Help
I am having trouble with this website. What do I do?
Are there any special guidelines for uploading images?
How do I properly cite content from MicroCommons?
When I contribute my work to MicroCommons, do I retain the copyright?
How does Creative Commons licensing work?
Do I have to make the materials I contribute available to the public?
How do I get permission to use materials from the MicroCommons database?
How do I know the items on MicroCommons are factual and accurate?
Is MicroCommons the same project as "Microarchaeology of Social Practice and Materiality?"
Can I make a suggestion for improving MicroCommons?
Answers
I am having trouble using this website. What do I do?
If for any reason you are experiencing trouble with contributing or viewing images, documents, links or any other file, contact the MicroCommons administrator using the contact form. We will respond to your request as soon as possible.
How can I post content?
There are several ways you can post content to MicroCommons. Using the contribution form, you can upload a document (publication, lesson plan, spread sheet), image, video, podcast, announcement, or link with accompanying metadata. If you have more than 10 items to contribute, contact the MicroCommons administrator using the contact form to arrange your submission. You can also post content in the comments form at the bottom of any item page. Your opinions and remarks are a valuable asset to the MicroCommons database and community. Don't forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for comments so you can stay in the conversation!
I have several images, links, videos, or publications I would like to contribute. Do I have to upload them one at a time?
No. If you have more than 10 items to upload, contact the MicroCommons administrator via the contact form with your request. The administrator will reply with instructions on how to contribute your items. If you have 10 items or less, we ask you please use the online contribution form.
Are there any special guidelines for uploading images?
Most common file types are accepted (.jpg, .tiff, .gif, .rtf, .pdf, .mov, .mp4). We encourage the use of file types that are cross-platform compatible or viewable by common or open source programs. For example, PDFs not only retain formatting, but can also be viewed by free readers like Adobe or Foxit, whereas not everyone owns Photoshop or Illustrator to open those particular file types (.psd and .ai respectively).
Due to server restrictions, images and other files larger than 5MB may not upload through the contribution form. If you wish to contribute files larger than 5MB, please contact the MicroCommons administrator.
How do I properly cite content from MicroCommons?
At the bottom of each item page is a citation suggestion. The most common format is:
Author (First, Last), "Title of Item" in MicroCommons, Item #XXXX, full URI/URL (accession date).
For publications like articles and books, it is suggested you use traditional citation styles (i.e., Author, Date, Title, Publisher, Page #s).
When I contribute my work to MicroCommons, do I retain the copyright?
Yes. All contributors retain copyright on their work submitted to MicroCommons. You also have the ability to designation the type and level of reuse for your work via Creative Commons licensing. You may also retrain the traditional copyright ("All Rights Reserved") applied to your work by either yourself as creator or as stipulated by a publisher, for example. For more information, see the Terms & Copyright page.
How does Creative Commons licensing work?
As the original creator/author of your scholarly work, whether written or visual, you hold copyright to that work. A Creative Commons license is based on that copyright. However, Creative Commons licenses give you the ability to dictate how others may exercise your copyright rights, such as the right of others to copy your work, make derivative works or adaptations of your work, and to distribute your work.
The licenses attach to the work and authorize everyone who comes in contact with the work to use it consistent with the license. The license itself is expressed in three different formats: the Commons Deed (human-readable code), the Legal Code (lawyer-readable code), and the metadata (machine readable code). There is nothing to sign to authorize your license. For more information, refer to the Terms & Copyright page.
To ensure the "re-usability" of any of your published work in the future, MicroCommons recommends using the Science Commons Scholar's Copyright Addendum. Each addendum gives you non-exclusive rights to create derivative works from your article and to reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display your article in connection with your teaching, conference presentations, lectures, and other scholarly works like MicroCommons.
Do I have to make the materials I contribute available to the public?
No. When you contribute an item through the online form or the MicroCommons administrator, you can select whether or not to make your item public. If you choose to keep it private, it will remain in the MicroCommons database, but not be made available through the website. If in the future you decide to make your item(s) publicly available or would like them withdrawn, contact the MicroCommons administrator.
How do I get permission to use materials from the MicroCommons database?
Permissions are subject to the type of copyright that has been applied to a particular item. If a Creative Commons (CC) license is applied, you may use the item without seeking permission from the creator. However, you must abide by the rules of the license in terms of attribution, non-commercial use, derivatives of the work (i.e., remixing) and/or continued application of a CC license ("share-alike").
For items that have no CC license indicated and are therefore "all rights reserved," you must contact the creator of the work to acquire permission to use the item.
How do I know the items on MicroCommons are factual and accurate?
A primary goal of MicroCommons is to facilitate a vibrant worldwide community of researchers working with microartifacts or micromorphological samples who together are building a database of knowledge. Most, if not all, contributors to MicroCommons share this goal and thus strive to uphold the highest level of academic and professional integrity, acknowledging that only accurate and reliable information can make the compiling of this database a successful endeavor for all.
That said, all items on MicroCommons are subject to peer evaluation by other users via comments. The identification, description or other metadata associated with any item can and should be updated based on community consensus. The harvesting of metadata with each contribution also ensures the inclusion of content by serious researchers and allows tracking and comparison of user content for accuracy and consistency.
Is MicroCommons the same project as "Microarchaeology of Social Practice and Materiality?"
No, however the theoretical premise is similar in a way to the goals at MicroCommons. The Microarchaeological Homepage is a research project based at Stockholm and Gothenburg Universities that takes a "small-scale study" approach to examine social theory and the complexities of social life in the past. Instead of departing from large scale pre-given entities (cultures, ethnicities etc.), microarchaeology starts from the local setting, working upward in a search for generalities by focusing on social practice.
Can I make a suggestion for improving MicroCommons?
Of course! Since we are striving to making this a vibrant, robust AND easy-to-use web database and community, your constructive suggestions are welcomed and encouraged. Contact the MicroCommons administrator and let us know what you think!
Unless otherwise stated, content is licensed under