I was looking for some inspiration in putting together some guidelines, rules and policies for online communities of practice. Nancy White over at Full Circle Associates is always a good starting place for this sort of thing. Here is another example. Feel free to use or elaborate on:
Responsibilities of Use
For many, participating in an on-line community maybe a new experience. In this particular community we hope you’ll be able to be honest, open and informal with each other, share experiences, ask and give advice, create new knowledge together through collaborative dialogue and provide examples of best practice. It wouldn’t be much of a community if you didn’t challenge each other’s ideas, assumptions and working practice either.
In order for us to collectively build such a place, where many of you may not previously have known each other, may never meet and be new to an on-line community, there are certain responsibilities you need to accept in order that a trusting and friendly atmosphere can be created and sustained. By logging into the system, members are agreeing to these responsibilities of use.
They are as follows:
This is a private community, treat everything within it as confidential
Without the non-verbal cues, please always assume good intent
- Do not lie or give false information
- Respect the opinions of other members
- Do not use bad language
- Do not "borrow" other people’s work without prior permission – where discussions are concerned, they are the property of all the participants
- No advertising is permitted
- Do not share people’s contact details with anyone outside the community unless prior permission is sought
- Protect your password – the success of this community is based on its confidentiality
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce