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Talk:Wikimedian Demographics

I'm not sure that the intended purpose of this project is really "demographics". One goal might be to provide a way to get Wikimedians from multiple projects to talk about important issues, which might be better served by using a different name for the project. If the goal is really collection of demographic data, I think this approach has a serious problem with sampling.

I'm not sure that a yes/no format for answers is a good way to start. I suspect that if we asked 100 different Wikimedians to explain what "Creative Commons is the right license" means, we would get about 50 different answers, most of them indicating that people really do not understand the topic. At the very least, I think there needs to be an effort made to educate people about the topic before trying to get useful answers to yes/no questions about a topic. --JWS 13:49, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

 * I'm not particularly attached to yes/no options, but they do allow categorization. I think a lot of issues we'll be hitting are those that have had long debates on mailing lists, community discussion pages, etc., and we can link to those when we set up questions. The GFDL vs. CC debate is a handy start in some ways though, because it's been debated endlessly on a number of fora (particularly on Wikibooks), and it's really just intended as an example anyway.
 * Perhaps the best way to make new questions is to talk about them a bit first, and come up with list of options that are finite but as close to exhaustive as possible. Narrowly defined questions will be more adaptable than broad ones.
 * It is really demographics, if you think about it. Demos as a prefix generally points to the population of a particular region (or in our case virtual community), and collecting statistics about a population is demography. The goal is not to elect, legislate, execute, or pass official judgement: they're just polls. --SB_Johnny | talk 15:01, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

women in Wikimedia projects
Possible topic: Women in Wikimedia projects from Milos Rancic

 * Sound good... what kinds of questions?--SB_Johnny | talk 15:01, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Are you a woman? Do you know of an active contributer that is a woman?  Are wikimedians sexist? etc..--Rayc 07:04, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I had a hard time loading the pages on that site, but the questions look good. Would you mind sending him an email to see if we can use them? --SB_Johnny | talk 13:29, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Might be worth coordinating with Wikichix. Cormaggio talk 12:53, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I've forwarded an email SB_Johnny sent me to the WikiChix mailing list. Feel free to keep us up to date on this by emailing wiki@ the domain above. Angela 14:07, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much Angela :-), and yes, I'll mail the list when we get a first draft done. Btw (all), Milos' questions have been updated slightly to this version. I've just emailed Milos about using them for this purpose, and asked him for feedback. Cormaggio talk 17:30, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Update: Milos says his questions are under GFDL (he was just "too lazy" to say so :-)), so we're free to use them. I'll have a go at turnign them into questions for a questionnaire - was thinking of having some answers "on a scale from 0 to 5", so might need some guidance there... Cormaggio talk 19:46, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * See also Wikipedia vs. Women. BTW, 93% of the people who have answered our survey, so far, are male.--mikeu talk 01:44, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
 * There's also a lot to be gleaned from the conversation which ensued on foundation-l after Wikichix was set up. As I noted to Milos yesterday, the problem was often that people didn't recognise there was a problem. However, that is more in depth than what we're doing here. I've hacked together a few questions at Template:Wmdgs-women-and-wikimedia-survey1 - and I'll ask the Wikichix list for feedback on how the survey could be improved, and for their participation in the survey (which should go some way to addressing the gender imbalance of respondents. Cormaggio talk 09:44, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

I added license data on the blog (box at the right side; GFDL, of course) :) And I'll try to find some time for contribution to Wikimedian Demographics :) --Millosh 10:18, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Please ignore the link I gave above and go instead to Wikimedian_Demographics/Women_and_Wikimedia (partly created as a result of Mikeu's comments in the section below). Please add ideas and comments on questions and methodology. I've also sent an email to the wikichix list to solicit feedback. Cormaggio talk 13:07, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Changing the basic survey
Hopefully a few folks are watching :). I'd like to propose changing the questions on the basic survey a bit, and have the answers do something more than just categorize, and maybe move the surveys to the main user page.
 * For the questions, change to let people rate their participation in the various projects. For example, 3=primary project, 2=regular contributor, 1=occaisional contributor, 0=rarely if ever contribute.
 * Set it so that the answers automatically create userboxes (but with an option in the template that allows that to be turned off).
 * Have all templates combined into one big template, to which you just add fields as you participate in more polls.

Some fields could also just categorize someone as having taken a "non-dichotomous" survey (long answers, essays, etc.).

I think the project could be an excellent research tool for resources that study Wikimedia projects, such as Wikipedia arbitration committee, etc. --SB_Johnny | talk 11:24, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

 * I just took the survey (although I've known about it for a while) and I think those suggestions sound good. I was also thinking it might be nice to have a dynamic content summary page where it lists the ongoing results.  BTW, I just added a userbox for Beta.  I've never been big on userboxes though I think they can be usefull for somethings.--mikeu 12:32, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Well, I've made a new startup template: Wmdgs-survey 1. It needs an explainer, but I'll add that today. It uses modified userboxes to display results, and has more subtlety in the answers available (using numeric values rather than yes or no for most questions). --SB_Johnny | talk 10:40, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

 * We should include in the survey.  See also Template:User Wikiversity Beta  --mikeu 13:51, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

 * For the basic survey probably not, since we're not asking about which language projects either (the survey would be way too long if we did). The Wikiversity survey could certainly ask this though. (I spoke with Mike on irc about this a while back, then forgot to also reply here.) --SB_Johnny | talk 10:30, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Disability status of Wikimedians
I think it would be good to have a survey asking about the disability status of wikimedians. I'm not entirely sure how this would work; there are way too many disabling conditions to make the questions condition-specific. I guess we could have them in categories, such as: Then we could also have interesting questions like:
 * Physical disability (such as paralysis, missing limb, blindness)
 * Neurological disability (such as autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy)
 * Chronic ilness (such as lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome)
 * Psychological disorder (such as depression, PTSD, phobia)
 * Does your disability affect your job?
 * Do you receive adequate support for problems arising from your disability?
 * Do you believe that your disability has some positive effects on your life?
 * Would you take a cure if one was available?
 * Is the wikipedia article on the Social model of disability informative?

What do you think? --Luai lashire 02:55, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Sounds good (and sorry for the delay... my watchlist runneth amok lately). Should these all be yes/no questions? --SB_Johnny | talk 10:26, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

 * I think this is a good idea. We might be able to add a field where the person specified the 'condition' within the category - something like "Neurological|Asperger's". However, as for the second set of questions, I think we should align them more towards Wikimedia - like whether they find relevant information here (a la the last one), and whether the condition affects their ability to contribute. I think some of the questions you have above might be better as a specific research project (perhaps by developing a more detailed survey of the people who answer these questions). Cormaggio talk 10:36, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Cormaggio- do you mean like, "Does your disability affect your participation in Wikimedia projects?" instead of "Does your disability affect your job?" We could always have both, or neither- these were only suggestions.  As for making a separate research project, yes, that could work, but I thought it might be best to have all or most surveys be a part of this learning resource- and then any other learning resource could use the information gathered here.  Also, members of other learning resources could create surveys and submit them here as part of the project.  --Luai lashire 18:08, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, I was thinking about keeping the survey relevant to Wikimedia projects, and having anything that's not as a separate survey to "Wikimedian Demographics" (though it could of course use/modify the same structure/templates/etc.). Cormaggio talk 12:15, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, the problem with that is that it would make data harder to compare (at least not unless we get some rather beefy tools that can connect categories over 2 or more pages. For example, we might want to compare relative proportions of people who are "primarily wikipedians" vs. "primarily wikibookians" and different disabilities, sexual preferences, nationalities, political affiliations, etc. Keeping to one page as much as reasonable works a lot better for interpreting the data using the category systems. I do agree that the pages will eventually become ungainly if someone were to take all of the available surveys, but I suspect what we're going to find is that people won't take every survey that comes up anyway (for example, I would be unlikely to answer a survey about the politics of New Zealand (I know nothing about it), or my experience in the military (I have none)). --SB_Johnny | talk 16:52, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Ok, what I take from that is that we're saying that these surveys can be about anything, so long as they are answered by Wikimedians. (I was wondering if my definition of "Wikimedian demographics" was too narrow.) In this case, we will probably need those beefy tools to deal with people taking many surveys. :-) Cormaggio talk 18:02, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * That was why I had named it "Wikimedian Demographics", as opposed to "Wikimedia something-or-other" :-). It's more about the contributors and users rather than just a set of political polls on Wikimedia-related subjects (though of course we should include those too). We should however perhaps do some bot shopping before we hit the limits on the DPL (it's throttled to only allow up to 100 results on a category comparison). --SB_Johnny | talk 13:36, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Right, so a trip down to the bot-ique is in order. (Sorry :-)) But seriously, does such a thing exist? Wouldn't it be great to be able to find out - in one place - what bots exist, how to use them, and how to request a new one for a specific need? Cormaggio talk 18:39, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Best place to start would most likely be #wikimedia-toolserver. My keyboard time has been pretty busy lately though (not to mention lacking in abundance). If you have time, please ping them there... what we need is a tool that can
 * count the number of pages in a category, and then log it on the category page.
 * compare the number of pages in linked categories (for example, of all pages in category x, n pages are also in category y)
 * I think that should do it for now :). --SB_Johnny | talk 12:06, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm having problems with IRC of late - might need to try other clients/options - but if anyone's reading this and feels like bringing it up, please feel free to do so. Meantime, I've added a note to the toolserver wiki. Cormaggio talk 12:32, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Discussion seems to have ceased here. I can't actually make a finished survey myself, so what can I do to help move this along?  Should I try to make a revised list of questions and then post it here for discussion?  --Luai lashire 00:28, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

