User:FrigidNinja/Adoption/Lesson One

Wikipedia is based around five principles, known as the Five Pillars. These principles define what Wikipedia is and how it works.

Pillar One establishes that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and also covers some things that it is not.

Pillar Two states that Wikipedia is written neutrally, with no bias for or against in any articles.

Pillar Three concerns free content, which will be covered more in the lesson on copyright.

Pillar Four talks about respect for fellow editors and civility, which will be covered more in the second lesson.

Pillar Five explains that Wikipedia doesn't have firm and strict rules that always need to be obeyed.

Articles

As the second pillar states, Wikipedia must be written from a neutral point of view. There must be no personal opinions in an article, such as whether an editor believes that Evolution is true or false. An editor must remain without bias at all times to contribute to Wikipedia. This also means that a Wikipedia article must reflect the majority opinion of experts. Therefore, an article about the Ultimate fate of the universe would not include information on Judgment Day.

Information found in articles, therefore, must be verifiable. All information in an article must be able to be traced back to a reliable source. Information that you find yourself, such as by performing an experiment or a test, is considered original research and is not permitted to be added to Wikipedia.

Reliable sources

What is a source, first of all, and how can we tell if it's reliable? Wikipedia uses the word source for three interchangeable ideas – a piece of work, the work's creator or the work's publisher. A reliable source is generally regarded as one with a reliable publication process, authors who are regarded as authoritative in regards to the subject, or both. This, however, does not mean that a source is reliable for any topic - Airfix Monthly could be regarded as a reliable source for information on model airplanes, but would most likely not be a reliable source for information related to quantum electrodynamics.

Self-published sources are generally considered unreliable, because they are almost always biased towards the publisher. An editor must be careful, because this includes things such as blogs, forums, and even official websites. Editors can use these as sources, but must ensure that the article does not rely too strongly on them. Mainstream news sources such as the Daily Mail are generally considered reliable - but be careful, as they may have originally got information from Wikipedia!

Reading

You should read these articles, which will provide much more information on what I have outlined here. (You don't have to read them fully, as long as you understand each concept.)

Questions

Do you have any questions? If not, please indicate so, and I will post your first test. Frigid Ninja