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Guidelines for contributing
What can I do for Darwin Core?
Anything that makes the Darwin Core more useful, conducted with respect and understanding. Specifically, you can:
- learn more about Darwin Core and how to use it (be able to recite the Darwin Core Quick Reference Guide in your sleep; take the Sporcle Quiz if you have doubts or need practice; consult the Darwin Core Questions & Answers site for additional commentary)
- seriously though, read the documentation with a critical eye and question it. If something doesn't make sense or isn't clear to you, we want to know about it
- ask about things you don't know (open an issue in the Darwin Core Questions & Answers Issue Tracker, or fill in the Darwin Core Hour Input Form, or send email to tdwg-content@lists.tdwg.org
- help to point people to the right place to get answers to their questions (you, because you are now an expert, or any of the resources described above)
- share what you do know (answer questions on the Darwin Core Questions & Answers Issue Tracker; create documentation for the Darwin Core Questions & Answers Wiki to explain the details of how best to use Darwin Core; respond to open Darwin Core Maintenance issues).
How can I propose a change to the Darwin Core standard?
Changes can be proposed at any time. There are three requirements that must be satisfied in order to justify that a change be considered, the demand requirement, the efficacy requirement, and the stability requirement. Be prepared to satisfy these requirements if you want to make a change. The details of these requirements can be found in Section 3.1 Justifications for Change in the Vocabulary Maintenance Specification.
To initiate the change request, the preferred method is to create a new issue (https://github.com/tdwg/dwc/issues/new/choose) in the Darwin Core Issue Tracker. Use the appropriate template to create a new issue and fill it out as clearly, concisely, and completely as possible. Don't worry, if there are things you can not provide, the Darwin Core Maintenance Group will help you to develop the issue to maturity. If you can not or do not wish to use the Issue Tracker, please send the proposal in a message to tdwg-content@lists.tdwg.org.
- if you want to suggest a change to a Darwin Core term, please use the Term change template
- if you want to suggest a new Darwin Core term, please use the New term template
- for any other request for change to the Darwin Core standard, fill out a new blank issue
- Have a question about Darwin Core? Send it to tdwg-content@lists.tdwg.org or to the Darwin Core Questions & Answers repository through this form or directly as a new issue.