Wikipedia Project: Setup

By the end of this course, you will make a meaningful contribution to a Wikipedia article by improving one of its articles. To prepare, this guide introduces the first steps in your final project: selecting and planning your article edits. Actual editing won't begin until later, but this first step is an important part of the process because it involves identifying a topic, exploring its weaknesses, and finding good sources to support your edits.

Why This Matters

Wikipedia is one of the most visited websites in the world. Its accuracy and credibility relies on editors, like you, adding reliable sources to support its content. This project lets you practice the skills you've been learning so far: research, source evaluation, and citation. The result will be your contribution to a widely used and publicly accessible information resource. In short, this project brings together the skills we've been building in our studies and applies them in a real-world context.

Readings

Please review the following Wikipedia articles to understand important editing practices.

• Wikipedia: Editing: This basic guide shows how Wikipedia editing works.
• Wikipedia: Contributing to Wikipedia: A guide in contributing to Wikipedia.
• Wikipedia: Policies: An overview of what Wikipedia considers acceptable behavior, reliable source, and more.
• Wikipedia: Reliable Sources: A guide in choosing reliable sources.

Becoming a Wikipedia Editor

Each of you will identify a Wikipedia article that you would like to edit and improve. Your main task is to add at least four references to support or clarify existing content in the article. A secondary task may be to add or revise text, especially when needed to integrate those references in the text smoothly.

To prepare you for this, you will:

• Use the library and web to find trustworthy information sources.
• Use Zotero to collect, organize, and annotate your sources.
• Apply the research and evaluation skills we've discussed:
  • Information resources and sources: where knowledge lives, how it's accessed, and the sources it provides.
  • Reference managers: Used to collect and organize research with tools like Zotero.
  • Web and database search: Used to retrieve relevant and credible material.
  • Source evaluation: To determine whether a source is reliable and appropriate for Wikipedia.

Upcoming lessons will continue coverage of specific library and web resources, how to use them, and how to incorporate them into your work flows. Over the next few weeks, you will have collected enough material to edit the Wikipedia article that you identify now.

Current Task

Your first task for this project is to begin the setup process for your Wikipedia project:

• Create an account on Wikipedia if you don't already have one.
• Choose a Wikipedia article you'd like to improve.
  • You should take some time with this step and select an article on a topic that you are really interested in.
  • Be aware that some articles have editing restrictions. Check the article's history and discussion pages to see if it's actively managed or protected.
• Analyze the article to find areas that need better citations or clearer sources.
• Begin collecting four sources to support your edits:
  • At least two sources from library resources (e.g., peer-reviewed journals, academic books, trade magazines).
  • At least two sources from the open web (e.g., reputable news sites, official reports).
• For each source, annotate it in Zotero. In your notes, write:
  • What's it about?
  • Why is it reliable?
  • How could it help improve the article?

Conclusion

The next four sections of this work provide additional instruction on using various library and web information resources. These sections should help you collect references for your chosen Wikipedia article. However, as noted, it's impossible to cover all information resources. Therefore, although they may guide you in additional exploration, you will be responsible for identifying and selecting what you need for your article.