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Welcome to Folkopedia

A Wiki dedicated to the Folk Arts of England and beyond.

Folkopedia is a peer reviewed wiki with stricter editing rules and obligatory disclosure of editor's real names

Folkopedia is just starting out - an empty vessel waiting to be filled with all sorts of interesting and valuable information about the Traditional Folk Arts in England and beyond.

The full editorial policy will evolve as time goes on, but the aim is to root our information solidly in England and to relate it to all the communities currently represented in England and to the traditional musics which directly complement our own traditions.

Given the complexity of the subject area, the structure of Folkopedia will undoubtedly be problematic but it's got to start somewhere and this is where it starts.

You don't have to be an expert to contribute to Folkopedia but you are expected to contibute to topics you actually know about. We are careful about who we allow editing rights. Because this is intended to be a facility for educational use, all input will be reviewed by experts - Senior Category Editors and Section Editors - who can help with issues that might arise.

Here at Folkopedia we take direct responsibility for our contributions. We therefore ask that as a contributor you use your real name for your user ID. For example, my User ID is JohnnyAdams. This is important because the User ID appears in the attributions list.

To become a contributor to Folkopedia simply create an account at the link in the top right corner of this page, respond to the email asking you to verify your email address and send an email to j.adams@salford.ac.uk asking us to activate your editing rights. (Please note that previous email address - folkopedia@imailbox.com is not working properly). We might ask to know a bit about you and your area of interest before we validate your membership.

Page editing is straightforward if you have a little experience with html or word processing. Guidance will be made available on the help pages as time goes on. If you have a contribution and no section to put it in.... have a look on the help page for guidance.

There is a discussion group starting for Folkopedia business. Who knows what will be discussed there.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/folkopedia/

We are on the lookout for Section Editors who might take responsibility for specific areas of the wiki. A small number have already been identified and are listed on the FolkopediaFolk page. You might feel that you have enough expertise with regard to a particular collector or a county or a style of dance, etc. to be able to assess people's contributions for accuracy, advise them when things might need checking and occasionally refer issues to the senior category editor. If so, let us know that you are interested in taking a responsibility. See Contributors for more information.

Finally, anyone is welcome to apply to contribute to Folkopedia as long as they accept the principle of a peer reviewed resource. Contributions may well be modified, edited, added to or even vandalised ( unlikely given our recruitment policy). Please also realise that it is important not to contravene the Intellectual Property Rights of others. Please look at the statements at the bottom of each edit page. We are developing strategies to deal with a range of issues and these will be published on the help pages as time goes on. See Folkopedia:Copyrights See also User guidance

Again, Welcome to Folkopedia from me and the team.

Director: Johnny Adams