 * I (or someone) needs to make better documentation, but Wmdgs-simplesurveyquestion-2 is actually very easy to use, and quite suitable for these questions since they're all yes/no. I'll make a start of it on wmdgs-disabilities and maybe you can follow along (just copy the template there over and over for each question, then remove the and < / pre > tags when you're done ). --SB_Johnny | talk 10:02, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
 * On second thought, don't remove the preview tags. Just fill in the questions and what the responses should look like, and then save it in the preview mode (if you don't, it's much harder to fix mistakes later). I'll add the table formatting and instructions when you're done. --SB_Johnny | talk 10:08, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I tried adding some more of the questions. I realized that, while this will work for now, in order to do some more complicated questions (such as allowing people to specify what their disability is), we are going to need to alter it more.  I will finish the questions first, though, and then we can figure out how to do the complicated stuff.  --Luai lashire 22:54, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, there would need to be a large number of options for that. The first 2008 US prez elections template allowed using candidate names rather than numbers from a list, so could probably be done that way. Assuming that you find that substituted template easier to work with than raw-scripting, would it be helpful to create a "massively multi-answer questionmaker"? Also, I'm planning to do a religion survey at some point which will have an associated "add religion" template similar to Wmdgs-geography-addcountry. Would it be better to take that approach, or just have all disabilities accounted for from the start? --SB_Johnny | talk 12:07, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, there's no way we can actually come up with every possible disability that exists.... I think it would probably be best to go with a system like the one used for the election questions.  That way, if no one has previously responded with that disability, it will just make a redlink to a new category, right?  One problem though, is that this system will not link together related conditions and responses could be variable, so we may end up with, for example, people who answer "on the autism spectrum" and people who answer "ASD" and people who answer "Asperger's", and none of these will be connected.  I'm not sure what we could do to prevent that from happening.  --Luai lashire 00:02, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Yup, unfortunately templates are pretty much if-then statements, so they can only do what's specifically scripted. The "show instructions" trick is the only idea I've come up with, but I've been lurking on irc to find someone to do a better job (someone mentioned that he might be able to do a javascript fix, but not sure). We could have an answer that just displays whatever someone enters, but it would be useless for catgegories. --SB_Johnny | talk 10:27, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Survey of Wikipedians
Wikimedia Foundation and UNU-MERIT announce First Survey of Wikipedians

 * Heh, scooped again :). --SB_Johnny | talk 10:27, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

 * No matter. :-) I think there's a place for both of these (and quite a few other surveys)... Cormaggio talk 10:39, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Concern
I am concerned that this survey does not appear to enable anonymizing one's responses. This could deter editors from responding honestly to some questions. 81.98.153.136 18:50, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed. I would like to answer all the questions, but am a little uncomfortable with my level of sexual activity appearing on a public page with my name next to it.  I suspect that the more we delve into such sensitive subjects, the more people will be dissuaded from answering them, due to the public nature of the answers.  --Luai lashire 23:33, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I suspect we'll find over time that some questions just won't get as many responses as others, but not every question needs to be replied to. Wiki software doesn't really permit a way to make it anonymous, unfortunately, except if you create a single purpose account for surveys (which isn't ideal either, but perfectly acceptable if someone really wants to answer but also really wants to be anonymous). Would adding a field for "prefer not to answer" be a good idea? --SB_Johnny | talk 11:19, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, you always need to give an option not to answer, particularly with questions such as sexual activity (I didn't know there were any). On anonymity, it seems like an inherent feature of doing a survey on a wiki (except for a solution like what User:Surveytaker has done) - large-scale anonymised surveys would have to be carried out in other ways. I've been offered to use SurveyShare, which has been used in a study on Wikibookians, if it's of any use... Cormaggio talk 12:43, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Personally, I started skipping questions when we got to politics. I am actually rather opionated on the topic, but prefer to keep that off-wiki.  For me, seeing a userbox on one of my user pages about condom use falls into the Category: Way too much information.  More generally I think we do need to consider how survey takers opting out influences the results.  Perhaps this learning project could include a lesson on Questionnaire construction and Selection bias?  Or maybe a page where we critique and try to improve a set of questions before asking for participation?  In general I think that exploring a wiki-based questionnaire is a wonderfull idea and I am impressed with how the project is going and the potential.  But if we don't give some thought to methodology now we might find ourselves analyzing inconsistent data. (half the people take an old version of the survey with one set of questions, and half take a version with additional choices - can the results be directly compared?)  Having a "prefer not say" choice will help in that we can at least count the nubmer of people who did not want to answer. --mikeu talk 23:33, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Good points. Do you think it best if we start a general learning topic Research methodology (with links off to different methodologies based on different epistemological stances), or have a methodology subpage for every existing research project? Cormaggio talk 11:42, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I guess the opt-outs should be for the whole survey then? If someone doesn't want to answer one question in particular, they can just skip it, but if they are uncomfortable with an entire survey the easiest thing might just be to have an option for "No thanks". I myself might be prone to take that option on Luai's survey, for example.
 * As far as sampling troubles, we could also recategorize respondent categories for particular questions within a survey. For example, anyone who answers any of the questions on Wmdgs-sexuality and relationships-survey1 is automatically added to Category:WMGDS/Sexuality and relationships-1/Participant. If we were interested only in sexual orientation, an additional respondent category could be added when someone answers that question (e.g. Category:WMGDS/Sexuality and relationships-1/Orientation.
 * Another idea we should think about is having a survey on the survey. E.g.: should personal questions be asked? should political questions be asked? etc. We can also organize some way of voting or consensing on what surveys get included in preload/all or in major updates. --SB_Johnny | talk 12:59, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
 * If we leave it that people can opt out of individual questions within surveys by not answering them, would there be a way to see how many times a particular question is not being answered? It might tell us that a particular question is either too sensitive or phrased/constructed badly. I'll have to think about your categorisation proposal - perhaps I'd have to see it in practice to understand how it would be useful. And as for a survey on surveys, why not leave it to normal talk page processes and raise points for discussion? By forcing people to use a prepared survey in order to critique surveys, we'd remove the ability for someone to raise concerns that haven't been addressed by the survey-survey. :-) Cormaggio talk 13:19, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Help with templates please
Please can someone add the following countries to the question about travel/residence in Europe: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey,

And the following to the question relating to Asia: United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India.

Thank you. Surveytaker 00:15, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Sweden and Norway are actually on the template already, but the answer options were not added to preload/all. We should probably set up a DPL tracker for that,
 * Turkey is already in the Asia survey, actually, though I suppose there may be disagreements about which continent it's on (technically both, but mostly Asia I think) :).
 * For adding countries, you can use wmdgs-geography-addcountry, like this:

Flag image (do not include the "Image:" prefix) = Flag of Bulgaria.svg
 * The addcountry template is very easy to use, but it does take a while to hunt down the current flag on commmons (the filenames are usually but not always in the form of "Flag of Country.svg"). I won't have much wiki time today, but if someone would care to hunt down the image files, I loaded template lists on Template talk:Wmdgs-nationality, residence, and travel (Asia) and Template talk:Wmdgs-nationality, residence, and travel (Europe). --SB_Johnny | talk 11:51, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Turkey should be in both Europe and Asia - I have visited Turkey-in-Europe, but not Turkey-in-Asia. Surveytaker 21:26, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. --SB_Johnny | talk 12:43, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Editing templates?
If I were to create some images to go with the results templates for some of the answers (for example, an image for the response "_USERNAME_ is bisexual"), how would they be added to the answer box? I know I can rely on other users to do that part if I provide the image, but I'd like to learn to do it myself. --Luai lashire 23:43, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, I just went and had a look at Wikimedia Commons and found several images I think we could use for the sexuality/gender questions. Shall I link to them?  --Luai lashire 00:04, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

General survey problem
The #3 choice comes out as the #0 choice: "Projects you regularly contribute to, though not as much as your primary" turns into "Projects you don't contribute to, but do read and use" in the template. Chantessy 17:56, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

 * Which question? --SB_Johnny | talk 10:19, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Wikimedian Demographics


text:
BCP/Neillia sinensis/Logs

This page contains recent bloom logs for the plant Neillia sinensis (Neillia).

