--- Anthere <anthere9(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
I am interested in such a project, and I think it
could have a life on
its own, with some of its information being in wikipedia as well.
I tend to consider Wikipedia as a "generalist" encyclopedia, which
should try to stay simple, readable to most, and avoid jargon and very
specialised information. Wikipedia can be a central reference, with
surrounding projects, smaller, and more specialised.
Such a project must not overlap with Wikipedia or any other Wikimedia project
in any significant way. For example, creating a war and conflict Wikimedia
project would be unwise since that would divert energy now used to improve that
aspect of Wikipedia. But that is not to say that creating a textbook on the
subject would be a bad idea to have on Wikibooks (in fact, such a textbook
would be most welcome). However, that is different than having individual
articles on individual topics (which is the role of an encyclopedia).
I still need to see better what this project should
be, but I think it
should be separated, but with strong interactions with Wikipedia.
It sounds like an openly editable relational database is needed. That way small
amounts of info could be used and searched for in Wikispecies while prose and
encyclopedic info can be kept in Wikipedia. Such software could also be used
for other database info on just about anything, so limiting this to just
species and taxa may be unwise.
But I will not support any fork of our bilogy section. Any Wikispecies project
*must* be complimentary to Wikipedia and cause no harm to it. The burden of
proof is on those who want to start such a project if they want it to be hosted
by Wikimedia.
This also brings up a very important general point: We need to develop a clear
process for starting new projects (language versions are a separate matter).
For example, proposals need to be made, then debated and refined. A list of any
software 'must haves' and wants needs to be developed (these are very
significant for Wikispecies) and then we need to determine if the project can
start without the 'must haves' or if it has to wait until the software is
ready. An assement on whether or not the proposed project concept could be
absorbed into an existing Wikimedia project and if that proposed project would
welcome also needs to be conducted. Pros and cons need to be devloped. Then we
need to have a Wikimedia-wide vote to certify the project and launch it (if the
software needed to run it has been developed).
-- mav
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