  Our management team is committed to keeping the project alive, both for its congenial online community and for the high points of its best output.


== The project's people and culture ==
== The project's people and culture ==


'''How similar is this project to open source hacker culture, and how similar to the culture of academia?'''
===Who is joining this community?===
:This is a part of our experiment: we are trying to marry the two cultures.  So far, it seems to be working pretty well.  On the one hand, we want to teach academics and other professionals to work in a strongly collaborative way and adopt the principles and ethics articulated in, for example, Eric Raymond's essays "[http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/ The Cathedral and the Bazaar]" and "[http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/homesteading/ Homesteading the Noosphere]" (essays we recommend you read, if you have not yet done so). So this ''will'' be a bottom-up, collaborative, distributed wiki project.  It ''is not'' the command-and-control, bureaucratic sort of project with which many academics are familiar.  On the other hand, we want to make a special place for experts to get involved as senior members of the community.  Really, this is not ''that'' different from open source software projects, because those projects have senior participants who decide what's goes into and what stays out of the code.  This only means that the hacker notion of a meritocracy on the basis of visible work must be qualified--not entirely jettisoned, of course--so that people with real-world, hard-won credentials are given an appropriate sort of authority in the project. (That's visible work too.)  See "[[CZ:FAQ#The_Role_of_Editors|The Role of Editors]]" below.
:Generally, people who support the basic project design--and there's a lot of them from various walks of life.  It's not just "experts," and it's not just "the usual online mob."  Think of it as a highly potent blend--something really unusual, new, different--because it really is.  Many academics and other highly knowledgeable people have gone out of their way to try to edit Wikipedia, only essentially to be beaten back by the community.  Not only are they welcome, they are asked to form part of the editorial leadership of the ''Citizendium.'' Many disaffected Wikipedians have gotten involved.  There are also students, and young professionals, who appreciate a more mature, sensible community.  There are even some people who are being seriously introduced to wikis for the very first time by the ''Citizendium.''


'''Who is joining this community?'''
===How can I find out more about your contributors?===
:Generally, people who support the basic project design--and there's a lot of them from various walks of life.  It's not just "experts," and it's not just "the usual online mob."  Think of it as a highly potent blend--something really unusual, new, different--because it really is.  Many academics and other highly knowledgeable people have gone out of their way to try to edit Wikipedia, only essentially to be beaten back by the community.  Not only are they welcome, they are asked to form part of the editorial leadership of the ''Citizendium.''  Many disaffected Wikipedians have gotten involved. There are also a lot of students, and young professionals, who simply appreciate a more mature, sensible community.  There are even some people who are being seriously introduced to wikis for the very first time by the ''Citizendium.''
:All of our authors and editors use their real names. No cute aliases or menacing pseudonyms are allowed! You can find out about most authors on their User Pages. You can also find lists of Authors via the subject [[CZ:Workgroups|workgroups]].


'''Who is behind the project?'''
===Who is behind the project?===
:If you want to understand the ''Citizendium'' properly, you have to understand that it is part of a relatively new and largely misunderstood phenomenon: it is a self-selecting online community.  For that reason, the most important members, the bedrock of the project, are not some editorial board, but instead the rank-and-file volunteer authors and editors who work on the project regularly.  In this way, it is more like a place or a community than a publishing project.  That said, we do have some formal governance apparatus, including an [[CZ:Executive Committee|Executive Committee]], an [[CZ:Editorial Council]], and a [[CZ:Constabulary|Constabulary]].  There are [[CZ:Personnel|other people]] with various responsibilities as well.  Wikipedia co-founder [http://www.larrysanger.org/ Larry Sanger] is Editor-in-Chief.
:''Citizendium'' is a self-selecting online community whose most important members, the bedrock of the project, are the rank-and-file volunteer authors who work on the project regularly.  In this way, it is more like a place or a community than a publishing project.  That said, we do have a management team shown at [[CZ:Personnel|personnel]] with various responsibilities.


:For a further introduction to the community and how it operates, see [[CZ:Community Overview|Community Overview]].
:For a further introduction to the community and how it operates, see [[CZ:Community Overview|Community Overview]].


