Autodidacts Anonymous

[Mancunium]

Wikipedia enthusiasts convene at Berkeley edit-a-thon
The Daily Californian, 22 September 2013 link

For some, Wikipedia is just an online resource. For others who dub themselves “Wikipedians,” however, the site represents a community, a hobby — or a way to pass a weekend afternoon, as many did at the Berkeley Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Saturday.

About 20 people from across Northern California attended the event at the Central Berkeley Public Library downtown, coming together to not only edit and create Wikipedia articles but to also learn from each other. The event was part of a worldwide outreach initiative called Wikipedia Loves Libraries, which centers around Open Access Week, a global event held in October to support open access for research.

The edit-a-thon was as much a practice session for new Wikipedians as a time for experienced Wikipedians to start new projects. Attendees ranged from experts who have been editing for 10 years to beginners editing for the first time.

“It is really cool to use things that I know and be able to put them on Wikipedia,” said UC Berkeley graduate student Shreyas Patankar, who helped organize the event. “Part of the purpose of these events is to focus on topics that are not well-covered.”

The Wikipedian community, full of self-taught experts on subjects ranging from mushrooms to mountaineering, consists of volunteers who enjoy researching and sharing the information they find with the general public.

“There’s a permanence to Wikipedia editing,” said Jim Heaphy, a Napa Valley resident who has edited hundreds of articles and started more than 60 articles since he joined in 2009. “Coming up with something of value for someone else who might be researching the topic … (creates) a great feeling of satisfaction.”

Heaphy, similar to many other Wikipedians, began editing due to his interest in a specific topic — in his case, mountaineering. Going through the Wikipedia pages, he found that many well-known mountain climbers did not have Wikipedia articles, so he started contributing.

Now Heaphy has branched out to write about topics ranging from politics to historical restaurants.

But just like any other hobby, editing Wikipedia articles first requires some practice. As Patankar explained, the process of becoming a full-fledged editor typically begins with doing simple copy edits on Wikipedia articles, though new users can begin by adding content and references to articles if they choose to do so.

Jorge Vargas, a legal intern for the Wikimedia Foundation, had not edited before Saturday’s event and chose articles from his home country, Colombia, to edit.

“It’s overwhelming, but it’s also very fun,” Vargas said. “It will take a while to learn, but hopefully I’ll get it soon.”

Though a date has not been set yet, the Wikipedians hope to hold another edit-a-thon in Berkeley next month.

“There’s more work to be done than has been done so far,” said UC Berkeley alumnus Kevin Gorman. “Nothing in Wikipedia is ever really done.”

My name is John, and I'm a Wikipedian.

[thekohser]

When I see a photo like that, I wonder why they feel the need to assemble in person, in groups, when the positioning of the participants tells me that they're doing things quite independently, without collaboration. Things they could have just as easily accomplished at home, via webinar, without burning gas to come to the central location. When I combine this thought with the fact that the WMF board once jetted all the San Francisco-based trustees over to Berlin, to hold a board meeting there, Wikipedians must love global warming.

[Vigilant]

When I see a photo like that, I wonder why they feel the need to assemble in person, in groups, when the positioning of the participants tells me that they're doing things quite independently, without collaboration. Things they could have just as easily accomplished at home, via webinar, without burning gas to come to the central location. When I combine this thought with the fact that the WMF board once jetted all the San Francisco-based trustees over to Berlin, to hold a board meeting there, Wikipedians must love global warming.

If I were to guess, based on that photo, I'd wager that this might be the only relatively intimate personal interaction with other humans that many of these people get.

Hell, there are even girls in the same room.

[lilburne]

Two appear to be a couple, she's wanting to know when the fuck she can leave, guy in blue on right is facebooking, woman on the apple has just looked up images of toothbrushes. The two nearest the screen seem to be having a WTF are we supposed to do now moment. The two nearest the toilets are uploading photos of their todgers. The woman on the table with them is getting increasingly irritated by the puerile conversation, and the woman at the desk on her own is being ignored by the rest.

[Mancunium]

Wikipedia Edit-a-thons Begin Oct. 12
UCR Libraries to host events that will teach Inland residents, campus students, scholars and staff to write entries for online encyclopedia
UCR Today, 2 October 2013 link

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — UC Riverside Libraries will host three Wikipedia edit-a-thons this fall during which Inland residents and university students, scholars and staff may make use of library resources to write articles for the free, online encyclopedia.

The first of the all-day edit-a-thons is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Box lunches will be provided for preregistered participants. Free parking will be available for community residents who preregister. Email carolem@ucr.edu to register for each of the three dates. Additional edit-a-thons are scheduled Oct. 26 and Nov. 23.

Veteran Wikipedia editor Adrianne Wadewitz will attend the Oct. 12 event and teach participants how to write articles that are polished and designed to face fewer challenges for accuracy and neutrality. Wikipedia trainers will attend each edit-a-thon.

[... WP born of a virgin, died for our sins, &c. ...]

“Participants can write about any topic, not just ones we suggest,” Mandeville-Gamble said. “This will be a safe place for people to learn to write Wikipedia articles, receive feedback, make their articles more ‘bullet proof,’ use citation tools and information boxes, and effectively utilize images. Our libraries have tremendous resources that can enhance Wikipedia articles, particularly those that relate to our unique collections and local history.”

Riverside,_California (T-H-L) City of Arts & Innovation

.

[Bielle]

“Participants can write about any topic, not just ones we suggest,” Mandeville-Gamble said. “This will be a safe place for people to learn to write Wikipedia articles, receive feedback, make their articles more ‘bullet proof,’ use citation tools and information boxes, and effectively utilize images. Our libraries have tremendous resources that can enhance Wikipedia articles, particularly those that relate to our unique collections and local history.”

