CZ:We aren't Wikipedia: Difference between revisions

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'''How is the ''Citizendium'' similar to Wikipedia?'''  In quite a few ways. In enough ways that you might make you wonder why we've started another project. Consider:
==How is the ''Citizendium'' similar to Wikipedia?==
#We aim to create a giant free general encyclopedia.
#We use [[Special:Version|MediaWiki software]].
#We use wiki methods of collaboration, and we encourage everybody to work on articles in their area of interest and expertise.
#No particular qualifications are needed to participate as an [[CZ:Author|Author]].
#We rely on "soft security" to a great extent. We work on the basis of trust.
#We are committed to an [[CZ:Objectivity_Guidance|objective, unbiased]] presentation of information.
#We have similar naming conventions, and some other style guidelines in common. See [[CZ:Manual of Style]] for the differences.
#The community and project was organized originally by one of the people who originally organized Wikipedia, [[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]].


# We aim to create a giant free general encyclopedia.
==How do we differ?==
# We're managed by a nonprofit (the Citizendium Foundation, a project of the Tides Center).
#Except for a short period in which we permitted self-registration, we have had no significant vandalism.
# We use [[Special:Version|MediaWiki software]].
#We formerly had experts in certain fields who were called "[[CZ:Editor|Editor]]". Every Editor was also an Author.  Now, a few experienced Authors tend to help arbitrate editorial decisions.
# We use wiki methods of strong collaboration.  We don't sign articles or even have lead authors; we strongly encourage everybody to "be bold" and mix it up.
#We have a [[CZ:Approval Process|method for producing citable articles]] that depends on the judgment of experts. ''This feature is also now mostly inactive.''
# No credentials are needed to participate (as an author).
#Article policies differ. Citizendium's aim is to craft compelling introductory narratives, not mere collections of data. We cite sources because doing so helps ''the reader''.  We usually ''do not'' cite sources to settle internal disputes, or to "prove" a point to contributors.  
# We still rely on "soft security" to a great extent.  We mostly trust people and solve what few behavioral problems we've seen as they arise.
#Attached to every article is a set of "[[CZ:subpages|subpages]]" of supplementary information.  These may include the standard tabs for related articles, bibliographies, and external articles, but also can be customized to include galleries, tables, timelines, tutorials, and signed introductory articles by experts.
# We are committed to a neutral, unbiased presentation of information.
#We use our own names and identities.  We require people to sign in, to use their real names and to fill out a publicly readable biography.  We also go to some lengths to verify identities. Our user pages are for brief, helpful biographies and are not intended as vanity pages.  To join Citizendium, please fill out our {{ApplicationForm}}.
# We have similar naming conventions, and some other similar conventions.
#We are a community defined by shared principles expressed in our [[CZ:Policies]]. We expect professional behavior and have low tolerance for disruption. Our management team has some [[CZ:Constabulary Blocking Procedures|firm rules]] that require [[CZ:Professionalism|professionalism]]. We have rules against personal attacks and blatant violations of the neutrality policy. We enforce them by warnings (in most cases, and usually done privately) followed by bans, which can be rescinded only through appeal.
# Quite a few of our articles originally came from Wikipedia.
#Our community managers have mature judgment, and they oversee ''behavior and adherence to basic policies''.
# The community and project has been organized by the same person who organized Wikipedia, [[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]].
#The ''Citizendium'' community settles policies by discussion and (where necessary) votes by the community.  The management team is supported, behind the scenes, by a private advisory group with long-term experience in wiki use and management.
#Works on Citizendium use the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC-by-sa)] license.
#We take defamation seriously. This is why we have a [[CZ:Policy on Topic Informants|Policy on Topic Informants]] and a [[CZ:Topic Informant Workgroup|Topic Informant Workgroup]].
#We talk about maintainability (or feasibility), not notability. We have a [[CZ:Maintainability|Maintainability]] policy.
#We normally don't use categories on articles themselves. 
#We don't use excessive acronyms. Using a lot of acronyms for every small point of policy creates a sort of in-group that makes the community insular and unintelligible.


Quite similar, it seems.  But...
== See also ==
*[[CZ:Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians|Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians]]
*[[CZ:How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles|How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles]]
*''Citizendium'' Blog post (Feb. 28, 2008): [http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/02/28/whos-more-command-and-control-wikipedia-or-cz/ Who's more command-and-control, Wikipedia or CZ?]