'''What partnerships do you have now?'''
===Are you part of a larger project? Do you have any links with other sites?===
:We are a project of [http://www.tidescenter.org/ the Tides Center], a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  We intend to become an independent nonprofit before too much longer.  [http://steadfast.net/ Steadfast Networks] of Chicago is currently hosting our servers and providing our bandwidth.  Steadfast has donated two servers and other items, while we are paying for three more ourselves.  Some of our mailing lists are hosted at Purdue University.  We have had three reasonably significant grants from different foundations or individuals associated with foundations (see [[CZ:Donors|Donors]]).
:No. ''Citizendium'' is an independent, self-run, volunteer community. Its founder, Larry Sanger, has not played an active role in managing the project for many years, and in 2020, he ceded ownership of the domain name to [[User:Pat Palmer|long-time wiki member Pat Palmer]].
 
'''In many open source communities, there are "benevolent dictators for life."  Is that Larry Sanger's role here?'''
:No.  We believe that a collaborative online community, to be healthy, must resemble a law-governed, constitutional republic--just like offline communities. So, when the charter is adopted, Larry will be fully beholden to whatever processes it defines.  He might then lose his role as editor-in-chief.  He's willing to take that chance in order to set up a community that is healthy, vibrant, responsible, and ''self-managing.''  In fact, since the beginning of the project, Larry has been committed to ''stepping down'' from the leadership of the ''Citizendium'' in 2009 or 2010 at the latest, to set the healthy precedent of allowing others--members of the volunteer community--to take over his role according to a rule-governed, regular transfer of leadership.


== Funding and related issues ==
== Funding and related issues ==
'''Can I donate to the project, to help ensure it comes into existence?'''
:Yes, please! We take major credit cards and your [https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=15045 donation] is tax-deductible.  You are donating the money to Tides, legally speaking, but the money is earmarked for the'' Citizendium '' (minus Tides' very reasonable fee for their valuable administrative work).


'''Will the ''Citizendium'' accept advertisements?'''
===Can I donate to the project, to help ensure it comes into existence?===
:No.  Sponsors of the ''Citizendium'' would have the opportunity to be named in brief, unobtrusive, text-only sponsorship statements at the bottom of '' Citizendium'' pages.  A statement might read something like this: "The '' Citizendium'' is made possible in part by a generous grant from XYZ Corporation."  The articles on which these statements appear will be determined randomly, but the frequency of any given name would be determined by the amount of the grant.  This is done in public television and radio and such sponsorships are not generally regarded as being at odds with the non-profit mission of public broadcasting.
:Yes, please! Server rentals, bandwidth, and domain registrations are all ongoing costs.  So we need your help to sustain this important work through [[CZ:Donate|donations]]. We accept major credit cards.


:The ''Citizendium ''community will enjoy broad oversight over the sponsorship program as well as the proceeds from it. Guidelines for sponsorship statements will be included in the community charter.  We will also be writing into the project charter both that sponsors will have no editorial influence over the project, that enforceable, adequate oversight of this rule must be in place, and that no grants that make specific editorial demands will be accepted.  (The precise wording of such rules remains to be worked out.)
===Will the ''Citizendium'' accept advertisements?===
:No. Advertising and self-promotion was prohibited by the Citizendium's founding charter and we have seen no reason to change that.


'''How committed are the ''Citizendium'' leaders to making and keeping this a non-profit project?'''
===Will I be paid for my contributions?===
:Completely.  If some big corporation were to offer us a million dollars to reorganize the project as a for-profit (if that were possible somehow), we would refuse.  We're not in it for the money.
:No. All of our contributions are donated by the contributors. As a nonprofit, all volunteer project, all contributions are covered by the [[Creative_Commons_CC-by-sa_3.0|Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported]] license
 
'''Not in it for the money?  Why not?'''
:Because that's the only way the ''Citizendium'' can thrive as a project that is at once reliable, guided by experts, and maximally welcoming to the open source community.  We believe that volunteers--both from academia and from the hacker world--will refuse to contribute to a Wikipedia-style knowledge project if it merely lines the pockets of profit-making enterprise. Besides, the best way to ensure freedom, independence, and neutrality of information is to make sure that the information does not depend on any particular vested interests--that the content itself is ultimately in the hands of a responsible online "republic of the mind."
 
