Wikipedia:Meetup/Dunedin/NZ prehistory

Eudyptes warhami
Paraptenodytes
Manuherikia Valley
Anomalopteryx didiformis

What's it about?

An edit-a-thon is an event where volunteer editors tackle a part of Wikipedia that needs improvement. Complete beginners are welcome; training and troubleshooting is provided. All you need to bring is a laptop!

This edit-a-thon is being hosted by Otago Museum, and run in conjunction with the Zoology Department of the University of Otago. It will focus on improving the coverage of New Zealand prehistory, especially fossil penguins, whales, moa, and the fossil deposits and species of the Saint Bathans Fauna. You don't need to be a zoologist to take part: anyone can help with editing, researching, proofreading, and adding photos.

When and where

Sun 28 April 2019, 10:30 am – 4:00 pm NZST
Skinner Annex, corner of Great King and Albany St, Otago Museum, Dunedin (map)
Wikipedians from anywhere in the world are of course welcome to join in remotely. Please feel free to hashtag edits with #nzprehistory and add yourselves to the participants list below.

Timetable

10.15: Meet and greet
Introductions, name lanyards, and account creation if needed
10.30: Wikipedia tutorial
We'll learn how Wikipedia works and how to improve, create, and reference articles. Experienced editors present will be buddied up with newcomers.
11.00: Editing
Our goal is to improve Wikipedia's coverage of NZ prehistory. You can improve existing articles, add information to Wikidata, or create stub articles for species missing from Wikipedia.
12.30: Lunch/coffee break.
14.00: Q&A tutorial
A chance to go over any problems or questions you have as a group.
13.30: Editing
16.00: Finishing up
Make sure you fill out an evaluation form and add your contributions to the list below.

To attend

The Edit-a-thon is free and open to all, thanks to the support of Otago Museum and the Wikimedia Foundation.
This workshop will be following "friendly space" guidelines; check them out. Harassment and disruption won't be tolerated, online or offline.

Media

Use the link https://w.wiki/32C if you want a short, shareable link to this page

People attending

In person

What to bring

Laptop and power cord. Laptops are definitely easier to edit on than iPads. The venue has good wifi. There may be a spare laptop for people to use, but bring your own computer if you can.
Any snacks or drink you want. There's a kitchen space in the building, and a light lunch, coffee, and tea are provided.
Any resources such as books, journals, magazine or newspaper articles relevant to articles you're interested in.
Photos you've taken or art that could illustrate articles; you'll learn how to donate these to Wikimedia Commons so other Wikipedia articles can use them.

Preparation

If you're coming, try to create a Wikipedia account beforehand: don't wait until the day to do it! Here's a form you can use if you like. Creating an account makes editing much easier (here's more info on why you should). You'll need to pick a "handle" for your username; you could use your real name, but it's nice to have the option to be a bit anonymous if you want. Here's some advice on picking a username.
The more you prepare, the more you'll be able to get done. You may want to read up on avoiding common mistakes, but Wikipedia has a "don't bite the newbies" policy, and we'll be there to troubleshoot.
Have a think about topics you'd like to work on; do a little research first so you're prepared. You don't have to be an expert; anyone who can do library research and write clearly can help improve Wikipedia. The best candidates for Wikipedia articles are people, places, or things that are "notable". In Wikipedia terms, "notable" people are those who've been covered in a number of reliable independent sources, such as news, books, authoritative websites, or magazine interviews. If you're proposing to create to Wikipedia article it's important to make sure your subject is "notable"; talk to us if you're not sure – we can help.
If you want to bring photos along and add them to Commons and Wikipedia, they need to be free of any copyright or released under a Creative Commons license that lets anyone use them. (What's Creative Commons?) If not, you must be the creator/copyright holder – ask us if you're not certain what's allowed, and we'll help.

Useful

How to edit pages using the Visual Editor: for when you click Edit

Resources

Hume, Julian P. (2nd. ed, 2017). Extinct Birds. Christopher Helm: London.

To work on

To improve

Saint Bathans: more on the town itself and its history would be nice; note that the correct name seems to be St Bathans, so we shold change the names of the town, fauna, and Commons categories (and create redirects)
Saint Bathans Fauna: photos of the excavation, gallery of species, up-to-date references and info
Manuherikia Group: cleanup and full names of palaeontologists, fuller faunal lists, links, photos
Lake Manuherikia: more about the palaeoenvironment drawn from the St Bathans excavations
Proapteryx: need a photo of bones and a reconstruction: approach palaeoartists?
Moa, Dinornis and other genera and each species listing.
- Updated cladogram
- Links to latest publications
- Photos: Dinornis novaezealandiae could use a better photo!
- References to use: NZ Birds Online, Tennyson NZ's Extinct Birds, Perry et al. 2014, Baker et al. 2104, Worthy and Scofield 2012, Huynen et al 2010, Rawlence et al 2009. There are lots of references to Brands' Taxonomicon, which seems to be a broken link, and to Grzimek (2003) which is now out of date. Better to add refs to NZ's Extinct Birds at least.
- There's also boilerplate on each species (about flight etc) which doesn't need mentioning.

Common name	Scientific name	Grade	Notes
Moa	Dinornithidae	B	Needs better photos!
Giant moa	Dinornis	Start
North Island giant moa	Dinornis novaezealandiae	Stub	W
South Island giant moa	Dinornis robustus	Stub	W, P
Bush moa or little bush moa	Anomalopteryx didiformis	Start	W, P
Coastal moa (broad-billed moa)	Euryapteryx curtus	Stub	W, P
Mantell's moa (stout-legged moa)	Pachyornis geranoides	Stub	W, P
	Pachyornis	Start
Crested moa	Pachyornis australis	Start	W, NP
Heavy-footed moa	Pachyornis elephantopus	Start	W, P
Eastern moa	Emeus crassus	Start	W
Upland moa	Megalapteryx didinus	C	W, P

W: Checked and updated in Wikidata, P: Photo added or updated, NP: Needs photo.

To create

Wikipedia has very little about the Oligocene marine transgression of New Zealand. This is a major omission relevant to NZ paleontology. Even modest additions to existing relevant articles would be very valuable.

Outcomes

Wikidata items for Extinct Birds of New Zealand (Q63353388), Extinct Birds of New Zealand (1st ed.) (Q63353412), Extinct Birds (Q63352639) and Extinct Birds (2017) (Q63352664)
Improved Julian Pender Hume (Q6307451), Circus teauteensis (Q21358145)
Added references for all moa species to Wikidata
Added photo of St Bathans excavation to Commons, and requested OTRS permission for another
Improved Saint Bathans Fauna with more references and sections
Added photo and gallery to Saint Bathans

Media

We'll be taking photos for the record. If you don't want to be in a photo, just choose a red name lanyard; if you don't mind, pick a green one.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Nic Rawlence and Kane Fleury for helping organise this event, and the Wikimedia Foundation for supporting the New Zealand Wikipedian at Large project.