Wikipedia:Sending letters#Poll
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Sometimes, to clarify a fact of some kind, or to request the use of some copyrighted content, it is necessary to contact people outside of Wikipedia. These can range from minor webmasters to the very people who have articles on Wikipedia. This is typically done by sending letters, be they e-mail or snail mail.
This page is a proposed guideline for best practices in letter-sending, and also once had a planned "Requests for letters" system that would allow collaboratively-written snail mail to be sent on Wikimedia letterhead with a Wikimedia signature and approval - but this has been vetoed by Jimbo.
E-mail is the easiest way to contact someone. It works well if you're only attempting to contact a less important person, or merely the proprietor of a website whose images you would like to use. When contacting a very important person, or a large company, e-mail will probably only result in a canned response or that of a spokesperson. In that case, see snail mail, below.
Here are some suggestions for writing e-mails:
- Be polite. Address the recipient by his/her title and last name, unless you happen to know him/her personally.
- Be formal. It isn't necessary to be boring, though. Jokes, in good taste, are fine.
- Be clear. Explain what Wikipedia is and what it needs from the recipient.
- Don't misrepresent yourself. If you're an admin, say so, otherwise refer to yourself as an editor, and nothing more.
=A few example e-mails=
Please add your own e-mails to this list.
==[[Pete Ashdown]]==
Hello Mr. Ashdown,
I'm not a citizen of Utah, but if I were I would certainly vote for you.
Anyway, I'm emailing you to inform you that I have created an article
about you at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. You can read it at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Ashdown. If you have anything you'd
like to add, go ahead, or let me know if you'd like me to do it. Also,
do you have a particular picture that you'd like me to post on it?
Andrevan
a Wikipedia Administrator
----
Thank you Andrevan. I considered putting up a Wikipedia page on myself, but I
felt self-conscious about it. If you notice, I did some edits on the page
about the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, but that is my sole contribution to
Wikipedia (if only I had more time).
A color headshot is here:
http://pashdown.org/media/headshot/pete-color.jpg
I'd be happy to edit and correct my page in the future, but I think other
people should add the content. FWIW, my full name is Peter Lynn Ashdown and I
was born in a Salt Lake City hospital, but grew up in Bountiful, Utah, which
is north of Salt Lake City.
==[[TV-FM DX]]==
Dear Mr. Hepburn,
I would like to request permission to use one of your map graphics on
the Wikipedia encyclopedia articles for TV/FM DX and tropospheric
ducting, which can be accessed at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV/FM_DX and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_ducting respectively. Though
the Wikipedia project is a non-commercial, non-profit, donation-funded
venture, there is the possibility of a paper or CD version being sold
in the future. The articles don't need a current or accurate map,
merely a demonstrative graphic. Please let me know if this is
possible.
Thank you,
Andre
Wikipedia administrator
----
Sure Andre, it would be an honour. Feel free to choose whichever map you
want.
Cheers,
Bill Hepburn.
=See also=
Snail mail
Snail mail commands a lot more respect than e-mail does, and is generally noticed more as well. Snail mail tends to work well for contacting article-worthy individuals or organisations.
=Letter format=
Here is a useful resource for business letter formats:
- http://www.writeexpress.com/business-letter-format.html
=Sample letters=
None yet.