'''How do we differ?'''  Let us count the ways.
{{organization}}
 
# '''We've got editors.'''  They are experts in their fields.  They work shoulder-to-shoulder with everybody else on the wiki, but have a few extra responsibilities that do not make the project any less of a "bazaar."
# '''And we respect them for their expertise.'''  We do not dismiss their expertise as the mere accumulation of meaningless "credentials."  We do not dismiss ordinary notions of expertise as only so much "credentialism" or "elitism."  In an encyclopedia project, respect for expertise is just good sense.
# '''We have a method for approving articles.'''  While Wikipedia has a "featured article" system, we have expert-approved articles.  [[CZ:Approval_Process|Our approval system]] actually depends on the judgment of real-life experts—the very sort of people that ''Nature'' might consult to judge the accuracy of Wikipedia articles.
# '''Our community and contributors are different.''' (If you haven't yet discovered this for yourself, we encourage you to [http://www.citizendium.org/cfa.html get a contributor account]).
#* '''We have no vandalism.'''  Excluding accounts created during the short period in which we permitted self-registration, we have had zero vandalism—none.
#* '''We use our own names and identities.'''  Not only do we require people to sign in, we require them to use names that they attest are their own real names and to fill out a publicly readable biography.  We also go to some lengths (without making absolute guarantees) to verify identities—and to greater lengths for editors.
#* '''We expect professional behavior and have very low tolerance for disruption.'''  Our Constabulary has some [[CZ:Constabulary Blocking Procedures|pretty firm rules]] that require [[CZ:Professionalism|professionalism]].  This means that not only do we have rules against personal attacks, blatant violations of the neutrality policy, and so forth, ''we actually enforce them''.  We enforce our rules by warnings (in most cases) followed by permanent bans, which can be rescinded only through appeal or application for reinstatement.  We do not have "24 hour bans", which do nothing but annoy and antagonize.
#* '''Our Citizens are bound by a social contract.'''  Wikipedia is open to people who make great sport of flouting its basic principles.  By contrast, we are a community defined by shared principles: we require new recruits to agree to [http://www.citizendium.org/fundamentals.html our Statement of Fundamental Policies].
#* '''Our user pages are biographies, not vanity pages.'''  Accordingly, we don't use "userboxes". 
#* '''We don't use zillions of acronyms.'''  The Chief Constable has made this a bannable offense.  We're not sure whether she's kidding or not.  Using a lot of acronyms for every small point of policy creates a sort of in-group that makes the community insular and unintelligible.
# '''Our community managers (called "constables" not "administrators") are different.'''
#* '''Our constables are not high school students.''' They are required to have a bachelor's degree and to be at least 25 years old.
#* '''Unlike Wikipedia administrators, constables do not make editorial decisions.'''  We have a "separation of powers."  Constables oversee ''behavior and adherence to basic policies''; editors oversee ''content''.
#* '''Unlike Wikipedia administrators, constables are held to a strict conflict of interest policy.'''  If they have engaged in a dispute or are otherwise at work on an article, they may not exercise their constable authority with respect to that article. Period.
# '''We are more than just an encyclopedia project.'''  Soon you will find attached to every article a set of "[[CZ:subpages|subpages]]," or pages of supplementary reference information.  These will include not only lists of related articles, bibliographies, and external articles, but also galleries, tables, timelines, tutorials, and even signed introductory articles by experts.
# '''Policy decisions are increasingly made by representatives and plebiscites, not "consensus."'''  The notion of consensus as a way to settle policy became impractical even in Wikipedia's first year.  The ''Citizendium'' community will settle policies by discussion and (where necessary) vote of the Editorial Council, the Constabulary, and many editor-led workgroups.
# '''The ''Citizendium'' editor-in-chief is a limited-term position; he is not "dictator for life."'''  [[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]] declared, when he first announced the ''Citizendium'' in September 2006, that he would leave his position as editor-in-chief within two to three years, in order to set a positive precedent.
# '''Our license for our own work will probably differ.'''  This is still under discussion, but will be either the GFDL, CC-by-sa, or CC-by-nc-sa.
# '''Contributors share their copyright with us.'''  Contributors give to the Citizendium Foundation a non-exclusive right to relicense their work.  This allows the Citizendium Foundation to be the sole entity that licenses the entire ''Citizendium'' corpus.
# '''Our article policies differ.'''
#* '''Our aim is to craft compelling introductory narratives, not mere collections of data.'''  We are encouraging our contributors to create coherent, readable, extended narratives that actually do the job of introducing a topic to people who ''need'' an introduction to the topic.  We are actively discouraging articles that take the form of mere disconnected summaries of subtopics, or other "modular" collections of data that could easily be reshuffled and reorganized.  Such "articles" are dull and not likely to be read all the way through.
#* '''We use an older version of the neutrality policy.'''  Wikipedia has added all sorts of bells and whistles to its original neutrality policy.  We've gone back to one of the original versions.  And we don't use the neologisms "NPOV" and "POV"; we use the old-fashioned English words "neutral" and "biased."  And we actually take the neutrality policy seriously; for many Wikipedia articles, the policy seems to be on hold.
#* '''We take defamation seriously.''' We believe defamation is a horrible thing, and we have zero tolerance for people playing fast and loose with people's reputations in their biography articles. This is why we have a [[CZ:Policy on Topic Informants|Policy on Topic Informants]] and a [[CZ:Topic Informant Workgroup|Topic Informant Workgroup]].
#* '''We take a more sensible approach to citing sources.'''  The editors we have on board actually ''create'' the sort of sources that Wikipedia cites. We do cite sources, of course, but we have [[CZ:Article_Mechanics#Citations|a sensible approach]] to doing so. We cite sources because doing so helps ''the reader''.  We ''do not'' cite sources in order to settle internal disputes, or to "prove" a point to contributors. As seasoned researchers, we know that people can find sources for all sorts of ridiculous claims.
#* '''We talk about maintainability (or feasibility), not notability.''' We have replaced Wikipedia's conceptually problematic "notability" policy with a [[CZ:Maintainability|Maintainability]] policy.
#* '''We aren't going to use categories, probably.'''  There is an excellent chance that we will replace subject categories with an in-line system of "Subtopics" and "Related topics"; [http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,513.0.html see this Forums post.]  (So, authors, please do not create new categories.)
#* '''We don't overuse templates.'''  We place templates helpful to contributors on talk pages, not on the articles themselves.
#* '''We will never have nearly as many articles about porn stars and sexual fetishes.'''  We aim to be family-friendly.
# '''We don't have as many articles.'''  Yet.  Give us a little time.
 
See also our [[CZ:Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians|Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians]] as well as [[CZ:How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles|How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles]].

Revision as of 12:42, 30 July 2022

How is the Citizendium similar to Wikipedia?

  1. We aim to create a giant free general encyclopedia.
  2. We use MediaWiki software.
  3. We use wiki methods of collaboration, and we encourage everybody to work on articles in their area of interest and expertise.
  4. No particular qualifications are needed to participate as an Author.
  5. We rely on "soft security" to a great extent. We work on the basis of trust.
  6. We are committed to an objective, unbiased presentation of information.
  7. We have similar naming conventions, and some other style guidelines in common. See CZ:Manual of Style for the differences.
  8. The community and project was organized originally by one of the people who originally organized Wikipedia, Larry Sanger.

How do we differ?

  1. Except for a short period in which we permitted self-registration, we have had no significant vandalism.
  2. We formerly had experts in certain fields who were called "Editor". Every Editor was also an Author. Now, a few experienced Authors tend to help arbitrate editorial decisions.
  3. We have a method for producing citable articles that depends on the judgment of experts. This feature is also now mostly inactive.
  4. Article policies differ. Citizendium's aim is to craft compelling introductory narratives, not mere collections of data. We cite sources because doing so helps the reader. We usually do not cite sources to settle internal disputes, or to "prove" a point to contributors.
  5. Attached to every article is a set of "subpages" of supplementary information. These may include the standard tabs for related articles, bibliographies, and external articles, but also can be customized to include galleries, tables, timelines, tutorials, and signed introductory articles by experts.
  6. We use our own names and identities. We require people to sign in, to use their real names and to fill out a publicly readable biography. We also go to some lengths to verify identities. Our user pages are for brief, helpful biographies and are not intended as vanity pages. To join Citizendium, please fill out our application form (Google Account required).
  7. We are a community defined by shared principles expressed in our CZ:Policies. We expect professional behavior and have low tolerance for disruption. Our management team has some firm rules that require professionalism. We have rules against personal attacks and blatant violations of the neutrality policy. We enforce them by warnings (in most cases, and usually done privately) followed by bans, which can be rescinded only through appeal.
  8. Our community managers have mature judgment, and they oversee behavior and adherence to basic policies.
  9. The Citizendium community settles policies by discussion and (where necessary) votes by the community. The management team is supported, behind the scenes, by a private advisory group with long-term experience in wiki use and management.
  10. Works on Citizendium use the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC-by-sa) license.
  11. We take defamation seriously. This is why we have a Policy on Topic Informants and a Topic Informant Workgroup.
  12. We talk about maintainability (or feasibility), not notability. We have a Maintainability policy.
  13. We normally don't use categories on articles themselves.
  14. We don't use excessive acronyms. Using a lot of acronyms for every small point of policy creates a sort of in-group that makes the community insular and unintelligible.

See also


Citizendium Organization
CZ:Home | Workgroups | Personnel | Governance | Proposals | Recruitment | Contact | Donate | FAQ | Sitemap
How to Edit
Getting Started Organization Technical Help
Policies Content Policy
Welcome Page