== The role of editors ==
 
'''What do your expert "editors" do here?'''
 
:Expert editors work shoulder-to-shoulder with non-experts in this project in more or less the same bottom-up fashion that Wikipedia uses.  The biggest difference is that experts are well respected.  Editors have two functions in the system.  First, they can approve articles.  Second, when content disputes arise, editors are empowered to articulate a resolution--if the article falls in their areas of specialization.  Think of editors as the village elders wandering the bazaar and occasionally dispensing advice and reining in the wayward.  Their presence is merely a moderating, civilizing influence.  They don't stop the "bazaar" from being a bazaar.
 
'''Who can become an editor, and how?'''
 
:As a rule of thumb, editors in traditionally "academic" fields will require the qualifications typically needed for a tenure-track academic position in the field.  Editors in "professional" fields require the usual terminal degree in their field and at least three years responsible professional experience, and, in most cases, several publications as well.  Editors in non-academic, non-professional fields require varying other kinds of qualification, and can become "specialty editors."  In addition, in the future, persons will be able to become editors by direct appeal to editorial workgroups--this exception should, we hope, take care of the unusual cases.
 
:The requirement of real world credentials reflects no great love for credentials ''per se,'' but instead represents a crucially important means whereby editorship can be established ''independently of the internal politics and bias of decision-makers.''  For more information, see [[CZ:The Editor Role|The Editor Role]].
 
'''Can you really expect headstrong Wikipedia types to work under the guidance of expert types in this way?'''
 
:It depends on the Wikipedian.  For many, probably not.  The ''Citizendium'' will not be Wikipedia.  We ''do'' expect people who have respect for expertise, for knowledge hard gained, to love the opportunity to work alongside editors.  Imagine yourself as a college student who had the opportunity to work alongside, and under the loose and gentle direction of, your professors. This isn't going to be a top-down, command-and-control system.  It is merely a sensible community: one where the people who have made it their life's work to study certain areas are given a certain appropriate authority--''without'' thereby converting the community into a traditional top-down academic editorial scheme.  For more, see [[CZ:Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians|Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians]].
 
'''How can you possibly ensure ''on a wiki'' that editors will have the carefully ''limited'' authority you want to give them?'''
 
:Two ways.  First, as anyone with much experience in thriving Internet communities knows, the community itself places significant peer pressures on people to follow the rules.  This works for most people, and is one key reason that wikis are able to work.  Second, for those not susceptible to peer pressure, there is a [[CZ:Dispute Resolution|Dispute Resolution]] system (still under some development) for content-based problems, and "[[CZ:Constabulary|constables]]" (the local name for the people empowered to ban troublemaking editors) for behavior-based problems.
 
'''Are editors paid?'''
 
:No.  The hope, of course, is that we may raise enough money to pay key members of the community to work on the project full-time.  Honoraria might also become possible, but it all depends on the level of donations, sponsorship, and other revenue-generators.
 
'''What, then, can motivate editors to get involved?  After all, they are professionals used to getting paid for their expertise.'''
 
:The idea is that this is a free resource for ''the entire world'' to use.  Editors will have a desire to teach.  Some people also feel a professional ''obligation'' to teach, something that is reflected by the fact that so many professional organizations have educational and outreach committees.  Also, scholars and students alike are rightly concerned that widely-disseminated information about their interests be correct.  The idea that we have the opportunity to create a resource that is not only ''enormous'' but ''truly reliable'' as well should be very exciting to many academics.  Besides, the process is fun, which is motivation for many participants at all levels of attainment.  For more, see [[CZ:Why Citizendium?|Why Citizendium?]]
 
== Wikipedia and the ''Citizendium'' ==
 
'''How does the project differ from Wikipedia?'''
 
[[CZ:We aren't Wikipedia|In several significant ways]]: expert involvement, the requirement of logging in and real names, and more.  What will not change is that the project will still be an'' open/free content wiki.
 
'''Do you want to try to "steal" people from Wikipedia and divide the community?'''
 
