Some ideas

Some ideas

Those who contribute are motivated by something. Ask contributors to define their motivation. There are already many good suggestions posted here that I would have suggested so I will ask this, Why should anyone bother to contribute? What would they gain from it. I think non-contributors are people who have to be rewarded in some manner. We see barnstars &c. hither and yon and a system could be worked where contributors are awarded a star on a User page or Talk page that can be placed there only by the wiki system. Some how reward contributors. Napoleon was asked why he gave out so many medals and his reply was that one of those medals was worth 10,000 troops. This is because they had a goal in collecting those medals. Anyone who contributes 1 year, 2 years, 3 years should be so noted. They types of materials, artcles, books, images can also have a reward system. There has to be a feeling of achieving something for contributors and non contributors alike. Obviously this is not the case with everyone but I refer back to Napoleon's answer of awards thast cost him nothing but gained him a lot of troops. It is an emotional thing and our emotions are what drive us all in the directions we take. Brother Officer 06:22, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Brother Officer06:22, 26 November 2009

Rewarding contributors strikes me as an interesting idea, but any reward should also take into account the quality of the contributions. As a reader of Wikipedia (I also contribute) I find personal opinions embedded in an article and unsourced contributions are worth much less to me than contributions that have been researched and well sourced, but even some types of sources are more valuable than others. A master bibliography for all of Wikipedia could help. Each source in the bibliography could be evaluated and rated. Articles and individual contributions could be rated based on the quality of the source. MissionInn.Jim 14:41, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

MissionInn.Jim14:41, 26 November 2009

Agree with that. A lot of contributions are really subjective. Something like Featured Article status or adminship is at least determined by consensus... If we reward people just for hanging around, we're talking more about acknowledgment than reward. Some people manage to make it through an entire year and end up getting blocked or warned repeatedly.

Randomran16:04, 26 November 2009
 

".. If we reward people just for hanging around, we're talking more about acknowledgment than reward."
I don't understand the above where is states "just hanging around" because that is no contributor.--Brother Officer 00:46, 27 November 2009 (UTC)


" Some people manage to make it through an entire year and end up getting blocked or warned repeatedly. "
I would like to see what you have written about. Anyone getting "blocked or warned repeatedly" should not be allowed to keep posting in my opinion. But my opinion does not have the experience that your does backed by the offenses. It sounds like to me that anyone doing those things that causes them to be blocked repeatedly should be placed on a wait to post again status and that this would increase with each offense by any given problem person. Finally, a permanent lock out but that, I think, should be by the opinion of several people and not just one person.--Brother Officer 00:46, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Brother Officer00:46, 27 November 2009

You'd be surprised how forgiving the community is, if you read this study. Someone can sockpuppet, edit war, canvass, and deceive so that they can push their viewpoint. But if they promise to be good guys, they can come back, repeatedly. Many people learn from their first block and become great guys. Many people learn from their second block too. But others just become smarter, and find ways to barely meet policy, and push a viewpoint. The rare time they cross the line, they've acquired enough supporters who are really just pushing the same viewpoint. You see a few barnstars, and all is forgiven. I wouldn't reward these editors with anything more than 20 characters.

Randomran01:37, 27 November 2009
 
 

Unsourced materials must be difficult to deal with. Initially I would say that if the material has no source cited that it will be removed. However, as I now pause and think on this, I remember a lot of things but I do not remember all of the sources. I have a university education but I cannot recall all of my excellent professors by name nor my high school, or grade school teachers names. I may not recall what each looked like. I love books and learn from then just as others do but I cannot always recall who authored what I read because I have read so much over decades. I agree, it is a problem. I think perhaps some things must be obvious though and be maybe those can be dealt with. I really cannot say because I have not have had to cover that area of watching over people's sources or lack thereof. You have that experience, I don't. I am on the other end of that situation. An article that is subjective would be expected by me regardless of what rules state I would not expect complete objectivity. I don't think it is in the nature of most people not to be subjective. Why does a person write an article? They obviously feel a desire to. Why? Because they have something the want to state. Why? It is deep within them to do so. Why? See previous answer. Okaym why not cite sources? If they know the sources then they should be cited. Perhaps the sources are unknown to them -- perhaps they have forgotten the titles of books and which author arthured which books so how can one cite a source -- by "I remember"? Nope, so they write anyway and don't cite because they can't cite. Too, perhaps they fear copyright problems with what they write. Perhaps they do not know of fair use of some materials. You, if you have to deal with these things, as a volunteer, have to be the judge. It is an important position, an honorable position and a difficult position but remember -- you are a volunteer and you do your best and that is all anyone can ask of you or that you should expect of yourself.
I wish this thing had a spell checker! :0)

Respectfully,

--Brother Officer 00:25, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Brother Officer00:25, 27 November 2009