This week

• Monday: Wikipedia assignment (Erin)• Wednesday: Wikis and reliability (Erin)• Friday: Refworks (MC)

March 19: Wiki Writing

Dr. Jessica Laccetti and Erin DulALES 204

• A wiki (wɪki/ wik-ee) is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor.

• Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users.

• In February 2007, Penguin Books and De Montfort University launched ―A Million Penguins,‖ a collaborative novel open to anyone who wanted to help write it.

• The novel was to be created on MediaWiki, the same software as Wikipedia, with a similar ethos of collective authoring but the added spice of a risky experiment in the heartland of commercial publishing.

• Can a community write a novel?‖ asked Penguin Digital Publisher Jeremy Ettinghausen

A Million Penguins

• Required users to register in order to edit.• A team from DMU and Penguin Books actively

moderated the content.• Contributors given free reign.

Background – statistics

• In just 5 weeks– Nearly 1,500 registered for the site.– Over 11,000 edits.– 75,000 visitors to site.– 280,000+ page views.

• Since then another 500,000+ page views

Other wikis:

Participation homework: Tweet to #ALES204 and @ErinDul the name of a wiki that has not been mentioned in lectures.

Wikipedia

• Wikipedia was formally launched on 15 January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger

• Wales set one up and put it online on 10 January 2001

YOUR assignment

In this assignment, each student will update one "stub," or incomplete article in Wikipedia, to a complete encyclopedic article. Ideally, we would like your article to qualify for "Good Article" status. For reference, less than 1% of the articles on Wikipedia achieve this status, so this is no small feat!

What is a “stub”?

• A stub is an article with not enough information to provide encyclopedic coverage of a subject

• Stub definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Stub

• List of stubs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Stub_categories

• Science stubs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Science_stubs

Stub examples

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioprocess_engineering

Stub examples

• Not “well-rounded” or “filled out” (Who, What, Where…)

• No history of the field• Only one citation

Stub examples

• No citations• Doesn’t give well-rounded information on the

topic• Title doesn’t clearly explain what the article is

abouthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet-induced_obese

Part 1: Select a stub (BEFORE you come to lab!)

1. Read the Wikipedia Getting Started page2. Create an account3. Find a stub4. Comment on the March 19 Lecture Post on

the class blog with the your name and the URL for your stub

5. Double check that no one else is editing your stub

Getting started

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents/Getting_started

• Contains tutorials for:– Logging in– Editing articles

• This is a good place to look for information if you are having trouble editing!

Creating an account

• Go to any Wikipedia page• Click “create account” on the TOP RIGHT

corner of the screen– If possible, choose the same user name as your

twitter alias– E-mail your TA your Wikipedia user name

• Having trouble? Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Logging_in

Choosing a stub

• List of stubs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Stub_categories

• Science stubs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Science_stubs

• Choose a stub in an area that you are familiar with and able to find good citations for!

• What are some areas where you could look?

Part 2: Write a “good article”

• Wikipedia lists the criteria for a “good article”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Good_article_criteria

• Wikipedia give advice on how to write a good article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles

• Your article should be 300-600 words

“Good article criteria”

• Well written:• Prose is clear and concise, respects copyright laws,

and the spelling and grammar are correct; and• It complies with the manual of style guidelines for

lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation

• Factually accurate and verifiable• Provides references to all sources• Provides in-line citations from reliable sources• Contains no original research

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Good_article_criteria

“Good article criteria”

• Broad in its coverage• Addresses main aspects of topic• Stays focused (no unnecessary detail)

• Neutral: represent viewpoints fairly and without bias

• Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day

• Illustrated, if possible, by images• Images are tagged with their copyright status• Images are relevant and have suitable captions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Good_article_criteria

Examples and guidelines

• Examples of good articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GA

• Manual of style: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style

Examples of good articles

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avondale_Agricultural_Research_Station

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_family

_structure

To edit your stub:

• Log in• Go to your stub page• Click “edit” near the search bar at the top of

the page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_(science)

“But Erin, this doesn’t look anything like it does on the “Read” view!?!?!?!”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_(science)

Code :: Wiki Markup

• You can format your text by using wiki markup.

• This consists of normal characters like asterisks, single quotes or equal signs which have a special function in the wiki, sometimes depending on their position.

• For example, to format a word in italics, you include it in quotation marks: ''this''.

Wiki mark up

Read more on mediawiki.org: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting

Wiki markup hints

• Go to http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting for full instructions

• If you see something that you like in another article and want to know how to do that, click “edit” and you will be able to see the code

Part 3: E-portfolio blog post

• The Wikipedia article is part of your e-portfolio, so you must write a blog post about writing your Wikipedia article– Include at least one image– Include at least one external link (your Wikipedia

article)– Include an internal link– Be on topic– 2-4 paragraphs

Questions?

Wiki assignment - Summary

1. Choose a stub2. Sign up and edit the stub to a “good article”3. Blog post about your wikipedia article• This assignment is due Friday at 17:00!• You will have all of your lab time this week to

work on the assignment. Please come to lab having chosen a stub article!