In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project

Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.

Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page.

To get started, please review the following handouts:

• Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
• Evaluating Wikipedia

Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia

• Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.)
• It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
• When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.

Assignment - Wikipedia assignment blog

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Assignment - Blog

What's a content gap?

Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.

• Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
• What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
• Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
• What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?

Assignment - Training

"Finding Your Article" and "Evaluating Articles and Sources"

Assignment - Blog

Thinking about sources and plagiarism

• Blog posts and press releases are considered poor sources of reliable information. Why?
• What are some reasons you might not want to use a company's website as the main source of information about that company?
• What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
• What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?

Assignment - Evaluate a Wikipedia Article

• Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
•  Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings. 
•  Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these): 
  • Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
  • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
  • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
  • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
  •  Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted? 
  • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
  •  Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? 
  • How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
  • How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
•  Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Bjberesf ( talk) 20:47, 30 April 2018 (UTC).  reply

Assignment - Training

Sources and Citations

Assignment - Blog

Assignment - Blog

Thinking about Wikipedia

• What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
• What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
• On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
• If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?

Assignment - Add to an Article

• Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.
•  The Citation Hunt tool shows unreferenced statements from articles. First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading. Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add it or correct the statement. 

Assignment - Blog

Assignment - Blog