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The following is a proposed Misplaced Pages policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption.


Summary

Purposes of the desk

  • The primary purpose of the desk is to provide improvement of, and access to, the encyclopedia. To do this, the reference desk attempts to provide an informative resource to all users.
  • Whilst providing readers with a convenient method of answering their questions, it also serves the public by facilitating access to the information contained in Misplaced Pages, and improves the encyclopedia by promoting the refinement of encyclopedia content.
  • The reference desk is also intended to encourage article contributions and additions. A question may bring to light areas in which Misplaced Pages lacks coverage, where article names and redirects could better serve those seeking information, or where article quality needs improvement.
  • The desk is comparable to a library reference desk. Readers are advised to first try to find the answer by searching. Answers are kept within the scope of the question asked and usually link to articles which may have relevant information. The reference desk is located in what is termed 'project space'

What the reference desk is not

  • The reference desk is not a place to your homework for you. You should do the actual work yourself, but we will give assistance in interpreting questions, help with ideas and concepts, and attempt to point you to other resources that might help you to solve your tasks.
  • The reference desk is not a place to rehash the debate about Creation, evolution, the Apollo moon landing hoax, or any other kind of controversy. Whilst we're glad to direct you to relevant discussions – in Misplaced Pages and elsewhere – of theories of theology, epistemology, cosmology, or conspiracy, the reference desk is not the place where any of these are going to be resolved.

What we try to do

Within our capabilities, we do try to answer scientific, semantic or historical questions, help explain concepts, and point the questioner to possible sources of solutions.

Content and tone

The reference desk is not censored. Although we try not to give offense, it is possible that some viewers may occassionally be offended or shocked by something they see or read here. The desk are not intended to present an overly formal atmosphere; replies may often be light and humorous while still maintaining their purpose.

Guidelines

Asking your question

  • Please choose the most suitable Reference Desk (e.g. Science; Humanities) for placing your question. This will increase the likelihood of getting a quick response.
  • As Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia, not a discussion forum, questions that ask for personal opinion are discouraged.
  • Please do not post questions to which you already know the answer in order to start a discussion. Such discussions are best placed on the talk page of an article on the subject, or on user talk pages.
  • Do not double post, or repeat your question several times. It may take a while to get an answer, and repeating yourself doesn't reduce that time.

Replying to questions

  • The reference desk necessarily involves communication between questioners and answerers from different backgrounds and cultures. This communication does not need to be completely formal. Humour is allowed in reference desk answers, provided it is relevant to the question, is not at the expense of other editors, and is not likely to offend a typical reference desk reader.
  • Responses to posts should always attempt to answer the question and should almost always fall into one of three categories:
    • direct answers,
    • clarifications of other answers and
    • requests for clarification.
Giving personal opinions in answers should be limited to what is absolutly necessary, and avoided entirely when it gets in the way of factual answers.
  • Because the reference desk shares with the Misplaced Pages encyclopedia the goal of giving factual answers based on reliable sources, the core policy Misplaced Pages:Verifiability applies to the reference desk just as it does to article space.
    • Responses should ideally refer to Misplaced Pages articles or reliable sources as much as possible. When possible, you should direct the questioner to a Misplaced Pages article or articles which fully or partially answer their query. Though most questions may not be fully answerable by linking to Misplaced Pages, replies can usually direct the asker to at least some article content.
    • If you do give an answer from memory, without finding sources, take care to make sure that it is factual. If someone requests a source for a statement you have made, you should find it or correct/withdraw your statement.
  • If you suggest that someone use Google to find an answer, link to an appropriate Google search and verify that Google does lead to a useful result. If you're not just providing a 'pointer' in response to a homework question, it's almost always best to provide direct links to useful results. If you're writing from personal experience or opinion, make this clear in your answer. If you can provide a source or citation for an unsourced answer, please do so.
  • Sometimes one question leads to another and it is a good idea to refactor these subsequent questions into their own section or into a third-level subsection to keep their discussions from overwhelming the original question and answers.

