User:ButteLeisure/Class presentation

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Editing Wikipedia for Fun and Learning

The leisure pastime of editing Wikipedia can be a great learning experience, broaden one’s horizons, and contribute to the spread of knowledge.

An abbreviated and condensed college course for the class: Leisure and Life

Preface

In what ways is this a leisure activity?

Volunteer activity
No obligation
Do it at any time
No beginning and no end
Cheap
Easy to learn, yet always room for improvement
Increase competency in many areas
Develop skills
Meet others
Teach others
Learn
Increase awareness of issues and how things work
Share
Contribute to the betterment of society

1. Introduction to Wikipedia

History: An online encyclopedia launched on 15 January 2001 by Jimmy Wales (“Jimbo”) and Larry Sanger.

Preceded by Bomis and Nupedia.

Goals:

a. Free access to the sum of all human knowledge.
b. Make it available to the world, free of charge and uncensored.

Wiki format and software: anyone can edit, whether registered or not. Each edit is instantly viewable internationally.

A volunteer effort with free access and no advertising; funding from donations and book sales.

More than 85,000 active contributors working on more than 22,000,000 articles in 284 languages, written by over 34 million registered users and countless anonymous contributors. It is the sixth-most-popular website.

A comical look at Wikipedia featuring Professor Wikipedia.

2. My Motivation and Involvement

I love to learn, am curious, and this is where it all happens. This is “Knowledge Central”

The benefits of editing are so great that I believe all college freshmen should be required to take a course about editing Wikipedia. It’s that valuable a skill.

My experience at Wikipedia....

3. Users and Editors

Can one really separate the two? All editors are users, but not all users are editors.

An editor seeks to create an encyclopedia, has certain rights, and uses various editing tools and background information.

A user seeks information, unaware of the process that creates Wikipedia. Thanks to “wikilinks”, curiosity can take them far from their starting point.

Is this really a “problem”, or is this good? Learning and information should not be censored.

4. Based on Five Pillars

1. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia.

2. Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view.

3. Wikipedia is free content that anyone can edit, use, modify, and distribute.

4. Editors should interact with each other in a respectful and civil manner.

5. Wikipedia does not have firm rules.

5. What It’s Not

A free web-hosting service
A personal website
A battleground
A dictionary
A soapbox
A publisher of original thought
A social network
A reliable source

6. Encyclopedic Content

7. Editing Tips

Every edit is recorded (with the time and editor who made it) forever! It’s very public information.
Create an (anonymous) account fairly soon. Protect your privacy.
Start by avoiding controversial subjects and only make simple edits.
Fix vandalism whenever you find it.
Don’t “edit war”. If another editor “reverts” your edit, don’t restore it. Instead, discuss it on the talk page.
Create your private watchlist soon. Others cannot view it.
Don’t be afraid of damaging the encyclopedia. Every edit and all content are saved and can be restored, all the way back to the first version. Harmful edits are usually reverted very quickly, often within seconds.
Use the “history” link to see what’s been happening on the editing front. Check the history before and after making an edit or comment.
Leave edit summaries that describe your edits.
Always sign your comments on talk pages with four tildes (~~~~).
Never make legal threats, attack other editors, or out them. Those are quick ways to get blocked. Discuss content and edits, not other editors.

8. Examples of Articles

Here are some interesting articles on various subjects. Don't vandalize them, but if you find any spelling errors or vandalism, be BOLD and fix it. Remember to leave a descriptive edit summary.

Although the following articles are placed on the watchlist of this user, what you see below is not a "watchlist". A watchlist isn't visible to other users. The real watchlist can only be seen by the user, when they are logged in, by clicking the link at the top right.

Film world

Music

Sexuality, erotica

Politics

Medical, health, drugs

Pseudoscience, fringe, quackery

Mixed

9. Content for Editors

Policies

Principles Five pillars What Wikipedia is not Ignore all rules

Content standards Neutral point of view Verifiability No original research Biographies of living persons Article titles

Working with others Civility No personal attacks Harassment No legal threats Consensus Dispute resolution

Guidelines

Behavioral Assume good faith Conflict of interest Don't bite the newbies Don't disrupt Wikipedia to make a point Etiquette Gaming the system User pages

Content Citing sources Identifying reliable sources

Stand-alone article Notability

Discussion Signatures Talk page guidelines

Editing Article size Be bold Don't add the full text of primary sources Don't create hoaxes Edit summary Patent nonsense

Organization Categories, lists, and templates Categorization Disambiguation Subpages

Style Manual of Style Manual of Style/Lists Manual of Style/Tables

10. A Community of Editors

Wikipedians have their own terminology, abbreviations, and standards of conduct. You will need to learn to deal with others and edit collaboratively.

You cannot “own” articles, even if they are about you. The only thing which counts is the quality of your edits, not who you are.

In the beginning, assume that other editors know more about how things work. You may be “right” for some reasons, but “wrong” for other reasons, which may lead to your edits being (temporarily) rejected. Don’t get upset. Discuss the matter. Be civil and assume good faith. Make no personal attacks.

Content is developed through collaboration and discussion on the associated “talk” page.

Administrators are editors with more responsibility (but no more “rights” when it comes to determining content), and, like all other editors, they are unpaid.

There is a steep learning curve associated with becoming a successful and valued editor. With time you will learn the policies and guidelines which govern content, formatting, sourcing, and behavior.

11. Benefits of Editing

Broaden your knowledge-base
Develop critical thinking skills
Learn logic
Learn skeptical thinking
Understand scientific thinking
Learn to distinguish between fact, error, speculation, and opinion
Understand all sides of the issues
Harmonize your POV with the evidence, IOW change your mind. Essential for learning.
Develop patience
Improve your writing skills
Learn to edit
How to apply policies
Where to find the best sources
How to find reliable information
How to vet sources for reliability
How to collaborate with editors who hold opposing points of view
Learn civil debating techniques
Understand dispute resolution and arbitration techniques
How to defend the rights of others
How to compromise
How to expose sock puppetry and whitewashing attempts