That is not the aim.  Wikipedia has already driven off no doubt thousands of would-be contributors, and there are thousands, if not millions, of people who never would think about contributing to Wikipedia in the first place, but who might be willing to give the ''Citizendium'' a go.  We want to set up, not a'' replacement,'' but'' ''an ''alternative'' to Wikipedia, a responsible constitutional republic that makes a special place for experts and invites the general public to work shoulder-to-shoulder with them.
 
'''Are you attempting to shut Wikipedia down?'''
 
No. That makes up no part of our aim.  We wish instead to take the best of Wikipedia's model and use it to create something better.
 
'''Aha!  So you ''are'' trying to ''outdo'' Wikipedia, aren't you?'''
 
Well, of course.
 
'''If you're not trying to shut Wikipedia down, then what relationship do you want with Wikipedia?'''
 
A mutually complementary one, in which we occupy different social niches, as it were.  Those who want to work in a system committed to the maximum empowerment of amateurs should always be able to do so on Wikipedia.  Those who, by contrast, want to work shoulder-to-shoulder in a bottom-up system with experts, in which the experts are able to settle content disputes, will soon have the option of doing so on the ''Citizendium.''  Furthermore, those who want the option of working anonymously and in a wild-and-woolly atmosphere in which rules are not necessarily enforced should always be able to do so on Wikipedia.  Those who, by contrast, want to take personal, real-world responsibility for their efforts, and to work in a dynamic but rule-governed environment, will soon have the option of doing so on the ''Citizendium.''
 
Besides, the world has had multiple encyclopedias for a long time.  There's no reason why there needs to be just one free, collaborative, general encyclopedia.
 
'''You could have started this project a long time ago.  Why now?'''
 
The full and frank story is very complex, and not ready to be told.  Perhaps we ''should'' have done this a long time ago.  But perhaps we were not ''fully'' justified in doing it until fairly recently.  In particular, many of us think that Wikipedia's attempts to paper over its very public mini-scandals with minor changes have been weak.  It is pretty clear to us that Wikipedia will probably never seriously attempt to solve what ''we,'' at least, regard as the central problems of the project.  For further explanation, see "[http://citizendium.org/essay.html Toward a New Compendium of Knowledge]."
 
== International Prospects of the ''Citizendium'' ==
 
'''Will you be attempting to start versions of the ''Citizendium'' in languages other than English?'''
 
Yes, if the English language ''Citizendium'' succeeds.  We have seen quite a bit of interest from people speaking all major European languages.
 
'''If ''Citizendia'' in other languages are started, will the central management of the ''Citizendium'' be fully international?'''
 
The extent to which the project is centralized at all, or instead federated or "franchised," remains to be decided.  Participants must not assume that we will simply replicate the current, problematic Wikipedia model; we will be developing our relationships much more deliberately and carefully.
 
'''How will you actually get the ''Citizendia'' in other languages started?'''
 
This remains to be worked out and debated. We've started [[CZ:International|listing potential contributors]] in other languages.
 
== Contact ==
'''How do I contact ''Citizendium'' staff?'''
 
:Please see [[CZ:Contact|Contact]].
 
== Further frequent questions ==
=== Why is another online encyclopedia necessary? ===
The world needs a ''trustworthy'' free encyclopedia.  We aim to create that by providing a responsibly governed global community where real-named contributors work under expert guidance and all are accountable.
 
===What is Citizendium trying to achieve?===
'''''Quality'''''<br> 
Our goal is to capture the full range of humanity's various understandings and knowledge of reality, and thereby to paint a maximally broad and detailed portrait of our universe as accurately as living humans understand it. We also expect our approved articles to be, in the long run, as authoritative, error-free, and well-written as encyclopedia articles are expected to be. We believe that an indispensable means to this end is the involvement of many levels of experts who will not only write, but also help guide and, ultimately, approve many of our articles. 
 
