User:Panic2k4/CrossTalk

A number of communication mediums exist in which Wikibookians may communicate with one another. Some of these, such as the Wikibooks IRC Channel at freenode, and the Textbook-l mailing list exist specifically for use by Wikibookians, and all Wikibookians are encouraged to join in discussions at both those venues.

A number of other communications media exist, such as instant messengers, telephone, and personal email correspondence that Wikibookians may use for correspondence. This is neither encouraged nor discouraged.

The Textbook-l mailing list is archived, but other discussion media usually are not. It is a tricky matter, therefore, to make decisions here on wikibooks based on discussions that happened elsewhere and are not available for reference. The nature of the MediaWiki software is to maintain records of changes and of discussions, and without these records a number of our usual methods for making decisions and holding discussions are difficult to apply. It is for this reason that any discussions which are held off-wiki should be summarized and loaded here onto wikibooks for public viewing. These summaries should likely be approved by all people who participated in the discussions before they are posted.

It is acceptable for the community not to accept a decision that was made in secret, and to deny the existence of agreement or consensus if there is no record of it.