Recent Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 11:25, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

=====Archived Logs===== (If there are more than 5 signatures under the recent logs heading, move the oldest logs to under this heading (generally leave the 3 most recent).
 * (no archived logs yet)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: BCP/Neillia sinensis/Logs


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User talk:Sulu

Welcome
Hello Sulu, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; for it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may
 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research activities;
 * Read and help develop our community policies；or
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! Erkan Yilmaz ( my talk page, wiki blog ) 15:52, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Sulu


text:
User talk:Pauko

Welcome
Hello Pauko, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; for it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may
 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research activities;
 * Read and help develop our community policies；or
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! Erkan Yilmaz ( my talk page, wiki blog ) 15:52, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Image copyright problems
Some of your images (listed below) have missing information. For each, please add a source and license templates. Thanks. – Mike.lifeguard | @en.wb 23:56, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
 * 2007-10-15 10:18, Pauko: FUBAR comparison.pdf: untagged! ; 0 (0)
 * 2008-02-06 21:20, Pauko: Docu.pdf: untagged! ; 0 (0)

title: User talk:Pauko


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User:Jomegat/Survey responses

Hello,, and welcome to the Wikimedia Demographics project. This is a resource for studying the culture of Wikimedia, the cultural phenomenon of Wikimedia, and the hopes and aspirations of the Wikimedians themselves.

To participate, all that's required is to copy/paste a template, and follow the instructions in that template. The first one is on this page now: you'll see it when you hit the edit button, which just asks you what project you contribute to most regularly. (We hope to have a user-friendlier alternative to templates soon, but for now they'll do.)

To see what other surveys are available, see the list on Wikimedian Demographics (we may need to have more pages for that over time). The last item on the template below asks if you want reminders on your "home project" talk page, but of course you should also have Wikimedian Demographics on your watchlist here on Wikiversity.

title: User:Jomegat/Survey responses


text:
User talk:Thejamesman

Welcome
Hello Thejamesman, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; for it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may
 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research activities;
 * Read and help develop our community policies；or
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! Erkan Yilmaz ( my talk page, wiki blog ) 18:33, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Thejamesman


text:
User:Anthere

Filmmaking

title: User:Anthere


text:
User:Selden

Selden contributes to the WikiBook Celestia and sometimes does other things.

title: User:Selden


text:
User:Selden/Survey responses

Hello,, and welcome to the Wikimedia Demographics project. This is a resource for studying the culture of Wikimedia, the cultural phenomenon of Wikimedia, and the hopes and aspirations of the Wikimedians themselves.

To participate, all that's required is to copy/paste a template, and follow the instructions in that template. The first one is on this page now: you'll see it when you hit the edit button, which just asks you what project you contribute to most regularly. (We hope to have a user-friendlier alternative to templates soon, but for now they'll do.)

To see what other surveys are available, see the list on Wikimedian Demographics (we may need to have more pages for that over time). The last item on the template below asks if you want reminders on your "home project" talk page, but of course you should also have Wikimedian Demographics on your watchlist here on Wikiversity.

title: User:Selden/Survey responses


text: User:Luai lashire/Survey responses

title: User:Luai lashire/Survey responses


text: Category:Geology stubs

title: Category:Geology stubs


text: Category:Philosophy stubs

title: Category:Philosophy stubs


text:
User talk:Tober~enwikiversity

Welcome
Hello Tober, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; for it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may
 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research activities;
 * Read and help develop our community policies；or
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --JWSchmidt 23:07, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Hi
Hi Tober, I've just seen your comment on the Colloquium. I'd be very interested in such a project - I have a long-standing interest in sustainability. (Am I right in thinking the production of ethanol you had in mind was as an energy source, rather than as a drink? :-)) But I'm also curious - where in Ireland do you come from, and what's your background/interest? I'm also Irish (though living in England) and know quite a few people/organisations in the environmental/sustainability movement. Cormaggio talk 06:22, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Tober. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Tober~enwikiversity that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 00:07, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:24, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Tober~enwikiversity


text:
Wikiversity:Creating a new course

 * For the current equivalent of this page, see Adding content.

Courses Started: (Main contributer(s) of the course is the name in brackets - please add yourself if you want help)

 * Physical Sciences
 * School of Mathematics
 * School of Physics and Astronomy
 * School of Electronics (Cyberman email:[mailto:cyberia_black@yahoo.com cyberia_black@yahoo.com])
 * School of Science & Technology Serving Life on Earth

 * Life Sciences
 * School of Biology
 * School of Biomechanics (Dr_Darsh email:[mailto:B_smart88@hotmail.com B_smart88@hotmail.com])])

 * Humanities
 * School of Art & Design
 * School of Literature and English Studies( Atrivedi email:[mailto:amishius@yahoo.com])
 * School of Law
 * School of Library and Information Science
 * School of Linguistics
 * School of History (--GKidd 20:54, 3 March 2006 (UTC) Dean of History)
 * School of Geography (Definition12)
 * School of Media Studies (Steviejay email:[mailto:steven.jewell@gmail.com steven.jewell@gmail.com])
 * School of Philosophy
 * School of Political Science (Gh0st email: [mailto:ghostiscool@hotmail.com ghostiscool@hotmail.com])
 * School:Sociology

 * Practical Arts and Sciences
 * School of Appropriate Technology and Sustainable Agriculture(User:Micah4 email:[mailto:chewy@stbrigidsgatefarm.com])
 * School of Architecture
 * School of Business
 * School of Economics
 * School of Education
 * School of Engineering
 * Wikiversity:School of Fire and Emergency Management (Mfinney)
 * School of Photography/ in German see wikibooks
 * School of Sustainable and Appropriate Energy
 * School of Project Management ( Abrachan email:[mailto:learning@projectscience.net pabrachan@yahoo.com])
 * School of Hotel Management ( Om Prakash email:[mailto:om.s.prakash@gmail.com])
 * School of Education/The Advancement of Tertiary Teaching and Learning
 * School of Magic (George D. Bozovic: talk, e-mail) (DErnestWachter, email:[mailto:dewnada@icloud.com dewnada@icloud.com])
 * School of Wooden Boat Building & Repair

Courses available to work on:
 * School of Chemistry
 * School of Geology
 * School of Plant Sciences: ( Lilious)
 * School of Medicine
 * School of Zoology
 * School of Oceanography on German project
 * School of Theology (DErnestWachter, email:[mailto:dewnada@icloud.com dewnada@icloud.com])
 * School of Public Service
 * School of MacGyver
 * School_of_Videogame_Design(--V2os 01:51, 6 December 2005 (UTC))

title: Wikiversity:Creating a new course


text:
Media literacy/notes

This subpage was formerly titled Media Literacy. It was moved here in lieu of merging it with the main article and kept for historical reference.

Welcome to the Media Literacy module. This module is all about critical thinking (an online definition) - to enable students to read the media critically, particularly through facilitating discussion about issues of truth and representation in the media. This module will build on and complement the skills developed in other modules in the School of Media Studies - all of which engage the student in a critical appraisal of the media.

What is Media Literacy?
Media literacy is defined by Ofcom, the UK media regulatory body, as:

 * "the ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts".

Media literacy is defined by American educators as the "ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate in a wide variety of forms." (Aufderheide 1994, p. 8).

Some people consider media literacy to be an expansion of traditional conceptualizations of literacy. Media literacy takes into account more variables (ie. not just text, but audio, visual and spoken media), and positions literacy within a whole range of socio-cultural, economic and political frameworks which shape the way the media is produced, accessed and understood.

Why is it important?
Howard Rheingold (often called the "first netizen") wrote in OhMyNews:

 * "People need to know how to use the Internet to think for themselves instead of swallowing ideas fed to them by others. That won't happen without a deliberate education campaign in the application of critical thinking to online research." Rheingold, 2004

We can already see these issues emerging in Wikipedia, where sources have to be continually scrutinised for accuracy and relevancy. This should make us aware of the responsibility that any media participant plays, whether they are a journalist, a TV viewer, a radio host, or the owner of a media empire.

Media literacy should also help raise the debate of ideas in society. With information comes power and with power comes responsibility. Rheingold (2004) continued:

 * "People need to learn how to argue rationally and civilly online. It's a skill that is easily drowned out by legions of the rude. It's not a matter of manners. It's a matter of the basic respect the citizens of any democracy must offer one another, whether or not they agree."

What will I get out of this course?
This course should enhance your understanding of the intellectual history of the media literacy movement in the United States, Canada and England.

Course sessions & activities
This section needs to be developed

 * Comparing texts
 * Key concepts of media literacy
 * Media literacy around the world
 * Media composition: creating media
 * Great debates among media literacy practitioners
 * Enduring themes in media literacy

 * :Technical Paper on Collaborative Learning in Small Groups

Resources

 * Wikinews - Wikimedia's own collaborative, open-content news site
 * OhMyNews (English version) - Korean citizen news site
 * Center for Media Literacy
 * Ofcom:Media literacy

Readings
(I am just adding these as I find them - I hope to add more core readings, and to categorise them into separate projects/courses in time --Cormaggio 18:01, 13 January 2006 (UTC))

 * World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) (2003) "Shaping information societies for human needs": civil society declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society, WSIS Civil Society Plenary, Geneva, 8th December 2003
 * Stark, Elisabeth (2006) Free culture and the internet: a new semiotic democracy. Open Democracy, 20th June 2006, online at: http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-commons/semiotic_3662.jsp

Semi-related readings

 * Forte, Andrea and Guzdial, Mark. (2005) "Motivation and Non-Majors in CS1: Identifying Discrete Audiences for Introductory Computer Science" IEEE Transactions on Education. 48(2), 248-253. Retrieved from http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/csl/24
 * Imai, Yasuo (2003) Walter Benjamin and John Dewey: The Structure of Difference Between Their Thoughts on Education, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2003, pp. 109-125

title: Media literacy/notes


text:
Wikiversity:Student advising

Getting academic credit for a degree

These schools will offer accredited degrees for independent learning.

 * Thomas Edison State College
 * Excelsior University
 * Charter Oak State College
 * Western Governors University

title: Wikiversity:Student advising


text:
United States Law/First Year Guide

1L is how lawyers and law students informally refer to the first year of the law school education. Law school education (full time) in the United States is typically 3 years. The first year courses are typically: /Contracts/, /Torts/, /Property, /Civil Procedure/, /Criminal Law/, and /Legal Writing/.

Subjects

 * United States Law/Contract
 * United States Law/Tort
 * United States Law/Property
 * United States Law/Civil Procedure
 * United States Law/Constitutional
 * United States Law/Criminal
 * United States Law/Legal Writing

Law Review

 * Wikiversity Law Review
 * /Writing Competition/

Study Aids

 * CALI
 * InLawSchool.com - Learn How to Excel in Law School
 * LegallyNoted.com LegallyNoted.com is a free online law school note-sharing website where law students can share notes, outlines, strategies, and ask & answer law-related questions

title: United States Law/First Year Guide


text:
Introduction to music/Temporary

Introduction to music
What is music? Humans have been making music since the Dawn of Time. Some of our strongest emotions may be brought on by listening to a piece of music. In this modern age, We hear music around us almost all of our waking hours, in one form or another. Most of us listen to recorded music or go to performances regularly, and some of us play a musical instrument. Prior to modern audio recording technology, music was available only in the presence of a musician, or to those who play an instrument or sing.

Musical concepts
A basic definition of what music really is (in the Western World), is the chronological organisation of sounds, that is, making certain sounds at certain times, which for the composer (writer) make sense.

The first, most basic concept, is keeping the sounds "in time". This leads us to some of the first few musical concepts; beat, rhythm and duration. Duration is the length of a note or sound.

Rhythm is a combination of different durations.

If one duration is repeated (as with a ticking clock), the continuous repetition is known as the beat.

Music is also the relationship between sound and silence. Duration and rhythm apply to silence in the same manner as they apply to sound.

We perceive music as horizontal and vertical patterns. We hear melodies as a horizontal pattern. The notes (and silences) are heard one after the other over a period of time.

We hear chords (groups of notes played simultaneously) in a vertical pattern. A mixture of one or all of these: melody, rhythm, chords, and silence form musical patterns.

Rhythm
Rhythm is the most basic concept of music. In all cultures worldwide, the most simple and basic forms of music are purely rhythms. A rhythm is a pulse; a repetition of sounds in a pattern. Simple rhythms can be recognised straight away. Tapping rhythmically at a drum constitutes tapping it at timed intervals in a pattern. The most common rhythmic pattern in modern-day Western music is $$4/4$$ time (pronounced four-four time). This is where four pulses come one after the other, with the first of each four being given emphasis (known as an accent). Try this exercise:

 * Say the words "one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four..." etc. continously, and at even time intervals.
 * Now each time you say "one", say it slightly louder: "one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four..." etc.
 * You have just been saying the words "one", "two", "three" and "four" in $$4/4$$ time.

Melody
In music, pitch is used to describe how high or low a note sounds. Anyone would know the difference between a high-pitched scratching of fingernails across a blackboard, and the low, rumbling growl of thunder. When Maria tells the children in The Sound Of Music that "the first few notes just happen to be...do re mi", she was referring to pitch. Using pitch, together with rhythm, we can start to construct melodies. Without rhythm, notes would just be long, sustained sounds. Without pitch, each sound would be the same (for example, the beating of a single drum).

Dynamics
In music, we use the word dynamics to describe how loudly or softly a note is played. Dynamics falls under the wider category of expressive techniques, which are instructions for the performer to play loudly of softly, smoothly or detached, and many other effects.

Timbre (tone colour)
In music, the "colour" of a sound being produced is referred to as timbre, or tone colour. Timbre is the difference between the harsh, scratchy sound of an electric guitar with distortion; the glassy, rounded sound of a piano; and the bird-like whispering sound of a flute. All these instruments could play exactly the same note, yet anyone would be able to recognise instantly an electric guitar from a piano from a flute.

Structure
Musical structure is usually defined by several things including scales and/or arpeggios, rhythm, key signature, melodic patterns, variations Etc. To keep this particular paragraph concise, all or some of the elements of music theory can be used in the structure of a musical piece. Many composers that listen to Bach are fascinated by the palindromes, variations and inversions of patterns contained in its compositional structure, most of which will never be noticed unless you plan on going through the notation] with a magnifying glass.

--Subnote, Colhsh: Musical Structure also refers to the overall layout of a musical work as a whole, these come in several forms the simplest form is Binary form, in which there is one section of music "A" which is then juxtaposed against a contrasting "B" section which finishes it, giving the piece an "A-B" structure. An expansion on this is ternary form which is the same as binary, except that the "A" section is repeated, making the overall structure "A-B-A"

Another musical form that was popular during the classical era is that of the Rondo form, in which there is an "A" section that is repeated throughout the work, but is interrupted by contrasting episodes, making any work in rondo form typically have the structure of "A-B-A-C-A-D-Etc."

Larger structures include "Sonata form," which was developed in the Classical Period. The "Sonata form" often is the structure of the first movement of a Sonata, Symphony, and Concerto. The Sonata form is comprised of four sections.
 * Exposition - Introduces a main theme in the tonic key, and a subordinate theme in a related key - often the dominant, or if in a minor key - the relative major.
 * Development - Develops and elaborates the themes and explores new and exciting key centers.
 * Recapitulation - Returns to the tonic key and states the main theme and subordinate theme. The subordinate theme is often reworked to stay in the tonic.
 * Coda - Concludes the piece.

Texture
Texture refers to the layering of sounds on top of each other. For example, someone might be playing chords on the guitar, while singing a song over the top. Someone else might be playing the drums. Here we can observe three "layers of sound"; the melody (the voice), the accompaniment (the guitar chords) and rhycompaniment (the drum kit).

title: Introduction to music/Temporary


text:
Ancient Greek philosophy/Source material

"I will illustrate my meaning, Theodorus, by the jest which the clever witty Thracian handmaid is said to have made about Thales, when he fell into a well as he was looking up at the stars. She said, that he was so eager to know what was going on in heaven, that he could not see what was before his feet. This is a jest which is equally applicable to all philosophers. For the philosopher is wholly unacquainted with his next-door neighbour; he is ignorant, not only of what he is doing, but he hardly knows whether he is a man or an animal; he is searching into the essence of man, and busy in enquiring what belongs to such a nature to do or suffer different from any other. (Plato: Theatetus, 174 A, translated by Benjamin Jowett)"

Philosophy may be seen as one of the products of a vital human impulse that has probably given rise to religion and science as well. From as far back as history can take us, we have strived for ultimate truths about life and existence.

Philosophy is usually described vaguely as the study of fundamental questions. Therefore, other great general fields of inquiry, like Science ("How did that happen? Can we change it?") and Theology ("What is God like? How can we change His mind?") can be seen as offshoots of the same source.

In Western culture (Occidental, as opposed to Oriental) we generally study the history of Western philosophy, which we trace back to the Greeks, who first used the word philosophy, and who first began to organize such an inquiry in a systematic way in our culture. One of the problems with this method is that it tends to minimize the effects of other ancient civilizations on Western thought, which was greatly influenced by the cultures in Egypt and Mesopotamia. It also walls off an entire parallel development of Eastern philosophy which, though dealing with similar questions, made use of profoundly different methods. Ironically, the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia can probably be considered closer to Eastern than to Western thought.

But we have to start somewhere, and that will be the traditional approach. The reader can find an overview of Eastern thought in the Eastern Philosophy course.

The Origins of Philosophy
"In all history, nothing is so surprising or difficult to account for as the sudden rise of civilization in Greece. (Bertrand Russell: History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from Earliest Times to the Present Day. Second edition, 1961)"

 * Ancient Greece
 * Myth
 * Logos
 * Necessity and Destiny
 * Change and permanence
 * Nature

The Ancient Greeks
In order to understand the history of philosophy related to the time of the Ancient Greeks, it is crucial to first understand the beliefs of these philosophers and their struggles towards cracking the egg of reason. As we travel through the different times of thought you will begin to develop a liking for the amazing hills that these men of thought tumbled over.

Pre-Socratic Era

 * The Milesians
 * Thales (Complete)
 * Anaximander (Complete)
 * Anaximenes(Incomplete)
 * Pythagoreans (Incomplete)
 * Heraclitus (Incomplete)
 * Parmenides (Incomplete)
 * Zeno (Incomplete)
 * Empedocles (Incomplete)
 * Anaxagoras (Incomplete)
 * Democritus (Incomplete)
 * The Sophists (Incomplete)

The Socratic Era

 * Socrates (Incomplete)
 * Plato (Incomplete)
 * Aristotle (Incomplete)

Books

 * 1) Russel, Bertrand. The History of Western Philosophy. New York: Touchstone, 1972.
 * 2) Gottlieb, Anthony. The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.
 * 3) Popkin, Richard, H. The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. The Columbia University Press, 1999.
 * 4) F. M. Cornford. From Religion to Philosophy. A Study in the Origins of Western Speculation. Princeton University Press, 1991.
 * 5) Raven, John, E., Geoffrey S. Kirk, and Malcolm Schofield. The Presocratic Philosophers .  Cambridge University Press, 1983.
 * 6) Fearn, Nicholas. Zeno and the Tortoise: How to Think Like a Philosopher . London: Atlantic Books, 2001.
 * 7) Guthrie, William, K. A History of Greek Philosophy: Volume 1, the Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans . Cambridge University Press, 1962.


text:
Project management/Overview

School:Project management

Course Goals

When people work together, teaming is important for success, but there is always a large knowledge gap between those involved in a project's leadership, those in management, and those who actually execute the project (those who do the dirty work). Having a common knowledge base/language, which cuts across all levels of project organization will help demystify project management for each member of a team. With a shared understanding of professional project management, a team can be more integrated, smart, and responsive, increasing its chances for the successful and timely completion of its project.

Educational programs focus on creating a basic common level of understanding on the basic project management concepts. Project work is fundamentally team work, and everyone in a project team should know the concepts of project management so that the team as a whole can work more efficiently.

The readers of this page will get a fair understanding of the project management body of knowledge.

Topics Covered

 * Definition of a project
 * Difference between projects and operations
 * Programs
 * Portfolio management
 * Future value of money
 * Net present value
 * Payback period
 * IRR
 * Project life cycle
 * Project Management life cycle
 * MBO
 * Functional organization
 * Projectized organization
 * Matrix organization
 * Roles and responsibilities of a project manager
 * Roles and responsibilities of a project sponsor
 * Skills of a good project manager

Methodology

Project management is the discipline of defining and achieving finite objectives. The challenge of project management is the optimized integration and allocation of the inputs needed to meet those pre-defined objectives. The project, therefore, is a carefully selected set of activities chosen to use resources (time, money, people, materials, energy, space, provisions, communication, quality, risk, etc.) to meet the pre-defined objectives.

Learning projects
See: Learning Projects and the Learning model.

Learning materials and learning projects are located in the main Wikiversity namespace. Simply make a link to the name of the learning project (learning projects are independent pages in the main namespace) and start writing! We suggest the use of the learning project template, by doing on the new page.

Learning materials and learning projects can be used by multiple departments. Cooperate with other departments that use the same learning resource.
 * Introduction to project management/Preparation
 * Introduction to project management/Basics
 * Project management/Components I
 * 11 Project Management - Components II
 * Project management/Components III
 * Introduction to project management/Preparation 2
 * Project management/Kick-off-meeting
 * 22 Project Management - Statement of Work
 * Introduction to project management/Status Report
 * Introduction to project management/Resources
 * Introduction to project management/Audit

Remember, Wikiversity has adopted the "learning by doing" model for education. Lessons should center on learning activities for Wikiversity participants. We learn by doing. Select a descriptive name for each learning project. Learning projects can be listed in alphanumeric order by code, however code numbers are optional. Get to work creating learning activities! Simply make a link to the name of the lesson (lessons are independent pages) and start writing!

Resources
Know any good resources for scholars of this topic? Add them here!
 * WikiPedia:WikiProject
 * Project management
 * Project Management Dictionary
 * Quotes on Project Management

title: Project management/Overview


text:
Video game design

School of Video game Design
This page will mainly be a place to put homework, tests, project assignments on for the wikibook Videogame_Design

Prerequisites/Materials
You will need a computer with Blender3D installed, and knowledge of how to use Blender. Although Blender's game engine is inferior to other engines at the moment, it will be replaced by the CrystalSpace engine.

Course Outline
I. Theory

II. Programming

III. Hardware Design

title: Video game design


text:
Software Engineering Process

 * This description does not account for any software engineering standards, like IEEE, RUP, CMM, CMMI, etc. For a more complete description, see the Wikipedia description.

School of Computer Science > Software Engineering Process

Many people think that the creation of software should take place (or does take place) according to a process. A process is a series of steps or a way of going about something.

A number of software engineering processes have been suggested or articulated. Some of them are:
 * extreme programming
 * agile methods
 * OO design
 * hacking
 * top down design
 * test driven development
 * waterfall model
 * spiral model
 * prototyping
 * high production
 * pinexse

Wikipedia

 * Software development process
 * Software development
 * Software engineering
 * History of software engineering
 * Outline of software engineering
 * Software architecture
 * Computer programming
 * Software design
 * Software construction
 * Software testing
 * Program analysis
 * Software maintenance
 * Software engineering demographics
 * Software craftsmanship
 * List of software engineering conferences
 * Software Engineering Institute
 * Bachelor of Software Engineering

Wikibooks

 * Introduction to Software Engineering

External

 * Software Engineering Processes
 * U.S. Department of Education's list of recognized institutions offering a degree program in Computer Software Engineering

title: Software Engineering Process


text:
Theoretical topics within computer science

Theoretical topics include AI and machine learning theory:

 * Artificial Intelligence (AI)
 * Machine Learning

Algorithms, data structures and computer architecture:

 * Algorithms
 * Data Structures
 * Computer Architecture

The classical topics in theoretical computer science:

 * Automata Theory (course)
 * Formal Language Theory (course)
 * Computability Theory (overview)
 * Complexity Theory (overview)

Related topics include:

 * Discrete maths
 * Introductory_Discrete_Mathematics_for_Computer_Science
 * Logic


text:
Translation practice

The Translation Practice Course was the first course in Wikiversity. It was an interwiki project involving several Wikiversities and was oriented for those students with an intermediate or advanced level in the second language.

Goals of this subject:
 * Train the student in the practice of text translation.
 * Enrich the different Wikipedia projects with new users and new articles

Coursework

 * 1) The student selects an article from their native language Wikipedia.
 * 2) They translate it into the Wikipedia written in the language they are learning.
 * 3) The student writes down a link to the article they have translated in a list of links placed on this page, followed by the user signature.
 * 4) When the student has some doubts, they may ask a self-declared "Checker" to copy-edit their work and study the different resources placed at the Wikiversidad:Biblioteca de Lingüística.
 * 5) The Checker corrects the articles translated.  The Checker's basic task is to correct orthography, style, grammar, false cognates, etc and explain to the student what errors were made.
 * 6) It is recommended that the Checker corrects in their mother tongue unless they are bilingual.
 * 7) Furthermore, the students may check their mistakes looking at the page history. A link to the page history may be found at the top of the page.
 * 8) Students and Checkers should write their user name with a link to their user talk page at the bottom of this page, so that they may easily keep in touch.

If you would like to translate articles into Spanish language go to Wikiversidad:Prácticas de traducción#estudiantes and write your user name there.