'''''Quantity'''''  <br>
We have already added thousands of articles, and hope to grow to hundreds of thousands of articles within the near future, and millions after that.  This is not the traditional goal of paper-and-print encyclopedias, which have typically sought to offer only mainstream views of the most important aspects of a small number of important topics.  Cheap disk space and bandwidth, and the potential of participation by ultimately ''millions'' of people, means that we can capture humanity's understanding of reality with far more nuance and detail. Quantity, alone, is useless, however, without the trust that comes with high quality, reliable content.
 
'''''A new sort of online community''''' <br>
We welcome experts as well as the general public; we will be built not by top-down orders but as and where contributors wish to work; and we will be organized as a genuine [[republic of letters]] governed by a rule of law.  There will be no "dictators," but a regularly changing group of people tasked to manage a public trust in conformity with a relatively stable code of rules.  It also means that we will have very little tolerance for the sort of immature disruption and abuse that plagues so many other Internet communities.
 
===I don't see myself as an expert. Can I still participate?===
While we need the involvement of many expert editors (some have [http://www.citizendium.org/editortestimonials.html explained why they're involved]), most of our contributors are "authors," not editors, and the majority ''do not'' have terminal academic degrees.  We're a public project ''guided'' by experts.  But there are many levels of expertise, and even more levels of knowledgeable participation. To get involved, [[Special:RequestAccount|register as an author]]. You can also contribute your thoughts to [http://smf.citizendium.org/ the project forums] and receive important announcements by joining [https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/citizendium-l Citizendium-L]. Editor applicants additionally provide a CV and proof of ''bona fides'', although many get involved as authors right away. For more information on editor applications, again, see [[Special:RequestAccount|our registration page]].
 
===I live outside the U.S. and my native language isn't English. Is there a role for me?===
{{seealso|CZ:International}}
While we have launched only in the English language, this is a digital and international project, with active participants from all around the world.  There is no central office; the editor-in-chief is in Ohio, our five servers and technical manager are in Chicago, and our current umbrella organization, the Tides Center, is in San Francisco.  If the English language project appears to work well, we will launch in a number of other languages.
 
===What progress has occurred so far?===
We first announced plans for this project on September 15, 2006.  Our pilot project got underway in early November 2006, and we entered a "beta" phase, inviting public viewing and participation, in late March 2007.  While still a private pilot project, we gained over 180 expert editors and over 800 authors, who together created or began revising over 1,100 articles.  Since then, we have grown to over [[:Category:CZ Live|{{PAGESINCAT:CZ Live}} articles]] and thousands of registered contributors (with a few hundred active every month).  At the same time, many thousands of messages have been exchanged on our forums and mailing lists.  We are a vital and growing project, as [[CZ:Statistics|our statistics page]] shows, and recently our rate of growth has been clearly accelerating.


=== Will someone else profit from my contributions? ===
=== Will someone else profit from my contributions? ===
We are a nonprofit project, in order to ensure maximum participation and the independence of our information. We're nearly 100% volunteer. 
:We are a nonprofit project, in order to ensure maximum participation and the independence of our information.  


===Will I be paid for my contributions?===
:We make our content available for anyone to use, reuse and redistribute (provided they properly credit us as the source of the information) and hope that this opens the door for others to benefit from the project.
No. All of our contributions are donated by the contributors. As a nonprofit, all volunteer project, all contributions are covered by the [[Creative_Commons_CC-by-sa_3.0|Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported]] license


===Why do you ask for donations on the front page?===
==Where can I find out more? ==
Server rentals, bandwidth, and basic personnel are all ongoing costs.  So we need your help to sustain this important work: [https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=15045 donations are tax-deductible].  The ''Citizendium'' is a project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We will be associated with Tides throughout 2007 and intend to become an independent nonprofit probably in 2008.
{|width=90% align=center border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-bottom:1px solid #dddddd; border-top:1px solid #dddddd; border-left:1px solid #aaaaaa; border-right:1px solid #dddddd; margin:0 auto; clear: both;"
!align=center colspan=3 style="background:#CCFFCC"| '''Our [[Help:Index|help system]]'''
|-align=center
|''Questions and answers to help you find the information you need''
|}
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*[[CZ:About|About]]
*''[[CZ:Why Citizendium?|Why Citizendium?]]''
*''[[CZ:Why_I_contribute_to_CZ|Why I Contribute]]''
*[[CZ:Myths and Facts|Myths and Facts]]
*[[CZ:Content_Policy|Content Policy]]
*'[[CZ:Citizen|Citizens]]'
*'[[CZ:The Author Role|Authors]]' and the (now mostly defunct) '[[CZ:The Editor Role|Editors role]]'
*[[CZ:Group Editing|Collaborating]]
{{col-break}}
*[[CZ:Policies|Policies]]
*[[CZ:Governance|Governance]]
*Information for [[CZ:Reader|readers]] of this site
*[[Help:Index/Join|Sign up information]]
*[[Citizendium|Citizendium article on Citizendium]]
*[[CZ:General disclaimer|Disclaimers]]
*Follow us on Twitter ([https://twitter.com/TheCitizendium general news]) or [https://www.facebook.com/citizendium Facebook])
{{col-end}}


