Monday, March 31, 2008

Happy Monday!

Alrighty, today we will be making sure everyone is on track for their Wiki-work and answering any questions regarding what's due.

Also, time permitting we will talk about professional on-line work and even a few insider secrets.

Possible topics:

as well as any questions you may have

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Last-leg schedule

Just as a heads up, here is how I see the rest of our schedule working out.

  • Week 12 March 24, 26 - Minor wiki edit due
  • Week 13 March 31, April 2 - Major wiki edit due (major points!), new wiki topic idea due
  • Week 14 April 7, 9 - New wiki post due (first draft on the 9th, final draft on the 14th)
  • Week 15 April 14, 16 - Writing fiction
  • Week 16 April 21, 23 - First draft of fiction due
  • Week 17 April 28, 30 Finals Week - Final version of fiction due

10 Wiki-mandments

Here are your Wiki-mandements for this section:

  1. Correct grammar and spelling, correct problems you see
  2. References, where did you get this information from?
    1. cite sources within text, i.e. foot/endnotes
    2. Sources that are personal opinions/blogs are not 'reliable' sources - information not opinions should be cited, use quality sources
  3. Links to other pages of relevance/references/wikipedia articles
  4. Keep the post and pictures on topic, be careful about copyrights
  5. Read what other people have posted, do not contradict rather correct, read the history, don't repeat mistakes
  6. Keep a neutral point of view
  7. Avoid using "jargony" words, or define if necessary
  8. NO ORIGINAL RESEARCH!!!
  9. Wikipedia is not a place for personal gain, not a soapbox/advertising forum
  10. Wikipedia is not a social network, not for personal information
  11. Wikipedia is not a dictionary, definitions can happen in the context of an article, but should not be articles
optional commandments:
  1. Thou shalt have no other wikis before the Wikipedia
  2. Thou shalt not covet other's great articles

On your mark(s), get set...

Today we will discuss your commandments in groups, pick our favorites, and see if we can come up with a class list of Wiki-mandments (ugh, so cheesy, I know).Then we are off to the races.

For Wednesday create a post with the entry you are editing (notice the present tense) and try your hand at it. We will share experiences, articles, and tips on how to edit the Wikipedia on Wednesday. So, please not only have your article picked, but start editing it.

As a requirement, see if you can bring "research" to the Wikipedia article, as opposed to just editing the current text. What can you contribute at this point?

In your post briefly blog about the experience, along with the link to both the article, and a history page of your edits. We will use this as a jumping off point for our conversation.

Wednesday will be all about works in progress, so be sure to get a jump on that editing!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wiki Rules

Today we will be discussing a recent wiki-controversy, as outlined in the previous post, and taking a look at the articles you found and want to talk about.

We also will be moving forward on our own writing from research. In order to do this, we need to set forth some ground rules. The Wikipedia has its own set of guidelines, but many of the most important seem to be unspoken.

For the Monday after break, I want you to create a list of 10 Wikipedia commandments. After reading their guidelines, and a few Wikipedia entries (any topic will due, so long as it has seen several authors hands) you should start to notice what some of them are. Many of them become explicit when you read the discussion sections of an article, and some are more "organic."

Please, as much as possible, find example for your commandments. Perhaps this is best done through links. I also want you to feel free to write commandments that you think ought to be followed, even if you don't see them currently enacted in the community. Thus, a couple of your commandments might be suggestions for improvement, rather than current standards.

Finally, be prepared to talk about how these rules provide "good research." What in the world is good research anyway?

So, for the monday after break (aka Sunday 10pm) have two posts. First, the article you wish to edit, and some thoughts on those edits, second a list of 10 wiki-mandments.