User:Waebo/NMAC 5108 Journal

March 9, 2019

During the first week of class I have been undoubtedly trying to learn this new platform called Wikipedia. I can say this is my first time ever having to use Wikipedia for any academic work. Wikipedia at first glance seem like it was going to take a while to learn how to operate all the features and layout and I wasn’t wrong. Our first assignment was to create a sub-pages for the journal and this simple task seems easy at first, but when attempting to perform this activity it becomes more complex.

March 9, 2019

During the first week, I was able to accomplish creating a sub-page and providing information about my experience through the process, all though there are still several features that I have yet to explore. For example, I haven’t yet to figure out how to remove a sub-page, or adding links to other pages, and adding pictures to Wikipedia. I know this is just the start of class, but I hope to quickly learn the process of Wikipedia.

@Waebo: Hi. Nice to meet you. I felt very confused at first as well, but Dr. Lucas said just post everyday (and I haven't done that, but I've been experimenting with a lot of posting) and it really has helped. Try adding emoticons . It's fun and another addition to the tool bag of wikipedia posting.(Dmcgonagill (talk) 21:06, 11 March 2019 (UTC))

@Waebo: Hi Rian,

Great to see that we have another course together. I too am a little nervous about Wikipedia but am realizing that the more I try and toggle back and forth with help functions, the more excited I seem to be getting. Ssimsjones (talk) 10:28, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

March 15, 2019 Journal Entry 2

I am starting to get a handle on this course. Little by little I am figuring out how to use Wikipedia and learning new features. This week I learned how to finally perform a signature, evaluate a Wikipedia article, and citing other article in Wikipedia. Signatures may seem like an easy task to do but I was so unfamiliar using Wikipedia that each and every task seems challenging.  I am use to writing papers for an assignment but only on a Microsoft word platform, and using Wikipedia platform requires extra steps like a signature. Each time an individual comments on someone’s article they must sign the bottom. Now, this signature is not your typical signature like signing your name. Wikipedia signatures require a couple of symbols to create extra space from the body of the passage. The symbols uses are commonly known as dash lines and squiggly lines. Wikipedia needs two dash lines and 4 squiggly lines to create a signature. Most individuals that use Wikipedia on a daily basis know this is common knowledge, but for myself it took some time to make this task a habit. Knowing how to sign a comment and knowing how to critique the article are important tasks as Wikipedia user must know.  I do have to admit that critiquing an article is not my best skill. I am thankful that the training and watching some videos provided from the Wikiedu dashboard help establish a better understanding how Wikipedia rates everyone’s articles.  I find out that most articles are rated from Start-class to featured class. I am glad I am taking this class because each and every day I am learning new technique and skills that will help my skills further down the road in my career.

@Waebo: Rian, it's definitely a learning curve, isn't it, but just this week, I saw a posting for a English professor position that required Digital Humanities experience. Apparently this is the wave of the future! JVbird (talk) 15:00, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

March 15, 2019 Journal Entry 1

The assignment this week is to evaluate the article “Norris Church Mailer.” At first glance there are noticeable areas that need to be improved. Before explaining why the article “Norris Church Mailer” needs improving, one must understand the difference between high quality articles vs poor quality articles. High Quality articles have several elements like a detailed lead section, clear structure, balanced content, neutrality, and finally good sourcing. Each element is important to include in order to accomplish a high quality article. Wikipedia also rates the article which helps the reader determine the value of it. The rating on Wikipedia ranges from featured-class to start-class.  Feature rating shows the audience the information provided from the article is highly trustworthy. A start-class rating shows that the writing lacks in either one or more important elements.  The article “Norris church Mailer” received a rating of Start-Class rating. When first looking at the article an individual reading it will notice that the first paragraph is very short.  The requirement for strong lead sentence is being clear and concise with the topic. After overlook the article the structure seems a little off because the order of the content is not in an order structure. Adding more detail in the first paragraph will help the clarify the structure and give more depth to the article.  

@Waebo: I agree that the content order isn't logical and the open paragraph a bit weak. I also think the entry feels incomplete; the small mention of Norris and Mailer's first meeting isn't supported by sources outside of Witchel's article. The topic of Norris's life with Mailer's children (from his other wives) left me wanting to know more about the wives before "The Last Wife". ~~~~ Mango Masala

References

1. Norris Church Mailer. (2019). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norris_Church_Mailer

March 27, 2019 Journal post

What is a Content Gap?

According to Wikipedia a content gap means exactly what it sounds like. For example, missing information might be considering a content gap for a specific topic. Wikipedia has thousands of information on a variety of subjects but if there is no information on a topic this will also be consider a content gap.

@Waebo: You made a good point regarding if there is no information on a particular topic in Wikipedia then that would be considered a content gap. However, You might want to post the information on the discussion page response.Dillbug (talk) 14:08, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

• References

@Waebo: Can you add that to the content gap discussion page? (Dmcgonagill (talk) 14:09, 30 March 2019 (UTC))

March 31, 2019 Journal post

This week I had a huge communication problem, for example, one of the class assignment is to edit an article called “Norris Church Mailer(NCM)”. I was really confused on if everyone is going to re-write the whole document on NCM or if everyone is going to work on a section of the article. The problem I see with everyone editing is, there is no communication before actually editing. The communication among students is poor because there is no centralized place to communicate.