===How can I find out more about your contributors?===
From the [[CZ:Home|'''HOME''']] page you can get started, get technical help, see our policies, and explore our organization in detail.
All of our authors and editors use their real names. No cute aliases or menacing pseudonyms are allowed! You can find out about most authors on their User Pages. Typing User:FirstName LastName in the Find box at the upper left of every page will usually '''not''' take you there.  After the unsuccessful search, go to the bottom of the page and click the box for User: pages, then search again.


===What is expected of Authors?===
''[[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]] is the author of the writings listed below, unless otherwise noted. Others are welcome to submit essays in a similar vein.''
Information about the Author Role can be found [[CZ:The_Author_Role|here]].
 
===What do Editors do?===
The Editor role is one of the most distinctive aspects of Citizendium. You can learn more about it [[CZ:The_Editor_Role|here]].
 
===Where can I find out more? ===
* [[CZ:FAQ|FAQ]]
* [[CZ:Fundamentals|Statement of Fundamental Policies]]
* [[CZ:Fundamentals|Statement of Fundamental Policies]]
* [http://www.citizendium.org/oneyearandthriving.html The Citizendium one year on: a strong start and an amazing future] (October 2007; first year progress report)
* [http://www.citizendium.org/oneyearandthriving.html The Citizendium one year on: a strong start and an amazing future] (October 2007; first year progress report)
* [[CZ:Press|Press]]
* [[CZ:Press|Press]]
* [[CZ:Citizendium_Press_Releases/Oct302007|Latest press release]]
* [[CZ:Citizendium_Press_Releases/Oct302007|Latest press release]]
* Older press releases: [[CZ:Citizendium_Press_Releases/Oct172006|1]] | [[CZ:Citizendium_Press_Releases/Jan242007|2]] | [http://www.citizendium.org/release_003.html 3]
* Older press releases: [[CZ:Citizendium_Press_Releases/Oct172006|1]] | [[CZ:Citizendium_Press_Releases/Jan242007|2]]
* [http://www.citizendium.org/essay.html Toward a New Compendium of Knowledge] (September 2006; original project manifesto; outdated, but articulates the grounds for the project; [essay_shorter.html shorter version])
* [http://www.citizendium.org/whyczwillsucceed.html Why the ''Citizendium'' Will (Probably) Succeed] (March 2007)
* [http://www.citizendium.org/editortestimonials.html Why ''Citizendium ''editors are involved: some testimonials] (compiled winter 2006-7)
'''Other essays:'''
* [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/sanger07/sanger07_index.html Who Says We Know: On the New Politics of Knowledge] (''Edge.org,'' April 2007)
* [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/sanger07/sanger07_index.html Who Says We Know: On the New Politics of Knowledge] (''Edge.org,'' April 2007)
* [http://www.citizendium.org/collab_prof.html How to Think about Strong Collaboration among Professionals] (text of keynote at Handelsblatt IT Congress from Jan. 30, 2007)
* [http://www.citizendium.org/roomforexperts.html Why Make Room for Experts in Web 2.0?]  (text of keynote at SDForum from Oct. 24, 2006)
* [http://www.citizendium.org/contentbrokers.html The Role of Content Brokers in the Era of Free Content] (articulates one of the Citizendium Foundation's concepts for funding free content)
''Larry Sanger is the author of the above writings, unless otherwise noted.  Others are welcome to submit essays in a similar vein.''