Some Do's and Don'ts

Do strive to maintain the highest standards of courtesy

While Misplaced Pages policy demands only that we be civil, we should in all cases strive to exceed that minimum standard. Note that this expectation applies to people who ask questions and not just those who answer them. We're volunteers here, and we deserve to be treated reasonably. (Don't confuse poor English with rudeness, however.)

Do have a sensible sense of humour

First and foremost, we're here to answer questions. Having a bit of humour in your answer is almost always a good thing but please don't start adding jokes just for the sake of it.

Remember that young people and people for whom English is not their first language may not 'get' a lot of jokes; too much joking around can be very confusing, and make it difficult for these users to find the answers that they're looking for. 'In jokes' can make outsiders feel confused or unwelcome; be aware that such jokes are only funny to those on the inside.

Don't edit a question

...except to fix formatting errors that mess up readability (like a leading space or unclosed markup tags). 'Correcting' spelling or presumed typos may lead to additional errors, or change the meaning of the question. Adding wikilinks to a question may inadvertently suggest to responders that the original poster is aware of the Misplaced Pages articles; the original poster may fail to realized that their question has been 'answered' through the new link.

If you're not sure about the meaning of a question, by all means ask for clarification; if you think you understand the question, feel free to state your assumptions and take a stab at an answer.

You may add to the title, but don't delete or modify the original portion, as it may be used by the original poster to find the question; an exception to this is in cases when the title is deliberately irrelevant and thus unlikely to be used for this purpose. -- SCZenz 11:20, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Don't poke fun at a poorly-written question

You don't know who's at the keyboard on the other end. If a question is badly written, it may be because the asker is lazy or drunk. It could be an eight-year-old. It could be an arthritic eighty-year-old with bad eyesight. (It might be your grandmother.) It could be a scholar for whom English happens to be his fifth language.

Do take pity on the dial-up user

Some people still go online using a dial-up modem. Please be sparing in your use of inline images on the page (consider linking them, instead) and limit off-topic discussion. The Reference Desk is a pretty big page, and we all need to do our part to keep it accessible to as many people as possible.

Do sign and indent your replies

Complex technical questions and questions of a more subjective nature may prompt substantial discussion involving many parties. Please remember to sign your responses (with ~~~~) and indent threaded discussions (using colons) to make clear who is responding to whom. If you forget to sign or indent, helpful editors are encouraged to assist you. Signing your replies adds a 'personal touch'. It also allows questioners to follow up responses privately, for in-depth discussions or debates that may not be appropriate for the Ref Desk itself. Please leave a line space between your reply and the previous poster-- it keeps the page easy to read.

Dealing with inappropriate questions and responses

  • Do not edit war on the reference desk.
  • Remember that Misplaced Pages is a broad-scope encyclopedia, so questions about topics related to e.g. politics or sexuality may yield answers that some people may consider offensive, but this is not inappropriate as long as it's relevant to the question. However, special care should be taken to treat potentially-offensive subjects with seriousness and rigor.

Making the Reference Desk a useful part of Misplaced Pages

Link to Misplaced Pages articles where appropriate

Link to Misplaced Pages articles which answer the question. If a Misplaced Pages article doesn't answer a question – but should – make this clear; you don't want to send a questioner on a wild goose chase, and you do want to let other editors know that the article needs improvement.

Use external links from answers as sources to improve our articles

The Ref Desk is a service to the encyclopedia, and not just a service provided by the encyclopedia. If people ask questions that our articles don't answer, use the Ref Desk's answers to improve our articles.

Remember that you're an ambassador for the community

...whether you want to be or not. A lot of people have their first Misplaced Pages experience asking a question at the Reference Desk. By putting our best foot forward here, we build goodwill which in turn builds the community and the encyclopedia. If people have a bad first experience here, they may never come back.

