User:Gandalf61/NSSRD proposal


 * A not-so-serious idea for a Not So Serious Reference Desk. It's been overtaken by events now. Gandalf61 13:36, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Whereas some Reference Desk contributors (hereinafter called the contributors of the first part) believe that the image of the Reference Desks is harmed by light-hearted questions or answers, homework questions, off-topic answers, answers that give opinions rather than facts, questions or answers that may offend or confuse newcomers to Wikipedia and/or questions about seagulls (hereinafter called not-so-serious questions and answers);

and whereas contributors of the first part are likely to delete not-so-serious questions and answers from the Reference Desks on sight;

and whereas other Reference Desk contributors (hereinafter called the contributors of the second part) are more tolerant of not-so-serious questions and answers, but feel that the arbitrary removal of contributions from the Reference Desks without explanation or discussion is itself offensive;

and whereas the contributors of the first part and the contributors of the second part are frequently clashing on the RD talk page and seem to have diametrically opposed views on the treatement of not-so-serious questions and answers;

it is proposed that a Not So Serious Reference Desk (hereinafter called the NSSRD) be established, the purpose of which is to host reference desk questions and discussions which are acceptable to contributors of the second part, but which contributors of the first part do not wish to see on the mainstream Reference Desks;

furthermore, it is proposed that the NSSRD be used as follows:


 * if a contributor wishes to raise a not-so-serious question they can add it to the NSSRD;
 * if a contributor finds a not-so-serious question on a mainstream RD, they can move the question to the NSSRD, and leave a notice on the mainstream RD to say that it has been moved;
 * if a contributor finds a not-so-serious answer on a mainstream RD, or if a contributor wishes to add a not-so-serious answer to a question on a mainstream RD, they can copy the discussion thread to the NSSRD, and leave a notice on the mainstream RD to say that they have forked the discussion into a serious part and a not-so-serious part.

and finally, it is proposed that the NSSRD be structured in the same way as the mainstream RDs (daily sub-heads, archiving etc.), but that its page header should contain some version of the following guidelines (instead of using the mainstream RD header):


 * Newcomers warning - if you are new to Wilipedia, you are welcome to contribute to the NSSRD, but you may find it confusing. Try the mainstream RDs first. If you need instructions on how to ask or answer questions, go to one of mainstream RDs.
 * No mission - the NSSRD hopes to provide a tolerant and relaxed forum for addressing questions on any and every topic (yes, that includes seagulls). Apart from this, the NSSRD does not have an "image", "mission", "role", "purpose", "objective" or "goal".
 * No guarantees - contributors to the NSSRD may ignore questions, or may provide answers that are facetious, irrelevant, subjective, rambling, incoherent, badly spelled, ungrammatical, critical, misleading, ribald, in bad taste, biased, cryptic or simply wrong. The contributors are not responsible if you dislike something that you read on the NSSRD, or if you suffer adverse consequences or get an F- on your homework as a result of using answers from the NSSRD. See General disclaimer.
 * No special treatment - all contributors are equal. No one gets special treatment. There are no "staff". There are no "regulars". It's just a bunch of folks asking and answering questions.
 * No wardens - as the NSSRD has no mission, no guarantees and no special treatment, it does not need to be cleaned up, patrolled, monitored, protected, managed or administered. If you don't like a contribution on the NSSRD, you are free to say so, but you might not be taken seriously. If you have an issue with someone's behaviour, you can put a note on their talk page. If you feel the urge to tidy up, you can do it on the mainstream RDs instead.
 * No deletions - the NSSRD values all contributions. Please do not delete or edit contributions to the NSSRD except in the following circumstances ... (small number of exceptions to be defined - removing e-mail addreses could be one of them).
 * No personal attacks - it's called the Not So Serious Reference Desk, not the Rude and Obnoxious Reference Desk. WP:NPA still applies here. You can comment on the contribution, but not the contributor.
 * No bouncing - if your question or answer has been moved here from one of the mainstream RDs, it is because someone thinks it is more appropriate to the NSSRD. Please respect their opinion, and do not try to put it back on a mainstream RD. Be proud that someone thinks your contribution is not mainstream.
 * Seriousness is not prohibited - if you want to give a serious answer to a question on the NSSRD, go ahead. Being flippant is allowed, but it is not compulsory.