- The following is a new style of Wikinews reporting or Wikinews development. It is still in the process of being created. Feel free to pitch in and help develop this idea or comment about it on the discussion page. (Please remove this tag once this page is sufficiently developed)
A WikiBureau is a metadata page that attempts to bring editors together who are working on writing and publishing similar articles, for example related to a specific county or region of the world.
What are the advantages?
- Standardization of look and feel. There are existing page that deal with standardization, but they cannot be applied generically. The conventions for entries on mathematics or chemistry are worlds apart from the conventions for 'foreign languages'.
- Allows the development of special interest communities within the Wikinews. This has already happened of course, but the WikiBureau page formalises the process.
- Permits strategic planning and consensual discussion. by centralizing the talk forums to predictable locations, we minimize the fragmentation of discussion into multiple locations.
- Allows controlled dynamic evolution. The inherent problem in any communal project is that without central authority chaos emerges. But with excessive central authority, stagnation sets in. The WikiBureau is a 'central authority' (thus providing the benefits of stability), but the WikiBureau page itself remains consensual and dynamic. Where evolution occurs, the process can be centrally managed.
- a convention for information management. Participants in the overall Wikinews will have a convention defined for creating new projects, and they will know where to go to find existing framework definitions and discussion forums for the framework.
- A resource for standards and comprehensiveness. Numerous attempts have been made to document what has not been achieved and give suggestions for areas needing attention. This merely formalities the process.
- Provides a forum for 'Endorsement', without closing off editorial freedom. Each WikiProject can evolve a definition of "minimum required standard". As entries achieve this status, they can be documented on the WikiBureau page. Dissenters can always remove the status, or upgrade the entry in question.
- Helps to build community among users, by creating common goals that people can work towards. Editors tend to be focused on their own articles and their own pet projects, and WikiBureaux allow users to get together and work collaboratively on greater goals.
What a WikiBureau is not
A WikiBureau is not a place for subject information or Articles content. It is not a place to write a Articles, but it can be used to help plan a Articles, or to organize the authors of a Articles.
Is it worth the effort?
The value of such a metadata management model increases with the volume of contributors. In a case where only a handful of contributors are working on a project the actual value of a WikiBureau page is negative - it only adds additional work. However, as the volume of contributors increases the work required to maintain the WikiBureau pages is substantially less than the work required to correct the fragmentation of style and content, and the duplication which will otherwise occur.
Some WikiBureaux are valuable in that they provide a centralized discussion location, so that discussions are not fragmented. Discussions that occur in busy places will eventually be archived, and archived discussions are difficult to find.
How to Start a WikiBureau
WikiBureaux should have a clear objective in mind, and should work to meet some goal. Once a new WikiBureau is started, it can be advertised on the staff lounge or the bulletin board. It is currently advised that WikiBureau's hyperlink be in the form of: Wikinews:WikiBureau_YourBureauName
List of Current WikiBureaux
This is a list of current WikiBureaux.
- WikiBureau Canada
- WikiBureau Europe
- WikiBureau India
- WikiBureau Nepal
- WikiBureau Pakistan
- WikiBureau United States
The following are proposals for new Wikibureau, or proposed conversions of old meta-data pages into Wikibureau.