Wikipedia

User:Peter Chastain/WLL outline

< User:Peter Chastain


This page is an outline of a Wikipedia/Wikimedia Loves Libraries event that Peter Chastain plans to propose, to be held at the Lake County Public Library in Lakeview, Oregon (and possibly at the other three branch libraries).

Suggestions and revisions to this outline will be welcomed. If you modify this page, please also click the Talk tab at the top of the page and write something about your suggestion and about your desired involvement in this event.

Goals

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  • Show people how to use Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects (Wikinews, Wiktionary, Wikivoyage, Wikibooks, Wikisource, etc.) to find information on a variety of devices
  • Train librarians in the use of these resources, so that they can become resource experts.
  • Help people become Wikimedia content producers (editors of Wikipedia, etc.).
  • Improve the amount and quality of Wikimedia content relating to Lake County.

Proposed format

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  • Morning session: Part 1: Using Wikimedia projects to get information
  • Lunch in the meeting room
  • Afternoon session: Part 2: Becoming an information contributor
    • Training, discussion
    • Individual hands-on editing of information of interest to the editor, with one-on-one support from facilitator

Times are flexible. If people get bored with too much detail in part 1, we can start part 2 early.

Prepare the room

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  • Arrange tables and chairs.
  • Provide extension cords, power strips. Power cords on the floor must be covered or tape, to prevent tripping hazard.
  • Setup screen and projector, connected to laptop for presentations. Surf to the Wikipedia editing music channel.
  • Easel pad or whiteboard in place.
  • Setup table with snacks, coffee, pastries, paper/plastic stuff, etc. Make sure our lunch order (pizza? subs? salad?) will be available for pickup at appropriate time.

Introductions and setup

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  • Sign-in sheet: Name, e-mail address, interest (user, content-contributor), user name, if they know.
  • Introductions, ask people what Wikipedia experience they have, what they want to get out of the event, etc.
  • Activity: Prepare devices
    • Establish connections to library wi-fi.
    • Laptops: set browser and bookmarks to Wikipedia and maybe Wikivoyage
    • Mobile devices: suggest turning cellular data OFF, to avoid expense of downloading through phone network.

Part 1: Using Wikimedia content

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Definitions

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  • Definitions:
Wiki
a website where users can directly edit the information.
Wikipedia
a wiki that is an online encyclopedia.
Wikimedia
the foundation that owns and operates Wikipedia and many other wikis. A good place to donate some money (WP:Donate. Also a generic term for Wikipedia and all its sister projects.
Mediawiki
the software that runs all Wikimedia and most non-Wikimedia wikis.
NPOV
Neutral point of view, a very important part of the Wikipedia ethic.
  • Presentation: What Wikipedia is, and what it isn't (see WP:NOT). Just an overview: we will discuss WP policy in more detail in the section about contributing content.

Module: Exploring Wikipedia

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  • Activity: Install Wikipedia app on mobile device. Set up English and Simple English versions, as well as any other languages that might be desired.
  • Activity: Navigate web browser to Wikipedia (mobile version). Demonstrate some differences between desktop and mobile browser versions. Note: On mobile devices, we will be using both the apps and the browser versions and discussing when you would need one versus the other.
  • Activity: Explore standard article structure, to help in finding information quickly.
  • Activity: Explore namespaces:
  • Activity: Explore categories: Category:Lakeview, Oregon, Category:Lake County, Oregon, Category:Oregon
  • Activity: Explore nearby things with Special:Nearby. Plug coordinates into the URL to get things near anywhere.
  • Activity: Search for information of local interest, for example:
    • Who is the Mayor of Paisley?
    • What is the history of Lakeview?
    • How can I get involved in recreational activities in Lake County?
    • What are the demographic trends in Lake County?
    • What environmental issues does Lake County face?

Module: Using Wikimedia images and other media files

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Discussion: Where to find media files

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  • Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org
  • Wikipedia (English): https://en.wikipedia.org
    • Files available only in English Wikipedia
    • Only for non-free content, used under U.S. fair-use rules.
    • You can re-use content only under certain circumstances (fair use).
  • Wikipedia (other language versions)
    • Files available only in specific version of Wikipedia.
    • Available under Creative Commons international licenses. I don't know enough about these to comment on the restrictions.

Note: Most media files are in Commons—the preferred destination for uploads.

  • You can upload a media file (image, etc.) to Wikipedia or to Wikimedia Commons.
  • Images should be useful to Wikimedia projects: this is not for your personal photo gallery.
  • Wikimedia Commons—the preferred destination:
    • Content can be used in any Wikimedia project, including Wikipedia.
    • Content must be licensed for free use. In general, photos that you take almost always qualify, unless they depict someone else's artwork. (
  • Wikipedia media files:
    • Content available only within Wikipedia
    • Use only for content that has licensing restrictions (but only under certain circumstances).
    • Wikipedia non-free policy: a slightly more restrictive version of "fair use"—see WP:NFCC

Module: Wikipedia reliability

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  • How reliable is WP?
  • Using WP to write school research papers. (WP is not a reliable source but can be used for background and to find reliable sources.)
  • Identifying dubious information in WP.
    • Checking references
    • Looking at history to identify vandalism
    • What kind of data are more likely to have been vandalized.
    • Comparing WP with other sources of info. What is a reliable source? What are the signs that a website got its dubious information from a WP article?
  • Discussion: Are newspapers a reliable source? (Probably move this to the afternoon session.)

