WikiEducator:Style guide/Proposed guidelines/The use of capital letters

Approvals

 * I approve of this point, but perhaps it could be reworded? --Jesse Groppi 00:57, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I approve of the capitalisation recommendation --Wayne Mackintosh 02:23, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I approve of the capitalisation recommendation -- Peter Rawsthorne 14:47, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I approve of the capitalisation recommendation --Kruhly 04:57, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Disapprovals
--Nellie Deutsch 08:10, 24 August 2009 (UTC) I would like to see every word of a title/heading capitalized unless it is referenced using APA style. I think we would need to define "normally" by adding instances of capitalization.
 * add your signature here if you disapprove

Discussion / thoughts on capitalisation
Thought about naming conventions. In the case of an encyclopaedia we can refer to "article" as the main object or entity in the wiki. However, in Wikieducator we have different types or categories of content: for instance project nodes which cluster around a specific project e.g. Learning4Content or a Country node like India; different categories of OER, eg books, handouts, courses, activities etc. Perhaps we should replace the word "article" with "page" which would cover all these different scenarios. In addition, do we need a definitions section in the guidelines?


 * I agree with using "page" instead of article. It's just habit for me to refer to them as articles, hehe.  I would think it's simpler to create a central glossary which can be linked to from each policy page, or from the main tutorial, and then elsewhere it can be assumed to be understood. --Jesse Groppi 02:50, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

I would like to add some examples: Thoughts? --Jesse Groppi 15:21, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Famous playwrights
 * Plays of William Shakespeare


 * Good idea. Maybe add a few more that reflect different kinds of WE content. Here are a few I found:
 * Using a text editor
 * Managing large documents with OpenOffice.org Writer
 * Sample math lesson
 * Sample English lesson


 * What about an actual book that exists on WE? I think the following might be an example of a page in a book. Note that the book title capitalizes according to its own rules, but the chapter and page capitalize only the first word (except for 'eLearning'). Would this use be acceptable under this guideline?: WikiEdProfessional eLearning Guidebook/Pedagogical designs for eLearning/Do media influence learning?


 * Should the titles of courses that reflect actual titles of courses offered at an institution be exceptions, also? I didn't find an example of this use, but it seems to me that the title of the main course page should match the capitalization used in the institution's course listings.


 * I'm going to remove my approval of this guideline. I think we should work through some more situations in the discussion before we get to the approving step. --Alison Snieckus 00:10, 30 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I prefer APA style which only capitalizes the first word of the title. --Nellie Deutsch 08:14, 24 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Nellie! That's a really interesting thought!  I was never aware that any wiki used a popularly, publicly used style guide.  If this were any other wiki, I would say we should stick with the wiki precedent as a basic guide to our guidelines (hehe).  However, I think we need to weigh the impact our style choices make on the people that will eventually use the content.  What are your thoughts on that, Nellie, and why do you advocate APA? -Jesse Groppi 03:12, 28 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Jesse, My doctoral dissertation is in APA style and most publications follow that style. I used to use MLA in high school and hated it. I find APA very user friendly and logical to my way of thinking. --Nellie Deutsch 22:02, 28 August 2009 (UTC) (UTC)

Is there a reason someone using WE resources would want to see them written in one style, such as APA, over another, such as MLA or the wiki standard? Which is the style most likely to be required/wanted? Should we aim to model our style guidelines after that style? --Jesse Groppi 17:19, 30 August 2009 (UTC)