List of English language students
rayre
 * If you want to practice text translation into English language write your name down here.
 * --Spinelly34 21:27, 18 February 2013
 * --Javier Carro 20:00, 20 May 2004 (UTC)
 * --Ricardo Stuven 21:37, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * --Azar
 * --Tostadora 16:20, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * --User:Renée Alisso 23:07, 22 Oct 2004
 * --Sma 17:17, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * --ebarraza 13:25, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * --carlosar 20:39, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC
 * --Von 20:27, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * --Nickodem
 * --Asno
 * --shikisi
 * --Javad (messages here) 12:36, 18 May 2005 (UTC)
 * --Makosteszta
 * --neuroticslug
 * --Victoriam
 * --Maria Otoya-Diehn
 * --Nemuri 20:03, 28 Oct 2005 (UTC)
 * --Gabimali 21:59, 26 Jan 2006
 * --evandora
 * --rsa
 * --Panda.Firecat 19:28, 6 Jul 2006 (UTC)
 * --Drecik 22:25, 21 Oct 2006
 * --Tonielarkin 10:35, 3 Jan 2007
 * --Arceus fan 15:56, 16 October 2007 (UTC)I'm on meta and am trying to learn sweedish
 * --ftaylor 09:56, 16 September 2008

List of English checker users

 * If you wouldn`t mind correcting English language articles, write down your user name here.
 * TUF-KAT 22:10, 19 May 2004 (UTC)
 * jrb5469 10:49, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Andy Kawel 10:19, 5 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Sublium 03:00, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Nicholas Alexander 13:05, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * Arthaey Angosii 20:56, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Niall Jackson 09:56, 15 Jav 2005 (UTC)
 * Jwanders 14:00, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * mmason 17:05, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Kent 20:50, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Nikue 23:42, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * John bateson 11:44, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Njk 16:05, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * ambro 00:27, 07 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Dsyd 13:19, 14 May 2005 (GMT)
 * Chris Odegard 8:12, 24 May 2005 (CMT)
 * User:Stephen Staines 16:15, 12 June 2005 (GMT)
 * Laurascudder 00:11, 29 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * yunes
 * Magicmonster 05:22, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
 * JJRosseau 07:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * joanna 02:01, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Cromwellt|talk 06:31, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Antonrojo 15:04, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Keitei (reach me here) 10:21, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Think Fast 03:00, 13 April 2006 (UTC) (Please leave a message on my talk page. Thanks!)
 * Clbyard 02:22, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Nicki_ie 17:30, 26 April 2006 (GMT)
 * Wilfredo
 * Girija 11:18, 30 June 2006 (IST)
 * Meaghorn 12:58, 14 May 2009 (GMT)
 * Wietse 15:34, 27 August (GMT)
 * Capkazm 04 August 2010(GMT)
 * Desai

List of English language translated articles and their translator

 * Creating a new School. Translator: Javier Carro 17:34, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC). Checker: TUF-KAT 15:11, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC).
 * In es:Inglés, I am writing a wikibook for Spanish speakers about learning English. I wrote several dialogues and a short text about History of English. I'm sure I made many mistakes. I'd be grateful if someone would check those texts. Thank you. es:Usuario:Javier Carro--Javier Carro 13:31, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Checked. --Think Fast 00:55, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Amandad
 * José Cabrero Arnal. Translator: Javad (messages here) 13:48, 18 May 2005 (UTC).
 * Social Ecological Institute, translation from Polish. Translator: Panda.Firecat 19:50 6 Jul 2006

List of Russian checker users
If you wouldn`t mind correcting Russian language articles, log in and sign your user name here with *~
 * arilou649 20:10, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Myrrhman 11:15, 6 December 2009
 * Iritchka 02:03, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

210.83.229.254 09:15, 20 October 2011 (UTC)==List of Chinese to English checker users==
 * If you would like to check Chinese to English translations, add your name here:
 * Mccready 13:49, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
 * josephshe 23:48, 18 February 2006 (GMT)

title: Translation practice


text:
Wikiversity:Should research be allowed, integral or prohibited on Wikiversity assets?

Note: this was an old discussion from before Wikiversity was created.

Original Fragments relocated from Wikiversity/talk

 * Second, why are we forbidding research? It doesn't seem possible in a learner-centred environment, especially if we are providing courses on sociology, chemistry, or anything to a reasonably high level? Or maybe we aren't doing this? And yes, I realise we don't want to just allow ourselves to become a repository for the work of Professor Fruitcake and his band of merry students, but surely there is a need for some form of publishing research and peer-review?
 * Following on from this idea, is it not necessary to provide some forum of debate wherein learners can exchange ideas/problems? Does this not obviate a project similar to all other Wikimedia projects where users have pages (again forbidden) and there is some sort of communal meeting ground, ie. Water Cooler, Helpdesk, etc.? This is a fundamental aspect of learning and motivating people to participate - one of the holy grails of e-learning.

I realise I could have gone and edited all this but I feel they're too big issues to just boldly change. So I'd like feedback on what people see as the identity of this project, or more like its potential identity, bearing in mind it will not remain on Wikibooks for ever :-) All the best. Cormaggio 17:33, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Can a Wiki University escape from the factory model of education? I'd like to find out. Towards this goal, I suggest that a good first rule for Wikiversity might be: Wikiversity does not have to do anything in the same way as conventional universities. We have the chance to designate the needs of learners as a central concern of the entire Wikiversity system. To accomplish this, we need innovative methods for allowing the educational process to be informed by student needs. Wikiversity should be constructed from the ground up using anything we can think of that will allow students to make known their learning needs and anything that will allow the Wikiversity community to facilitate learning and discovery.

 * This does not mean putting students "in control"; often students have no idea what is best for their learning needs, they just do not have the needed experience with options and knowing what works and what fails in education. There has to be a facilitated process of communication between members of the university community that allows institutional and personal knowledge to guide the learning process according to student needs. Of course, there has to be flexibility and wiggle room for experimentation and innovation.

 * Research. It is probably the case that university education should be centered on research. The university community has to be involved in exploration of the unknown. How to ask questions and explore the unknown is a major part of the subject matter of university level education. People who want a "university" without research should start a wikitechnicaltraininginstitute. A university community must be engaged in peer-reviewed publication. Wikiversity can make use of conventional informal wiki "peer review" of wiki webpage content and formal peer-reviewed wiki publication. Some forms of modern research can be very expensive and will probably require innovative cooperative interactions between Wikiversity and bricks-and-mortar research institutes. Some of the better research institutions are already developing online "community outreach" programs that allow for open access to the research infrastructure. Wikiversity could tap into this growing opportunity for access to research facilities and expertise. The wikiversity educational model will eventually infect and transform some segments of existing traditional universities. --JWSurf 04:26, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Thank you ever so much for that thoughtful and eminently quotable piece, JW. I absolutely agree that it's just too soon to start cutting off aspects of what is a potentially ground-breaking initiative. Just on a further identity issue, and this has been discussed on the m:Talk:Wikiversity page as well as mailing lists, but what about generalising it further and naming it something like Wiki-learning (or Wikisophia as Erik and Angela suggested)? This would include the (arguably) more passing information-driven aspect of high-school courses, and also the research-driven work of potential higher education courses. But, yes, I completely agree that we need to look at the broader picture of what is possible as well as what is practical for now. Cormaggio 11:37, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Research- I'll stick to my guns here and say that wikiversity's job is not to host new research. I think its a case here of people getting too caught up in the name "versity".  If you're writing a paper, it ought to get peer reviewed either through a normal journal or through existing wikis.  If its already gone through peer review and been generally accepted, its no longer research and thus acceptable (provided you turn it into a course or part of a course).  A note from our discussion on meta- I would not consider redoing a sociology experiment or the like to be research unless it covered entirely new ground.  If its a run comprised of existing knowledge, its not research but an experiment.

 * I also think that your take on research is quite misguided. I think that you see research as some form of end product, whereas I see it (and I think JW agrees) as part of the process. However, I do agree that research is difficult terrain - we couldn't, for example, endorse research that someone did that was deeply unethical, and how we negotiate this is tricky, or will be at least.

 * But basically, I appreciate this discussion we're having and hope it does some good for the project. These are fundamental points and ones many members of the wider community will be interested in. Do you think we should advertise this a bit more - get a few more opinions? I also appreciate that you just recently wrote this page, Gabe, and as such it seems to reflect your view of the wikiversity. Can you maybe point me to previous discussions of these points so that I could look at their background? Thanks. Cormaggio 10:35, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Thanks Gabe. I'm trying to understand your sentence about me, JW and bad teachers - is it that you think we'd make bad teachers? If so, why? But basically, yes, the point is that there are different teaching styles and we should accommodate for that. I've made quite substantial changes to the Goals section to reflect the general substance of this conversation - please take a look. i think the only thing we substantially disagree on is research, which I've changed in the goals section but which remains in the research section. I basically think that it's just too early in Wikiversity's identity phase to block out something which I believe to be fundamental to e-learning. I'll try to advertise this a bit more - set up a Wikiversity sub page on Meta - but I'm also really tied for time at the moment. Anyone reading this, even if you haven't been involved yet, is welcome to try to implement this community involvement process that this project so badly needs. (See below) Thanks. Cormaggio 09:18, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

 * No, not at all. Not having seen you in action I can't say you're good, but you definitely have the passion for it.  I said that if you think there's a major difference between how I meant teach and you meant learn, you've had some bad experiences with teachers.  A good one does whatever is necessary to teach the student, he doesn't just try to follow the same formula as JW's text said.--Gabe Sechan 10:05, August 22, 2005 (UTC)

Second, about research. I totally disagree that any type of university system should be centered around research. THis is how some students end up with brains loaded with useless stuff and do not learn to have a real useful job and end up unemployed as employers do not even see how to make a good use of all these freshly graduated people. Do not get me wrong : research is important, and in some areas, absolutely mandatory. But one of the wrong things we can see in university, is thousands of young being taught research stuff while it will never be what they will be asked to do in real life. This is not helping at all. This said, I think research should be part of wikiversity; if only in one sense : I think it should be possible for publish research papers, such as students to publish their PhD thesis, which in many countries end up on a shelf on a microfilm, hence useless. The thesis can be used as references for teaching courses. Anthere

 * And on research, I don't think that this project should be strictly "centred" on research, but rather that research has to have a place, especially in some fields. I take your point on being practical and "real world-focused", but essentially, I think it should be down to the person/people facilitating each course to decide what are the appropriate learning outcomes and teaching methods for their course. This way we are flexible to adapt - I just didn't want to cut off all this potential. Thanks Anthere. Cormaggio 16:31, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

 * "I think that you see research as some form of end product, whereas I see it (and I think JW agrees) as part of the process." (see above)
 * The role of research in a university is a source of endless debate. "Research" can be placed in the more general category of "scholarly activity". The members of a university community should be engaged in scholarly activities. There are many activities that are scholarly, for example, creating a textbook. This is why it is perfectly sensible for wikiversity to exist at wikibooks. If someone did an analysis, I think they would find that most textbooks are produced by members of a university who in making a textbook and in so doing, performing their obligatory duty to take part in scholarly activity. The term "research" actually gets used in two different ways. There is "original research" in which investigators try to discover something new about the world. There is also "literature research", which is fundamental to many forms of scholarly activity, including textbook writing. A wikiversity is going to have to utilize resources such as textbooks and these resources will depend on "literature research"....going into the "literature" (I'll accept a broad definition of "literature") in order to learn what others have accomplished in the past. A key reason why research is central to a university is that the students get to exist within a community where the members are actively engaged in the process of doing research. This is how students learn to do research. This is how the cultural heritage of research is passed from generation to generation.
 * I can think of two alternatives to institutions of higher education where research is central to the community. First would be some kind of technical training institute where the students do not need to learn to think, only how to put patches on flat tires. There are such institutions that pass themselves off as institutions of higher education, but it is a scam. Second, you could have an indoctrination center where students are forced to learn some corpus of propaganda and original thought is actively suppressed. Some political and religious institutions shun free enquiry and adopt the strategy of indoctrination. Again, I find it distasteful to call these "institutions of higher learning", but they do exist. --JWSurf 16:55, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Once again, I'm in pretty much total accord - it's much clearer now you outline what it would be like without research. (Surely the wikitechnicaltraininginstitute is virtually provided for in the "How to.." manuals in progress here on Wikibooks?) But more pertinently, are you proposing that "original research" as you delineate it would be outside the remit but that "literature research" would be allowed? As far as I'm concerned, research is always an original endeavour (and in my opinion subjective, though many will find that distasteful) and it simply cannot be prohibited from a learning environment, especially a higher institution. Cormaggio 20:17, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Original research- bring it onI agree that the distinction between "original research" and "literature research" is blurry and mainly a matter of emphasis. Hopefully anyone doing "literature research" is being just as creative as anyone else and making discoveries and creating new knowledge from old. That's why universities recognize activities such as textbook writing as being a valuable scholarly activity as is dicovering a cure for some disease. In no way would I try to exclude any form of scholarly research from wikiversity. With respect to "original research" such as that conducted in expensive research laboratories (example: human genome project) or in the field (example:space exploration) there is no reason why wikiversity could not host a wiki "virtual research space" that would hold information about every research project that exists in the world. I predict that, eventually, some researchers are going to open up their research activities to the world and put everything they do into wiki format. Wikiversity could strive to become a "host" for such virtual labs. --JWSurf 12:52, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Right on. Cormaggio 17:32, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Here's my problem with research and wikiversity. Its not that research is a bad thing.  It isn't.  And its not that people using wikiversity shouldn't do research.  Its a matter of scope and difficulty.

 * Scope- there's a fundamental limit on what you can do on a project.  There's limiting factors- money, time, manhours, etc.  On wikiversity, the main roadblocks are manhours and expertise.  Manhours are simple- we only hve so many contributors, and so many admins.  The more data coming in, the harder it is to handle it all, organize it all, proofread it all, etc.  The wider your scope is, the harder it is to do this, because everyone has their specialty.  Wikiversity is already incredibly broad, for upper level meterial it will be difficult to find people to do this.  There's a reason we don't have one giant webpage called wikifacts with an encyclopedia, dictionary, books, courses, etc.  Its too difficult to do.  By paring it down, you enable the amount of work to be reasonable.  You also increase the amount of work done in a single area rather than 1 person in each of their pet research projects, creating a more comprehensive program of study, This gives the illusion of completeness, and will draw additional contributors because there is something concrete to contribute to.  Then when we have more contributors, we can broaden the scope or crete a new project, depending on what we think is best.

 * Secondly, expertise. First off, writing a textbook is not research.  Its scholaarly, its valuable, but not research.  Research is investigation to uncover new facts.  If you're doing original research, you have a major expertise issue.  If, for example, you're doing research on string theory- you can count the number of people in the world who understand the theory to the detail needed on your hands. Its not possible for us to peer review it, because we just aren't qualified.  The chance we have 2 or 3 others capable of following it are abysmally low.  In addition it just doesn't give itself well to being wiki-ized (it gives itself well to being openly available, but not to being wide sored collaborated on).  Joe Schmoe shouldn't be commenting on it, becuse he isn't capable of it.  Those half dozen people who are qualified to help all know each other, they don't need a wiki to collaborate.

 * I just don't see us having the manpower or the expertise to do original research well. I think another poject down the line for it would probably be more in line.  I don't have a lot of hope for that either, but I think its more likely to work.  Its always better to underpromise and overdeliver than the other way around.  If we have too wide a scope, we will not be able to focus sufficiently to succeed.  Doing original research seperately gives both the courses of wikiversity and any eventul wikiresearch a better chance of success.  --Gabe Sechan 09:55, 22 August 2005 (UTC)


text:
United States Law/Tort

Torts are invasions of interests, such as the interest in freedom from offensive bodily contact, the interest in freedom from emotional distress, the interest of freedom of movement, and the interest of exclusive possession of land and chattels. When one of these interests has been invaded by an unprivileged act or omission, a tort has been committed.

Negligence
Liability for negligence in tort arises where the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care to a specific standard and the breach of that duty was the actual and legal cause of the damages to the plaintiff.

Duty of Care
In a cause of action for negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed a duty of care, which simply means that under the circumstances, the defendant had the obligation to look out for the plaintiff.

Foreseeability
There are two schools of thought as to which people the defendant owes a duty of care. In a majority of jurisdictions, the defendant owes a duty of care to all foreseeable plaintiffs. In a minority of jurisdictions, the defendant owes a duty of care to all plaintiffs who are injured by his or her conduct. (Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co., 248 N.Y. 339, 164 N.E. 564 (N.Y.1928), wherein Justice Cardozo lays out the majority view, while Justice Andrews lays out the minority view in his dissent.) Foreseeability is determined by looking at the circumstances of the defendant's conduct and asking whether a reasonable person in the position of that defendant at the time of his or her conduct could have foreseen an injury of the type suffered by the plaintiff to a person in the plaintiff's position.

There are several ways a duty of care may arise. A duty may arise by conduct, either by the commission of an affirmative act by the defendant, or by the defendant's failure to act where a special relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant gives rise to a duty for the plaintiff to act. As well, a duty may arise where the defendant is a landowner or a lessor. Finally, a duty may arise from a contract, for instance in the contract between a doctor and a patient, or between an attorney and a client.

Affirmative Act
If the defendant commits an affirmative act that raises risks to other people, then his or her act simultaneously raises a duty of care to those people. For instance, if the defendant is driving a car, that raises risks to people in other cars and pedestrians on the streets where the defendant is driving. Thus, the defendant owes all of those people a duty of care because it is foreseeable that driving may cause injuries to other people.

Bystanders
Bystanders generally owe no duty to intervene in order to prevent injury to another person.

Induced Reliance
If, by a promise or an act, the plaintiff is induced to rely on action by the defendant, then a duty arises for the defendant such that failure to act will result in a breach of that duty.