@Waebo: Amen on the desire to have ONE centralized discussion spot! I'm not sure that is possible to implement in this class since we are working on so many different things. I think of the help page as THE centralized general question spot and then the talk page for each page we work on, by design, as the other main collaboration space. Wikipedia is like sprawling downtown though for sure!(Dmcgonagill (talk) 21:35, 3 April 2019 (UTC))

April 4 , 2019 journal post

This was the first time I actually met the classmate and I grateful for having communicated that helps establish a clear direction for figure what to do in this class. This class as not be easy for me and learning Wikipedia has been a huge learning curve. I hope I can survive this class.

@Waebo: Remember back in the fall when we thought we were going to go crazy from all the work and trying to get Skype to work so we could collaborate on those papers? We made it then and we will make it now! You got this! JVbird (talk) 00:52, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

April 12, 2019 post

For today's goal I plan on finishing my essay for project mailer. I know it is very rough, but hopefully it will turn out well.

April 13, 2019

So I just finish with one of the peer reviews and let just say I feel nervous. This is the first time I have to evaluate other classmates and in my career field, this is not a common activity. I am usually just solving other individual problems or creating methods for a solution, but having to analysis other person put my mindset in a twist. Because I am so unfamiliar in this area that it feels strange to uphold another individual to an accountability. I just did a peer review on Namir Riptide https://projectmailer.net/pm/User_talk:Namir_Riptide

@Waebo: Rian, it is challenging but you were honest and helpful and that's really what a peer review is all about. I know from our other classes together that we each have strengths and areas where we need to improve which means that when we work together and leverage each other's strengths, we accomplish a lot and learn from each other. JVbird (talk) 11:22, 14 April 2019 (UTC)

@JVbird: Josef, you are right, but it alwasy seems to be the same starting a class with alot of expectation and realizing that you can not accomplish a lot on your own. This is why I highly believe in communication among classmates. Waebo (talk) 19:41, 14 April 2019 (UTC)

April 14, 2019

I finally finished my last peer review with Dillbug (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Dillbug/sandbox) and for the most part, Dillbug has been a phenomenal Wikipedia editor. Dillbug has shown the presence and consisceny of proffessional student. THis week I patracie more with a citation because I have not quite been able to understand the process yet.

@Waebo: As I mentioned in an earlier post, I want to thank you again for your honest feedback. I know this class has offered some hurdles to overcome, but if you keep plugging at it you will only get better and better. I know from speaking with you, you are making every effort to meet assigned tasks and want to encourage you to continue on and if you need help, you only have to ask myself or one of your teammates, and any of us would be more than happy to help you. I would suggest you use spell check to eliminate any misspelling of content. It is important, even in journal posts to practice professionalism in our writing.Dillbug (talk) 19:27, 17 April 2019 (UTC)

@Waebo: Rian, I was just about to ask whether you had received a peer review. I didn't see mention of anyone peer reviewing your contributions in the journals, so please let me know and I will be glad to post one for you. I know that we will need to be able to refer to these peer-reviews in our Reflection Essay for Week 8, so if you're missing one, let me know! Josef JVbird (talk) 23:27, 17 April 2019 (UTC)

April 27, 2019

Critiquing articles:
Critiquing articles was interesting

During the article evaluation, I was puzzled to say the least, because I did not know what direction to go. After reviewing the Wiki education links several times, I had a semi-understanding of what exactly I needed to do. I chose to critique the article quality from Wikipedia and then looking at the sources for the articles. Sources are the main key to any articles because if an article is missing a source or does have any sources then the writing is lacking information. First I corrected the grammar and then added only information that I received from sources related to the article.

Summarizing your contributions:

Now, I tried to contribute to every assignment but the wide knowledge of my classmates made contributing challenge. All most every student in this course provides an overwhelming abundance of information for assignments, which limited other students.

Peer review:

This was hard for me because having to analyze other individuals work was quite challenging. I have never provided feedback for other classmates and in doing so I learned a new skill. Providing feedback opens one’s mind because not only does an individual have to know the assignment but also know several different ways to complete an assignment.

Feedback:

Unfortunately, I did not receive any feedback from the information I provided. Since I did not receive any feedback from others I had to use my own critiquing technique. I am an information technology student and grammar is not my best skill, but I still persevere in critiquing my own work.

Wikipedia generally:

From the beginning of this course, I was completely lost as to the direction in the instruction. I had no prior knowledge of Wikipedia at all and learning Wikipedia and contributing to the assignment was quite challenging. Most everyone I know refers to Wikipedia as an untrustworthy website because of the simple fact that any individuals can edit information on it. I learned that there are several countermeasures to validate information on Wikipedia.