Download - Getting started-wikipedia-wiki apa2014
Schedule
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Welcome12:00 PM - 12:30 PM - About the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center12:30 PM - 1:00 PM – Introductions and New Editor Tutorial1:00 PM - 1:30 PM - Lunch, courtesy of Wikimedia DC1:30 PM - 4:45 PM - Editing Wikipedia4:45 PM - 5:00 - Document your outcomes/results
A Beginner’s Guide to
Contributing to Wikipedia
Wikipedia APA
Editathon
Washington, D.C.May 10, 2014#WikiAPA
1. Name2. Level of experience contributing
to Wikipedia 3. What are you hoping to get out
of your participation today?
Introductions
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
• Freely licensed without restrictions
• All content created & maintained by volunteers
• Non-profit education project, one of many supported by the Wikimedia Foundation
• All edits/versions are recorded indefinitely
• 4,510,785+ articles, 287 languages (see size of Wikipedia)
Who or what merits an article in Wikipedia?
If a person or topic has received significant coverage in reliable sourcesthat are independent of the subject, then it is deemed “notable.”
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability
Wikipedia Content Standards
Neutral Point of View
Verifiabilityreliable sources, cited correctly
No “original research” i.e. unpublished data, opinions, speculation
Assume good faith towards other editors
Avoid conflict of interest (i.e. editing page about self, boss) See Wikipedia: Policies
and guidelines
WikiProjects
WikiProjects = venues on Wikipedia where editors coordinate coverage around a particular field or topic
Real examples:
WikiProject Architecture
WikiProject Fungi
WikiProject Visual Arts
WikiProject Martial Arts
WikiProject Feminism
WikiProject District of Columbia
Lactarius indigo, Dan Molter [CC-BY-SA-3.0]
#GLAMWiki Project: A Global Network and Community
Wikipedia & GLAMs: a relationship of mutual benefit
Wikipedia benefits from GLAM resources, resulting in better articles and higher quality of sources cited
GLAMs benefit from having information about their collections available to a larger audience, and from the experience of working with volunteers
Online researchers & students benefit from consulting better quality, authoritative Wikipedia articles
Volunteer editors benefit from the learning experience of researching, writing and collaborating on articles
ANATOMY OF AN ARTICLE
LETS START EDITING!
Step 1 - Register a user account
1. Go to en.wikipedia.org, click “Create Account”
2. Choose a username and password There should be a 1:1 ratio between editors and accounts on
Wikipedia. Sharing an account is not allowed, so you should notcreate an account in the name of your organization.
Advantages of registering an account: – A record of your work builds credibility
– More privacy, since anonymous contributors’ IP address is recorded
– Ability to create/rename articles, upload images, edit preferences
– Signals membership in the community
Step 2 – Turn on “Visual Editor”
1. Click the Preferences link at the top of the page
2. Visit the Beta features tab, scroll down and check the box “VisualEditor”
Step 3 - Create a user page
1. Click the link at the top with your username on it.
2. Write something (i.e. “Hello world”) and click Show Preview.
3. Leave a comment under Edit Summary explaining what you did. Now you have a user page!
This user page can be personalized—or not—as you want. Some GLAM employees may wish to post a conflict of interest statement: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Sarasays/COI
Edit Source Edit beta
MediaWiki software markup language
Type WP:CHEAT in the search box for more information
a.k.a. “Visual Editor,” what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)
Type WP:VE/UG in the search box for more information
Relatively simple to learn, especially if you have any experience with HTML
Familiar symbols for formatting, similar to word processing programs
Best for ultimate control and ability to customize the page; working with wiki “templates” {{ }}
Best for making straightforward textual edits, adding links, headings, etc.
Not very good for people who dislike or get confused by markup languages! Also it is easy to lose your place, or make a typo. Always click “Show Preview” before saving!
Not very good for the more complex wiki markup, such as “templates” {{ }}, still a work in progress, so it can be buggy and/or confusing at times.
Citing Sources
Editbeta
1. Click on More > Reference
2. Type or paste in a new citation, or click the Existing reference button to cite the same source again
Edit Source
• Paste in reference (inside <ref></ref> tags) directlyCheck out reference generators: reftag.appspot.com
• Or, use Cite > Templates or Cite > Named references in the editing toolbar
Adding Categories
Categories appear at the bottom of the page
Warning: they are hierarchical, not like tags!
(example: women novelists issue)
Learn more: Wikipedia:CAT
Creating a new article
1. Do some searching around to confirm the article doesn’t exist under a different name.
2. Draft the article stub in your user Sandbox.
3. Search (unsuccessfully) for the exact name of the article you want to create.
4. Click on the resulting redlink to create the page, paste in code from your Sandbox, Save.
NOTE: “Submit for review” is not required for registered editors. Be bold!
Images: Wikimedia Commons vs. “Non-free Use” rationale
• Wikimedia Commons image
– commons.wikimedia.org
– Example: Teton Range (Ansel Adams photo)
• Non-free image
–en.wikipedia.org
– Example: Look Mickey
Thank others for their work!
Ways to bring a positive & collaborative spirit to the community
Share the WikiLove!