Module: Wikipedia advanced features

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  • Bookmarking
  • Ofline reading
  • Reading lists
  • Wikipedia books

Module: Exploring Wikivoyage

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  • Activity: Install Wikivoyage app(s) on mobile device.
  • Activity: Create a customized book.
  • TBD: more activities.

Module: Exploring Wiktionary

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  • Activity: Installing mobile dictionary apps that use Wiktionary. (TBD: Why isn't the official Wiktionary app supported?)
  • Explore the Simple English Wiktionary. Is there a mobile app for that?

Module: Other Wikimedia projects

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A quick overview...

Wikibooks

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Wikiquote

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  • Websites:

Wikisource

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  • Websites:
  • Books and other documents in the public domain.
  • Wikimedians upload documents and correct scanning errors but do not alter content.

Wikiversity

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Wikinews

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Wikispecies

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Part 2: Contributing Wikimedia content

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Module: Registering on Wikimedia

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Definitions

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Registration
Signing up, so you can login to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
User name
The name that you use when you login.
IP user
A person who contributes content without logging in. The contributer is identified as an IP address (e.g., 148.59.245.210).

Discussion: Should I register?

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  • No reason to register if you are only going to use (not contribute) Wikimedia content.
  • You can contribute content without registering.
  • Most user names are not the person's real name, so you don't really give up much privacy.
  • Advantages of registering:
    • Establish your reputation as a trusted contributor and member of a community.
    • Edit articles that are protected against anonynous edits.
    • Participate in discussion pages.
    • Vote in elections that require a minimum number of edits.
  • Advantage of not registering:
    • If you live in a country where the secret police might disapprove of your contributions, they are easier to hide if you don't register.
  • NOTE: A user name is for one person, never shared.
  • NOTE: With few exceptions, you are allowed to have only one user name.

Activity: Register on Wikimedia

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  1. Select a user name. See official username policy; play clip.
    Iintroductory clip on usernames

Module: Contributing content to Wikimedia projects

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  • Activity: Register as a Wikimedia user
    • Discuss user names: Usually a pseudonym; identified with person, not organization; avoid POV or COI, etc.
  • Activity: Create user page. For now, keep it simple. The purpose of this activity is to get practice editing. Save page, then re-edit with visual and source editors. Look at user contributions and history pages.
    • Discuss privacy concerns, especially for minors
  • Activity: Bookmark Wikipedia:Tutorial in your browser or app bookmarks and in your watchlist.
  • Activity: Explore WP help pages
  • Activity: Go through the online editing exercises at Wikipedia (TBD: put links here)
  • Activity: Add existing articles and subcategories to Lakeview and Lake County categories.

Module: Understanding Wikipedia policy

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  • Visit WP policy pages
  • Handout: Policy, MOS, etc.
  • Activity: Visit article talk pages

TBD: Contributing to Wikipedia. Uploading images to WP or WM. Contributing to Wikivoyage. Contributing to WN.

Editing projects

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Wikipedia (English) editing projects

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Update existing articles

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New articles

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These articles should be created in the Draft namespace, so that there will be time to get them into an acceptable state before they come under scrutiny for notability or other problems that might cause an article to be deleted.

Wikipedia (Simple English) editing projects

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Port some articles from English Wikipedia (WP-en). (Suggestion: Maybe update the articles in WP-en first)

(TBD: add to this list. Basically, it would be the same articles we are working on in WP-en.)

Wikipedia (Spanish) editing projects

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Unlikely, but if anyone is interested in this, we can port some Lake County articles from WP-en.

Porting words to Simple English Wiktionary

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Unlikely, but a cool project for those who are interested.

Sources of regional information

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  • Lakeview library has a nook with lots of books in the Dewey range 979.5–. TBD: Can we extract a list from the SAGE catalog? Ask librarians.
  • Lake County Examiner: Online search of issues 2011–present.
  • Lake County Examiner bound copies 1967–2012 are available at Lakeview branch of the library.
  • Lake County Examiner channel on YouTube has videos of Lakeview and Lake County public meetings.
  • Historic Oregon Newspapers (Univ. of Oregon): Searchable images of old newspapers, including:
    • Lake County Examiner, Lakeview (1880–1915)
    • The Evening Herald, Klamath Falls (1906–1942)
    • Klamath Tribune, Chiloquin (1956–1961)—News of Klamath Native Americans and reservation
  • Herald and News (Klamath Falls): Online search, for past several years. (Maybe same window as LC Examiner?)
  • TBD: Visit Lakeview museum for ideas.
  • TBD: Visit town and county websites. Are budgets and meeting minutes online?
  • (TBD) Others, not necessarily WP:RS, but for info: SCOEDD, school district, BLM, US Forest Service, etc.?
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