Special Relationship
There may be a special relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, such that the defendant has a duty to act to protect the plaintiff. The defendant may have a duty to warn the plaintiff of a danger, a duty to protect the plaintiff from another person, or a duty to control another person to keep that person from injuring the plaintiff.

Artificial Conditions Highly Dangerous to Trespassing Children
Where a landowner knows of an artificial condition on his or her land that may be highly dangerous to trespassing children and knows that children are likely to trespass, the children, due to their age, are incapable of appreciating the magnitude of the risk, and the risk to the children outweighs the burden of preventing their injuries, the landowner will be liable if trespassing children are injured by the artificial condition.

Minority Rule
In a minority of jurisdictions, landowners owe a duty of reasonable care to all persons, regardless of their status in relationship to the land. This was established by the Supreme Court of California in the case of Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal. 2d 108 [443 P.2d 561].

Lessors
Lessors generally owe no duty of care to lessees. However, that general rule has been substantially diluted by six major exceptions, outlined below. The first three of those exceptions are applicable at the time of the transfer of property and the latter three are applicable throughout the duration of the lease.

Undisclosed Dangerous Conditions
Where there are undisclosed dangerous conditions on the property that are known to the lessor but unknown to the lessee, and they may cause injury to the lessee, the lessor has a duty of care to prevent injuries resulting from those conditions.

If the lessor actively conceals the dangerous conditions, the lessor retains liability for injuries resulting from those conditions until the lessee actually discovers them and has a reasonable time to repair them.

if the lessor fails to disclose the dangerous conditions, the lessor retains liability for injuries resulting from those conditions only so long as it would take for a reasonable lessee to discover the conditions. Once the lessee discovers the dangerous conditions, liability shifts to the lessee.

Conditions Dangerous to Persons off Premises
Where there are conditions on the property that are dangerous to persons outside the premises, the lessor has a duty of care to individuals who suffer injury as a result of those conditions.

Premises Leased for Admission of the Public
Where the premises are leased for the admission of the public, the lessor has a duty of care to individuals injured by dangerous conditions on the property. The rationale for this rule is that when the lessor knows that the premises will be opened for the admission of the public, members of the public become foreseeable plaintiffs to the lessor.

Common Areas
Where part of the premises are retained in the control of the lessor, but the lessee is still allowed to use those parts, i.e., where the premises include common areas, the lessor has a duty of care to individuals injured by conditions in those common areas.

Contract to Repair
Where the lessor contracts to repair conditions on the premises, the lessor has a duty of care to ensure those repairs are made.

Repairs Performed Negligently
Where the lessor undertakes repairs to the premises, either under a contract to repair or by his or her own volition, the lessor has a duty of care to ensure that the repairs are not performed negligently.

Reasonable Care
The basic standard of care is reasonable care. This is defined according to an objective standard rather than a subjective one. That is, reasonable care for any given person is not what that individual thinks is reasonable, but what the society, through the law, has come to define as reasonable behavior.

Reasonable care in a given situation may be determined by weighing the probability of injury resulting from the conduct in question and the foreseeable gravity of potential injury against the burden on the defendant of not altering his or her conduct to avoid the injury and the social utility of the conduct.

Physical Characteristics
A person with physical handicaps (e.g., a person confined to a wheelchair, a blind person, etc.) must exercise reasonable care commensurate with that which a reasonable person having the same handicaps would exercise.

Special Knowledge
A person with special knowledge (i.e., knowledge particular to the situation) must exercise reasonable care commensurate with that which a reasonable person having the same knowledge would exercise.

Professional Standard
A professional must use the knowledge, skill, and training that would be used by a member of the profession in good standing.

Medical Standard
In a majority of jurisdictions, a medical professional must use the same knowledge, skill, and training as a member of the medical profession in good standing in the same or similar circumstances and the same or a similar community.

In a minority of jurisdictions, a medical professional must adhere to national standards for medical professionals.

Informed Consent
A majority of jurisdictions used a physician-centered rule for informed consent: Where a patient is considering undergoing a particular treatment, the physician must adequately disclose material risks that a reasonable physician in good standing would disclose.

A minority of jurisdictions use a patient-centered rule for informed consent: Where a patient is considering undergoing a particular treatment, the physician must adequately disclose material risks that a reasonable patient would want to know before choosing to undergo the treatment. As well, to prove breach it must be shown that, given adequate disclosure of the risks, the patient would not have undergone the treatment. Some jurisdictions ask whether the particular patient would have undergone the treatment, while other jurisdictions ask whether a reasonable patient would have undergone the treatment.

Child Standard
A child must exercise the level of care that would be expected from a child of similar age, intelligence, and experience.

Strict Liability
Strict liability does not consider the intent of the party held liable.

A party may be held strictly liable for injuries that result from his or her conduct where the probability that the conduct will cause an injury is high, the likelihood that the injury will be severe is high, the exercise of reasonable care would not eliminate the risk, the conduct is not a matter of common usage and is carried out in an inappropriate location, and the dangerousness of the conduct outweighs its social utility.

There are two major categories of strict liability conduct: injuries caused by animals and abnormally dangerous activities.

Injuries Caused by Animals
Strict liability for injuries caused by animals is imposed on all those who keep, possess, or harbor the animals, not just the owners of the animals. The injury that is caused by the animal must be the result of some characteristic of the animal that makes it unpredictably dangerous.

Trespassing Livestock
Livestock are typically animals like cattle, pigs, or other creatures raised for service to humans. Where livestock trespass and do damage to land or property, or cause physical injury to members of the household on that property, strict liability arises. However, unforeseeable intervening forces will cut off liability.

Physical Injury by Domestic Animal with Propensity for Dangerousness
Where the owner of a domestic animal has knowledge of the animal's propensity for dangerousness, injuries caused by the animal will give rise to strict liability. Unforeseeable intervening forces will not cut off liability.

Wild Animals
Wild animals are culturally defined. For instance, in some cultures an elephant would be a wild animal, but in other cultures it may be a domesticated animal. In the United States, wild animals are things like lions, tigers, and bears ("Oh, my!"). Keepers of wild animals are strictly liable for the injuries the animals cause. Unforeseeable intervening forces do not cut off liability.

Strict Liability in Tort
Strict liability in tort arises where a commercial seller places a product in the stream of commerce in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous and the unaltered product causes personal injury or property damage.

Defamation
Liability for defamation arises where the defendant makes an unprivileged intentional or negligent publication of a false statement of fact that attaches to the plaintiff, perhaps by extrinsic fact, and causes damages as slander, slander per se, or libel.

Damages for defamation are usually "presumed" damages. These are the damages that one is presumed to suffer when one is the victim of defamation. However, in some cases the plaintiff must prove actual or pecuniary damages in order to recover.

Slander
Slander is a defamatory statement that is oral or transitory. In order to recover on a theory of slander, the plaintiff must show pecuniary loss as the result of the defamatory statement.

Slander Per Se
The four categories of slander per se are exceptions to the rule that recovery for slander requires a showing of pecuniary loss. If the defamatory statement damages the plaintiff in his or her business or profession, alleges serious sexual misconduct or a serious crime of moral turpitude, or imputes a loathsome disease to the plaintiff, that plaintiff need not show actual or pecuniary losses, but may recover "presumed" damages.

Libel
Libel is a defamatory statement that is written or permanent. Under a theory of libel, the plaintiff may recover "presumed" damages without having to prove any actual or pecuniary losses.

Intent
Intent is defined as the desire to cause the consequence or knowledge to a substantial certainty that the consequence will occur.

Battery
Battery is a volitional, unauthorized act with the intent to cause a harmful or offensive touching and the touching actually occurs.

Assault
Assault is a volitional, unauthorized act with the intent to cause a reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive touching and the apparent ability to carry it out.

False Imprisonment
False imprisonment is a volitional, unauthorized act with the intent to confine the plaintiff within boundaries set by the defendant, with no reasonable means of escape, where the plaintiff is conscious of confinement or physically injured, and the defendant uses force or the threat of force.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Intentional infliction of emotional distress is a volitional, unauthorized, extreme and outrageous act done with the intent to cause, or the reckless disregard of the probability of causing, emotional distress, where the emotional distress is severe and there is a causal relationship between the wrongful conduct and the emotional distress.

Trespass to Land
Trespass to land is a volitional, unauthorized act with the intent to enter land that proves to belong to another.

Trespass to Chattels
Trespass to chattels is a volitional, unauthorized act with the intent to interfere with the chattel of another, so that the owner is temporarily deprived of its use or the chattel is damaged.

Conversion
Conversion is a volitional, unauthorized act with the intent to exercise dominion over the chattel of another and so seriously interferes with it that the chattel is damaged or destroyed and the actor must pay its full value.

title: United States Law/Tort