Difference between revisions of "Category:Organization/FAQ"

What is Network and Collaborate?

Network and Collaborate is a project of ccLearn, the education division of Creative Commons. Its aim is to enable networking among individuals and organizations involved in the creation and expansion of open educational resources (OER).

This wiki provides an interactive archive of potential projects, programs, and organizations for open education. This means that, on some level, these websites curate their own educational resources, or point to places that do. We have also included non-curatorial organizations involved in the open education movement, such as the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Other websites are either highly informational, hosting online publications, or point to resources for research and higher education. (For further explanation on this topic, please see Property:Status As An Educational Resource.)

Although not all of these websites are involved in open education, we hope that this wiki will provide an initial and discerning tool for those interested in collaborating within the movement. For more information about OER, please see ccLearn's FAQ page.

Where do I begin?

The point of this database is to allow you (the educator, researcher or student) to find the projects, programs, and organizations appropriate to your needs. Therefore, we welcome you to first browse through our 1,000+ websites. Take a look at the information on the pages, and feel free to edit anything you find inaccurate, adding additional description in the free text section if you feel you have helpful things to say about a particular resource.

Since this database is a community project, it will be fueled by your contributions and edits. It is set up in wiki format so you can add your own projects and educational resources.

How do I search for

Projects and Organizations?

You can search for existing projects and organizations by browsing by alphabet, or by entering the name in the "Search" box at the top right of every page. However, this box searches the entire wiki, which includes more than just Network and Collaborate's organizations.

Everything else?

You can also search for projects by their affiliation, organization type and more. Go to Search Organization by on the home page.

Existing values?

On any given project/organization page, you will notice that all values are linked. See Creative Commons - ccLearn for an example. In the field column, all entries are in blue. This means they are linked to a search of all pages containing the specific value for that property. For instance, if you click on the value "nonprofit" under Property:Organization Type, you will be directed to a page listing all organizations whose type is nonprofit. The internal wiki link of this page is Special:SearchByProperty/Organization_Type::nonprofit. But you don't have to worry about that--just click on any value to find other organizations with the same. It's that easy!

How do I contribute?

You can contribute by editing or adding projects, programs or organizations that are valuable to open education.

We especially encourage you to edit existing pages, adding descriptions and helpful tips wherever you can. To see how to do this and more, keep reading below:

Adding a project or organization

Does this organization already exist?
Since we have over 1,000 organizations stored in our database, it just might. To avoid duplicate pages, search for the organization or web site title to see if it is already in our archive at Category:Organization. The organizations are listed in alphabetical order for easy browsing. You can also search for it in the search box to the right. Keep in mind, however, that this box searches the entire wiki and not just the organization database.

Nope, it doesn't exist. How do I add it?
Great. Go to Form:Organization and type its name in this format:

"Organization name" - "Project or Website name"

For example, if the educational web page is titled "Biology" and your organization is the "Public Library of Science," you would put:

Public Library of Science (PLoS) - Biology

If there isn't a separate title for the site, just put the organization name.

Question 1: Should I enter it in exactly this format, with the space after the name, then dash, then space, then name again?
Yes.

Question 2: What about the abbreviation? Do I have to put one?
Only if it is a popular abbreviation. If it is (like PLoS), put the abbreviation in parentheses after the organization's full name. This will ensure greater searchability of the organization. For instance, NASA shows up: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

I am ready to add my organization!
If you are satisfied with the titling of your project, go ahead and enter it at Form:Organization. Later, this will show up as the page name in big, bold letters at the top, so it is important that it is accurate and identifiable. If a page with that name already exists, you will be sent to a form to edit that page.

Editing or adding information

When adding a project, you will automatically be directed to a form with eleven fields for you to populate.

When you want to edit a project, always click "edit with form" from the right-hand column of the page. This will direct you to the same form, and make it much easier for you to edit information.

What are the eleven fields?
The eleven fields are actually eleven properties whose value (what you enter in the field) is for you to determine. The eleven fields are:

Affiliation
Main url
Resource url
Tags
Organization type
Status as an educational resource
Open or free statement
License provider
License short name
License
and finally, the free text field (Notes about this resource...).

On the form, you will notice that these terms are linked to their property pages. These pages provide information about the properties and address questions about what to put in the fields. Go ahead and hover your mouse over each one and click for more information.

When it comes to the free text field ("Notes about this resource..."), we encourage you to type in a description of your project. See Creative Commons - ccLearn for an example. You can also add description on other pages and even comment on issues with a particular website.