Checklist for Contributors

This is a help page for contributors or users.

• This page contains no legal help information.
• See other Clicklaw Wikibooks Guides.

Please refer to this checklist each time you review your assigned pages, also available in PDF format: Editorial Checklist for Contributors

1. The purpose of reviewing pages is to ensure changes in law are reflected in content.
2. Clicklaw Wikibooks provide reliable, up-to-date, plain language information to help British Columbians address legal problems or learn about the law.
3. Some Wikibooks offer brief, punctual tips — other titles offer more comprehensive guidance.
4. What is your Wikibook's editorial objective? Consider the purpose, tone and audience of the title as a whole when making edits.

1. REVIEW FOR ACCURACY
For each page you review, please go through the following steps:

Read each Page — read and take notes on pages assigned to you ............................................................................................................................... □
Review the Law

• Read laws in context — start with existing citations in the article ............................................................................................................................. □
• Review statutory law — check statutory excerpts and compare to current legislation; check Proclamations (BC & Canada) for recent changes ........................................................ □
• Check caselaw — note up cases in CanLII; note up key sections of legislation to find new cases .................................................................................................. □
• Consult secondary resources — CLE articles, treatises, journals, etc. ........................................................................................................................... □

Verify Statements and Specifics

• Procedural steps — have rules or policies changed? .............................................................................................................................................. □
• Forms— has a form changed name or been replaced? ................................................................................................................................................ □
• Deadlines — readers rely on these being correct ................................................................................................................................................. □
• Monetary amounts, costs or limits — have these details changed? ................................................................................................................................. □

Resource Links

• Check existing links — make sure they work and ALSO make sure they still point to the intended content .......................................................................................... □
• Best external resources — have newer resources arrived and did old ones get stale? .............................................................................................................. □
• Best internal links — are concepts discussed that could be cross linked to more Wikibooks and pages? ............................................................................................ □

Once you've reviewed your pages for legal accuracy, you may decide:
1. Edit not needed → Just update the “last reviewed for legal accuracy” date ...................................................................................................................... □
2. Edit is needed → See step 2.

2. EDIT & DEVELOP CONTENT

Cure Existing Legal Inaccuracies

• Fix incorrect statements — top priority is to correct wrong information, or at least remove the incorrect information ........................................................................... □
• Update citations — add new legislation or caselaw (use CanLII's short URLs) ..................................................................................................................... □
• Fix broken links and resources .................................................................................................................................................................. □

Develop & Write — write new content when tweaking existing content won't do. Please consider:

• Gaps — what is the gap in information and is filling it crucial? ................................................................................................................................ □
• Plain language — keep writing simple (here are some tips) ....................................................................................................................................... □
• Brevity —edits should clarify meaning, not add length ........................................................................................................................................... □
• Organization — lists, subheadings and short paragraphs make reading easier and orient the reader ................................................................................................ □
• Legal references — would more citations benefit or just overwhelm the reader? ................................................................................................................... □

Simple & Consistent

• Clarify legal terms, include parenthetical definitions where needed ............................................................................................................................. □
• Be consistent in word choice (e.g. choose either “renter” or “tenant”) .......................................................................................................................... □
• Familiarize yourself with and apply Style Guide:
  • Correct word emphasis, acronyms, and case citation style ....................................................................................................................................... □
  • Apply bullets/numbered lists and punctuation ................................................................................................................................................... □
• Format neutral language — writing "See the chapter/page on…" is better than "Click here for information on…" since Wikibooks are also printed ................................................... □

3. OPTIONAL CHECKLIST

• Is there extraneous information that should be removed? ......................................................................................................................................... □
• Is the overall language clear and approachable? ................................................................................................................................................. □
• Are there other Wikibooks pages that would be improved by linking to your content? Speak to that other editor ................................................................................... □