By Lynnwood Brown^*

How to Legally Import Content for Golfwiki

Our mission is to make available the acquired wisdom of the golf community. We realize, though, that there is good content, content that should be on GolfBizWiki, available from other sources. As an author, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. If you become aware of existing content that should be on GolfBizWiki, follow the procedures in this article to “import” it. This not only saves you time and makes more acquired wisdom available to our community, it leads to improvement of the content by users editing it.

Steps to Import Content By Asking Permission

1. Find some good information or instruction that is not yet in wiki form. There are thousands of websites, books, and magazines that have great content for fantastic articles in GolfBizWiki.
2. Search GolfBizWiki to make sure that that exact topic isn't already presented and to prevent your contribution from getting merged. The wiki collaborative writing process works best when lots of people edit one page on each topic, rather than maintaining multiple pages on the same exact topic. If you find an existing article on a substantially similar topic to the one you want to write, feel free to edit and improve the existing article, perhaps adding the imported content as an alternative method or perspective.
3. Obtain permission to use this content on GolfBizWiki. Most content on the internet and in books is copyrighted and not legal to bring into GolfBizWiki without explicit permission from the author or copyright holder. Email the author, webmaster, photographer or copyright holder a well written letter asking for permission. A sample permission letter that you can modify is available.
4. Send a copy of the reply you receive from the copyright holder to Contact GolfBizWiki Editorial Staff. That way GolfBizWiki will have evidence that permission from the copyright holder was obtained if it ever becomes necessary.
5. Use the content to make a great GolfBizWiki article. If the author or webmaster has granted you permission, you can freely copy and paste text and images from the original article, but it's still a good idea to do a little background research and summarize the steps in your own words. Here’s why:
   • Content from other websites don't always follow the GolfBizWiki format. Sometimes first-person references need to be removed, for example, or the instructions need to be edited to improve how users will learn or remember the content.
   • Doing additional background research will make the article more well-rounded and accurate, and also sets GolfBizWiki's article apart as being a comprehensive source of information, rather than just a duplicate of instructions found elsewhere on the Internet.
   • Putting content in your own words is better than copying and pasting because it helps you spot typos, grammar mistakes, formatting differences, and any lack of clarity within the instructions you're importing.
6. Place the proper attribution on the article. In the Sources and Citations section of your article, link to the original article and write, "Source of this article. Shared with permission."
7. Add the appropriate permission or attribution on any images you used. See help for uploading images for more information.

How to Import Content Without Asking Permission

You may import content without needing to ask permission from public domain sources. Everything from those sources is OK to import to GolfBizWiki since those copyright holders have already given permission.

Tips

• If you ask nicely, most copyright holders will gladly share their content with GolfBizWiki under Creative Commons.

Warnings

• Do not import copyrighted content into GolfBizWiki that you have not received permission to use. The article may be deleted and your credibility will be damaged, as well as the reputation of GolfBizWiki.

Related Golfwikis

• How to Fact Check an Article
• How to Add Images or Video to Articles

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Credits

Originally posted by MichaelBrezin on 12 Mar 2008.
All contributors: LynnwoodBrown, MichaelBrezin,

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