Riverside,_California (T-H-L) City of Arts & Innovation

I wonder if they teach VE?

[thekohser]

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — UC Riverside Libraries will host three Wikipedia edit-a-thons this fall during which Inland residents and university students, scholars and staff may make use of library resources to write articles for the free, online encyclopedia.

The first of the all-day edit-a-thons is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Box lunches will be provided for preregistered participants. Free parking will be available for community residents who preregister. Email carolem@ucr.edu to register for each of the three dates. Additional edit-a-thons are scheduled Oct. 26 and Nov. 23.

If I were homeless in Riverside, I'd preregister, show up at about 11:45 AM, say "Sorry I'm late", grab my free lunch, then edit Jimmy Wales (T-H-L) to change "co-founder" to "lesser co-founder", then leave at 12:18 PM.

Return and repeat on October 26th and November 23rd.

[Mancunium]

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — UC Riverside Libraries will host three Wikipedia edit-a-thons this fall during which Inland residents and university students, scholars and staff may make use of library resources to write articles for the free, online encyclopedia.

The first of the all-day edit-a-thons is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Box lunches will be provided for preregistered participants. Free parking will be available for community residents who preregister. Email carolem@ucr.edu to register for each of the three dates. Additional edit-a-thons are scheduled Oct. 26 and Nov. 23.

If I were homeless in Riverside, I'd preregister, show up at about 11:45 AM, say "Sorry I'm late", grab my free lunch, then edit Jimmy Wales (T-H-L) to change "co-founder" to "lesser co-founder", then leave at 12:18 PM.

Return and repeat on October 26th and November 23rd.

I'm pretty sure the "box lunches" are just a trick to lure innocent people into the library, where they will be subjected to unspeakable indignities until the police are finally able to break the doors down.

[EricBarbour]

Have any of you ever actually been to Riverside? One of the worst shitholes in Southern California, with the added bonus of hosting
massive new housing developments during the last 20 years---many, if not most, of them sold with subprime mortgages.
When the 2008 crisis hit, whole neighborhoods became slums, overnight. Plus inadequate municipal water and sewer systems.

All you need do is point and laugh.

[Poetlister]

Ever start research with Wikipedia? Learn to contribute the footnotes and references which increase the reliability and accuracy of Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia’s strength is in the references that support it. Librarians, researchers and information seekers can help improve Wikipedia and make it a better resource for everyone. The annual #1lib1ref campaign (1lib1ref.org) asks every librarian and information seeker to add a reference to Wikipedia, to help ensure that Wikipedia’s information is backed by reliable research.

linkhttp://www.sentinelsource.com/hub/news/ ... ba544.html[/link]

[BrillLyle]

Ever start research with Wikipedia? Learn to contribute the footnotes and references which increase the reliability and accuracy of Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia’s strength is in the references that support it. Librarians, researchers and information seekers can help improve Wikipedia and make it a better resource for everyone. The annual #1lib1ref campaign (1lib1ref.org) asks every librarian and information seeker to add a reference to Wikipedia, to help ensure that Wikipedia’s information is backed by reliable research.

linkhttp://www.sentinelsource.com/hub/news/ ... ba544.html[/link]

Sorry but #1Lib1Ref is a pimple on the ass of trying to get librarians to edit Wikipedia. I think it's a highly publicized and yet invariably poorly deployed initiative. It has Jake Orlowitz's fingerprints all over it. Smells of Art+Feminism bulltwaddle to me (i.e., very publicity-focused, very incompetent, not really caring about helping people learn how to edit, just focused on initiative).

But I am probably a very harsh view person. Few outreach initiatives except the folks in Wales seem to be effective.

- Erika
#bitter

[Poetlister]

I'm certainly not endorsing or recommending this. I just report that it's happening to help us see what's going on in the wonderful wacky WMF world.

[Renée Bagslint]

I would imagine that it's the most exciting thing ever to have happened in The One and Only Brattleboro.

[Poetlister]

The next Wikipedia article you read could have been edited by a Springfield-Greene County Library District staff member. The library district recently participated in a campaign to add references to Wikipedia pages that lack sufficient citations. In all, five library employees contributed to 33 articles during the celebration of the online encyclopedia's birthday, called #1Lib1Ref. Some staffers will continue to bolster Wikipedia articles in their spare time, like Sean Haupt, library assistant at the Park Central Branch Library. The English Wikipedia had 380,000 statements that needed citations at the beginning of the campaign; 210,000 articles had no references at all, according to the #1Lib1Ref web page.

Springfield News-Leader

Yes, that's what the article says. Of the 210,000 articles or 380,000 statements flagged as needing references (and who knows how many unflagged), they contributed to 33 articles.

[Zoloft]

The next Wikipedia article you read could have been edited by a Springfield-Greene County Library District staff member. The library district recently participated in a campaign to add references to Wikipedia pages that lack sufficient citations. In all, five library employees contributed to 33 articles during the celebration of the online encyclopedia's birthday, called #1Lib1Ref. Some staffers will continue to bolster Wikipedia articles in their spare time, like Sean Haupt, library assistant at the Park Central Branch Library. The English Wikipedia had 380,000 statements that needed citations at the beginning of the campaign; 210,000 articles had no references at all, according to the #1Lib1Ref web page.

Springfield News-Leader

Yes, that's what the article says. Of the 210,000 articles or 380,000 statements flagged as needing references (and who knows how many unflagged), they contributed to 33 articles.

[Poetlister]

It's all in the Bible. "Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, the isles are as a mote in weight." - Isaiah 40:15.