{{Organization}}
{{Organization}}

Latest revision as of 18:43, 24 July 2024

Introductory topics

What is Citizendium?

Citizendium is a wiki project aiming to creating objective encyclopedic articles about virtually any subject, of a type which could not be written in Wikipedia. Our contributors use their verified real names, in a congenial and supportive online community. We welcome experts as well as the general public who would like to share their knowledge. Topics range from the universal to the highly local, including parks and school sports teams.

How are you progressing?

Citizendium currently has 16,469 articles.

Is this an experts-only project?

Anyone can join Citizendium. Our essential feature is not expertise, but responsibility. We value expertise and ask our authors to declare a little about their experience, education and interests on their User page, but we believe generalists--non-experts--can create excellent and reliable material on many subjects, especially if they're good writers and researchers. In the past, Citizendium tried a management system whereby experts had a special role with decision-making power over others; that system is no longer in place.

How do I apply to join?

Follow the instructions at Help:Index/Join.

How do I contact Citizendium staff?

You can email manager A T citizendium.org. If you are already a member, you can also post questions or concerns in the Forums.

How do I get started?

It's pretty easy. Do you have some knowledge you'd like to express? About--well--almost anything? Then search for an article about it. If we don't have an article about it, then start one. Don't worry about getting all the formatting right: just use "the easy way" you'll see here, and start. Writing for Citizendium is about as easy as writing an e-mail. See Getting Started, and for a short page that contains all the basic getting-started info, read our Quick Start!

The justification and prospects of the project

Why real names?

We believe the use of real names improves the credibility of the output: people can see who contributed some content, and whether they appear to know anything about the subject. We also believe that people tend to behave themselves better when their identities are known and their behavior is out in the open, and good behavior is crucial to a smoothly running knowledge community.

Are you against pseudonymity or anonymity in general?

We take no official stance on the common practice of pseudonymity and anonymity online, as a rule. The Citizendium is a special sort of project: the arguments for real names in a serious "knowledge project" are much stronger than in other contexts.

What are the project's policies?

Our policy document shows the minimal rules. The Citizendium has existed for many years, and our management team is familiar with certain types of problematic characters and their patterns of bad behavior. We have revised our policies in ways which we hope will minimize interpersonal conflicts--such as, by allowing lead authors and (possibly) multiple articles about a given topic. In part due to the modest size of this project as of 2020, interpersonal conflict has been thankfully rare. We hope to keep it that way. One thing we'll be doing, going forwards, is trying to intervene privately if we see possible troubling behavior without needing to resort to public slap-downs. This is exactly the kind of behavior you'd like of management in a job situation.

Why enforce a policy of professionalism in behavior?

A bedrock principle of Citizendium is professional behavior: while you need not actually be a "professional" to participate, you are still expected to behave like one. Offline communities have effective social pressures to keep impolite, insulting, and inflammatory conversation to a minimum: frowns, uncomfortable silences, social ostracism. Online communities cannot use these same mechanisms, and so they need something different. Some of the longest-lasting, most interesting, and best-behaved Internet discussion groups feature "moderation"--that is, a referee can tap someone on the shoulder if he is getting out of line, and may eject him from the conversation if necessary. While articles or talk pages are wide open to edit, Citizendium Moderators are empowered to remove comments that are disrespectful. See Professionalism.

But don't the above points really mean the project is some sort of top-down, "fascistic" or at least old-fashioned sort of system?

No. One glance at our recent changes log makes it clear that the project operates as much as a "bazaar" as any other wiki or open source software project. People contribute as they want, when they want. And, like other open projects, out of this chaos, order emerges. Work does not proceed only after someone orders it. Work can begin as soon as a person signs up.

What exactly is the point of the project, when Wikipedia is so huge and of at least reasonably good quality?