Archives

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Rules page

Certain Misplaced Pages policies, but not all, apply to the Reference Desk. The Ref Desk is not an article, and is not subject to any policies specific to articles. In general, the rules for talk pages apply at the Ref desk, although we strive to provide a level of quality matching that of Misplaced Pages articles. Since the Ref Desk is unique, some Ref Desk interpretations of Misplaced Pages policies are unique, as well.

Reference Desk Guidelines

  • Are answers with references outside of Misplaced Pages allowed ? Yes.
  • Are references required for all statements of fact ? Required, no. Encouraged, yes.
  • Are responses which don't directly answer the question allowed ? See below:
  • If still related to the topic ? Yes, within reason.
  • If totally unrelated ? Yes, within reason (as long as the unrelated conversation is not disruptive).
  • Are opinions allowed ? See below:
  • Questions which contain an opinion ? Yes.
  • Questions which solicit an opinion ? Yes.
  • In responses to factual question ? Yes, but opinions should be identified as such, i.e., with "I think..." or "I believe...".
  • Is original research allowed: Yes, but it should be clearly identified as such, i.e., "I've found that...".
  • Can we address another responder ? Yes, but any admonishments should go on the editor's talk page.
  • Are poorly worded questions allowed ? Yes, bearing in mind that many questions may be asked by children or those with limited English skills. As long as you can possibly form a reasonable question out of it, you should answer it. If you can't, then ask politely for clarifications.
  • Is humor allowed ? Yes, in moderation, but only after at least one serious answer has been given.
  • Is sexual content allowed ? Yes, but not prurient sexual content, and only in response to a sexual question.
  • Are signatures required ? Yes.
  • May we edit the posts of others ? See below:
  • The title ? Yes, but only add to the title, as the original title may be used as a search keyword.
  • The original question ? Yes, but for format only, not to add links or fix spelling.
  • The responses ? Yes, but for format only, not to add links or fix spelling.
  • Should responses be edited for content? No, but they may be deleted (see section below).
  • Is "just Google it" a good response ? No, you should do the search yourself, verify that it provides useful results, and provide a link to those search results, instead.
  • May the same people post both questions and answers ? Yes.
  • May we use abbreviations like "OP" and neologisms like "suitly emphazi" ? No, only use language that new users will understand.

Deletion

Unnecessary escalation is both rude and nonproductive. The proper procedure should be followed:

  1. First, mention the post on the author's talk page, politely list your objection, and request that they remove it.
  2. If they refuse, and if the comment is so outrageous as to warrant further action, then bring it up at Wikipedia_talk:Reference_desk, again politely.
  3. If a consensus is reached there to remove it, then the author can again be given the opportunity to remove the comment. At this, point, however, once community consensus exists that it should be removed, other members of the community may delete the comment, if the author refuses.
  4. If, and only if, the author replaces the comment four times, should an Admin be summoned, via a WP:3RR violation complaint.

There are also grounds for a "speedy deletion" by anyone, such as death threats, etc., but only the most severe cases of disruption warrant such actions (see WP:DIS). And, even in these cases, the author should still be notified of the deletion (on their talk page) and the reason (policy violations) given. An exception exists for anonymous I/P users, where notification is not required. We should also discuss the reasons to do things according to the above procedure:

a) To be polite. Politeness goes a long way.
b) To avoid "revert wars". (If a comment is removed without consensus having been reached to do so, then the author is entirely justified to disagree with the opinion of the person who removed it and restore the comment.)
c) To avoid a POV bias in the removals. For example, a politically liberal editor might tend to delete any slightly off topic politically conservative comments, and vice-versa, even though they would leave such comments in if they were more in line with their political ideology. This could escalate to having all liberal statements removed by conservatives, and vice-versa, even if entirely on-topic.
d) To avoid personal vendettas in the removals. That is "you removed my post, so I'll remove yours". If a consensus is required for such removals, this type of petty behavior is unlikely.
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