 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Here at Wikipedia the aim is to collaborate as a team by writing content to articles whilst keeping within the Five Core Pillars. One way to remember them all without the need of having to check them rigorously is to use the acronym I DO ACT. The acronym is a breakdown of a simple set of service behaviours created by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to help the Games Maker volunteers to achieve their best whilst maintaining a professional aspect throughout their duties.
| “ | Be INSPIRATIONAL Be DISTINCTIVE Be OPEN Be ALERT Be CONSISTENT Be part of the TEAM |
” |
| — LOCOG, London 2012 | ||
This type of behavioural concept could also easily work within the Wikipedia Community. Below is a breakdown of how each piece of the acronym could work for Wikipedians:
Inspirational — We we're all new once and did not know what Wikipedia is all about. However over time, we gained experience, so pass that experience and knowledge onto newbies and inspire them into becoming experienced editors too.
Distinctive — Be yourself, showing warmth and compassion towards fellow Wikipedian's. But also showing our uniqueness in the way we edit as individuals.
Open — Keeping a civil approach is vital within Wikipedia, and the avoidance of personal attacks towards our colleagues is the key to peaceful collaborating. Be welcoming to editors who we come into contact with for the first time. You never know you'll need their help.
Alert — Always be on the alert for vandalism, we're not all perfect and vandalism is naturally going to slip through the net. But being alert will help to reduce the amount of vandalism that is made and reduce the length of time that a vandalised edit is within public readability.
Consistent — Following guidance and sticking to all the core policies is what helps keep Wikipedia consistent. Making sure that articles are stylised similarly to each other also adds to a that consistency look.
Team — The most important of them all, teamwork. OK when we add content we are doing it as individuals. However, it is the collectivity of all our combined edits that shows we do in fact work as a team, even though we may not realise it. Even engaging in discussions with fellow editors shows that aspect of pulling together as a team member. Joining WikiProjects also adds to that team framework and the long we become a member of certain projects, the more of a Project Family camaraderie we start to build; with each of us unknowingly taking on an importance but sometime unseen role within the project's we collaborate with. Even WikiProjects have similarities with each other, and again the assistance alongside our sister projects emphasises that impact of being part of team, part of a Wikipedian community,