Like Wikipedia, this is an open/free content wiki. We do not see The Citizendium as competing with Wikipedia, although this project was intended (many years ago) to do so. We use Wikipedia too, and we recognize it for the things it has done very well--for example, in keeping a complete record of the latest versions of an operating system. This "complete cataloging" function is valuable and there is little reason for us to duplicate that effort here. The Citizendium's strength lies elsewhere. There are things Wikipedia is not so good at, because of the nature of its system of massive, anonymized crowd-sourcing. Some Wikipedia articles are written, not for persons unfamiliar with the topic, but rather for those who are already subject matter experts. Some articles are tightly controlled by unknown editors who suppress the expression of concerns they do not agree with. Software, for example, cannot be evaluated in terms of its advantages or disadvantages in Wikipedia. Many times, people want an overview of what is most important to know about a thing. Not everyone will agree on what that is, but here we use our real names, and so you can try to evaluate the quality of an article here in terms of who has participated in its creation. Wikipedia articles show bias in a variety of ways, and it is impossible to understand that bias, given that it is impossible to know the identities of the individuals who are controlling the content of an article.

Are you going to run out of money and have to close this site?

So far, the project has benefited from a number of financial donations from various people, and we hope to continue raising funds to keep the server online far into the future. You can keep track of the situation via the financial report.

People tell me that this project has failed. Has it?

Citizendium has been around since 2006 and has always had a pool of regular contributors and enough funds to keep going. The wiki has gone through several major different management teams. While it is true that activity on the site has declined since its inception, it is also true that the number of articles, including expert-approved ones, slowly but surely keeps going up, and we believe some of it is very high value. Our management team is committed to keeping the project alive, both for its congenial online community and for the high points of its best output.

The project's people and culture

Who is joining this community?

Generally, people who support the basic project design--and there's a lot of them from various walks of life. It's not just "experts," and it's not just "the usual online mob." Think of it as a highly potent blend--something really unusual, new, different--because it really is. Many academics and other highly knowledgeable people have gone out of their way to try to edit Wikipedia, only essentially to be beaten back by the community. Not only are they welcome, they are asked to form part of the editorial leadership of the Citizendium. Many disaffected Wikipedians have gotten involved. There are also students, and young professionals, who appreciate a more mature, sensible community. There are even some people who are being seriously introduced to wikis for the very first time by the Citizendium.

How can I find out more about your contributors?

All of our authors and editors use their real names. No cute aliases or menacing pseudonyms are allowed! You can find out about most authors on their User Pages. You can also find lists of Authors via the subject workgroups.

Who is behind the project?

Citizendium is a self-selecting online community whose most important members, the bedrock of the project, are the rank-and-file volunteer authors who work on the project regularly. In this way, it is more like a place or a community than a publishing project. That said, we do have a management team shown at personnel with various responsibilities.
For a further introduction to the community and how it operates, see Community Overview.

Are you part of a larger project? Do you have any links with other sites?

No. Citizendium is an independent, self-run, volunteer community. Its founder, Larry Sanger, has not played an active role in managing the project for many years, and in 2020, he ceded ownership of the domain name to long-time wiki member Pat Palmer.

Funding and related issues

Can I donate to the project, to help ensure it comes into existence?

Yes, please! Server rentals, bandwidth, and domain registrations are all ongoing costs. So we need your help to sustain this important work through donations. We accept major credit cards.

Will the Citizendium accept advertisements?

No. Advertising and self-promotion was prohibited by the Citizendium's founding charter and we have seen no reason to change that.

Will I be paid for my contributions?

No. All of our contributions are donated by the contributors. As a nonprofit, all volunteer project, all contributions are covered by the Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license

Will someone else profit from my contributions?

We are a nonprofit project, in order to ensure maximum participation and the independence of our information.
We make our content available for anyone to use, reuse and redistribute (provided they properly credit us as the source of the information) and hope that this opens the door for others to benefit from the project.

Where can I find out more?

Our help system
Questions and answers to help you find the information you need

From the HOME page you can get started, get technical help, see our policies, and explore our organization in detail.

Larry Sanger is the author of the writings listed below, unless otherwise noted. Others are welcome to submit essays in a similar vein.


Citizendium Organization
CZ:Home | Workgroups | Personnel | Governance | Proposals | Recruitment | Contact | Donate | FAQ | Sitemap

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