Methods Library: Contribute to the Content Quality Review

30 August 2016

Update (6 December): We're still open for a few more volunteers, and we're now getting ready to start the content quality review. Can you spare a few hours to review facilitation methods in mid-December-February? Get in touch! 


We are looking for eight (8) volunteers from our membership to serve as Content Quality Reviewers as we begin the final stages of transitioning methods in the existing online IAF Methods Library into a new, user-friendly and interactive platform. This will become an ever more important and significant benefit for IAF members and as quality of content is so important the opportunity to join the review team is being offered, in the first instance, to members with current CPF accreditation.

What is involved?

We look forward to hearing from IAF volunteers who can offer their time over a period of about two months, from late September to November, to review content from the IAF Methods Library that will by then have been migrated over to the new methods library platform (this platform will remain ‘private’ until everything is ready to launch). The expected time commitment will vary depending on your schedule. We would ask each volunteer to review about 50 methods. The published methods vary in length; some are only a few sentences long, while others could be up to a page of text. With this in mind, the volunteer opportunity might take up to 2-4 hours a week, done at a time that is convenient to your schedule.

We are also open to having an IAF facilitation community (‘chapter’) to participate in this process, and in this case we would need one or two key contacts to lead efforts within that community.

This temporary volunteer role involves:

  • Checking the methods to verify that the content appears in the correct locations

  • Performing some basic formatting and layout fixes (e.g. fixing bulleted lists, paragraphs)

  • Editing some content to ensure it is likely to enhance facilitators’ practice and is clearly expressed – this latter is necessary for example as some methods on the current database which have been in multiple categories have now been were merged into one.

  • Verifying or adding some meta-data such as ‘tags’ that will enhance the discoverability of the methods

Volunteers will be provided with written instructions and guidance on how to conduct these reviews and will be supported by Jennifer Otitigbe as Methods Review Coordinator and other reviews as much as may be necessary.

To participate, you will need access to a computer and internet, proficiency in written and spoken English, familiarity with using basic online tools, and above all a willing attitude.

What’s in it for you?

There are several benefits to volunteering as a Content Quality Reviewer:

  • Demonstrates a commitment to helping the global facilitation community and would count as a contribution to the field which can be submitted as part of evidence for CPF recertification.

  • Provides an opportunity to work closely with the methods in our database (currently over 500!). You will likely pick up a few new facilitation methods for your own toolkit.

  • As part of the world wide community of facilitation practice to network with other IAF members who are members of the review team

How can you get Involved?

Send an email with your name, confirming that you are currently a CPF and a few words (up to 100) outlining your interest in this role to methods@iaf-world.org. We hope to be able to involve everyone who expresses interest but it may be that there is substantial interest and that we will have to make some choices; your ‘few words’ will help us do that.

Depending on the interested participants’ time zones, we will then schedule several online sessions to share more details about the process. These sessions will be an opportunity to give further information, from interested participants to confirm their involvement or otherwise and for us to finalise the team.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Martin Farrell
Methods Database Revival Project Manager

Jennifer Otitigbe
Methods Review Coordinator