Wikipedia:Online Ambassadors/Apply/Keilana

Keilana

The following discussion is preserved as an archive of a successful Online Ambassador application.

Welcome to the Online Ambassador Team, Keilana. The Interior (Talk) 05:07, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

Keilana (talk · contribs)

1. Why do you want to be a Wikipedia Ambassador?

   I've always tried to help new users where I can, and I observed a project at my own school that kind of went awry. I'd like to try to provide a better Wikipedia experience for as many educational institutions as possible - and perhaps gain some long term contributors in the process!

2. In three sentences or less, summarize your involvement with Wikimedia projects.

   I'm an en.wiki person at heart; I joined in April 2007, became an administrator in November of that year, and promptly settled in to...write content. I believe very strongly in the ideals of Wikimedia and am highly motivated to both create high-quality, high-visibility content and help others to do the same. I'm planning to get involved in more French-English translation, as I'm fluent in both languages.

3. Please indicate a few articles to which you have made significant content contributions. (e.g. DYK, GA, FA, major revisions/expansions/copyedits).

   I'm responsible for three FAs, two GAs, and three DYKs. Two of my FAs were in massive, wonderful collaborations and concerned history (Cannon and History of timekeeping devices). My most recent work was Andromeda (constellation), my first solo FAC! I have brought Where the Streets Have No Name and Aries (constellation) to GA status, and in the process of some of these articles, contributed significantly/did the DYKS for NGC 2080, N44 (emission nebula), and History of timekeeping devices in Egypt.

4. How have you been involved with welcoming and helping new users on Wikipedia?

   I've recently begun answering questions at the feedback dashboard and the Teahouse. As an admin, I come into contact with pissed-off new users all the time (just take a look at my talk page) and strive to always explain policies and guidelines in the most newbie-friendly way. That's the way I was treated when I was a clueless newbie, and that's the way I will always treat good-faith newbies.

5. What do you see as the most important ways we could welcome newcomers or help new users become active contributors?

   We need to be friendlier! I remember being guided very kindly by several users, who pointed me to policy pages that I absorbed like a sponge. If they had been offputting - by templating me or warning me or whatever - I feel like I would have given up and not worked to improve.

6. Have you had major conflicts with other editors? Blocks or bans? Involvement in arbitration? Feel free to offer context, if necessary.

   I avoid conflict as much as possible. I did wheel war once over a bad CSD decision on my part, but it was more than 4 years ago so I feel it's mostly irrelevant. I believe it was over James Barker (athlete). I usually find myself on the mediating end of conflict; I volunteered for some time as a part of the Mediation Cabal and was elected to the Mediation Committee in 2008. I recently became an active member of the Committee; I was an emerita mediator for a couple of years there. My block log is entirely self-induced; I've blocked myself a few times to test scripts and autoblocks and such. Doesn't look particularly good to have a block log, but I was too lazy to make a sockpuppet just to block it a lot.

7. How often do you edit Wikipedia and check in on ongoing discussions? Will you be available regularly for at least two hours per week, in your role as a mentor?

   I check in on Wikipedia several times per day, even if I'm not actively editing. I have a smartphone, so that makes checking in "on the go" very easy. I will definitely have two hours during the week; I'm a student and will thus have chunks of time available.

8. How would you make sure your students were not violating Copyright laws?

   First and foremost I will discuss US copyright law with them and make sure they understand how vital it is that we follow the law assiduously in all that we do. I will probably also ask them to submit their planned major edits to me - sourced, so I can make sure there is no plagiarism and no close paraphrasing.

9. If one of your students had an issue with Copyright Violation how would resolve it?

   Initially, I would speak to them in private and ask them to carefully rewrite everything in their own words. I would also subject their work to much greater scrutiny from both myself and the professor. If this did not resolve the issue, I would speak with the professor.

10. In your _own_ words describe what Copyright Violation is.

    Copyvios are anything that plagiarizes content without attribution. This includes copypasting text from a copyrighted source (unless, of course, it is in the context of a cited quotation) and close paraphrasing.

11. What else should we know about you that is relevant to being a Wikipedia Ambassador?

    I'm a college student in Chicago, so that means I'm UTC -5 in the summer and UTC -6 in non-DST months. I'd love to work with a local school!

Endorsements

(2 Endorsements are needed for online ambassador approval).

• Endorse-per friendly attitude and extensive participation in admin and non-admin areas (including article creation). Smallman12q (talk) 18:32, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
• Endorse - good knowledge of article writing, policies. Talk page archives show history of positive interactions. The Interior (Talk) 02:16, 29 June 2012 (UTC)