CITY OF SYDNEY LIBRARY
Editing Wikipedia
editWikipedia is a free global information resource. It is a publication whose genre is "Encyclopaedia". Wikipedia strives to provide a fact-based, neutral, balanced account of what is known about a notable topic. "Notability" is the encyclopedia's idea of an accession policy. The first paragraph of every article is supposed to set out what makes the topic or the individual notable enough for inclusion.
This means Wikipedia is not journalism; it is not a series of essays, blogs, opinions or research papers. Wikipedia articles are not commentary; they do not make a case for any editor's point of view. They are not a forum for activism or persuasion. (See also: "What Wikipedia is not".)
Participants
Examples of articles about Sydney
editHere are some examples of different types of articles on Sydney in various stages of development.
Lists
- List of public art in the City of Sydney (This is one of many "list" articles.)
- List of Australian diarists of World War I
Historic and contemporary events
- 1877 Henri L'Estrange (This is a Good Article (GA) )
- 1907 Sydney bathing costume protests (This article contains links to Wikisource, a free library of original source documents.)
- 2014 Sydney hostage crisis (This article developed out of an unfolding and controversial event. Such articles need great care with editing.)
Buildings, structures and materials
- St Philip's Church, Sydney (St Philip's is a "start class" article with much scope for development. It can be compared with St James' Church, Sydney, which is a Featured Article).
- UTS Tower and Ian Thorpe Aquatic and Fitness Centre (These are articles that need to be developed. The section on "critical reception" in the second is useful in such articles.)
- Bungarribee Homestead (This is an article about a demolished historic building in Sydney.)
- Sydney sandstone (This article is about Sydney's specific variety of sandstone - there are other articles about other varieties.)
Art works and objects
- Halo (sculpture) and Yininmadyemi - Thou didst let fall (These are two articles on public art works in Sydney.)
- Cloud Arch (This is a stub-level article about a proposed public artwork in Sydney.)
- The Bridge in Curve (This is an article about a specific painting with Sydney as its subject.)
- Sydney punchbowls and Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ (The first article about a rare pair of art objects is well-developed and could be compared with the second which needs to be developed.)
Urban developments, policy and theory
- Cogeneration (This article includes information on "Trigeneration" which could be developed into a daughter article.)
- Sydney lockout laws (Policy topics such as this are subject to change and can therefore go out of date.)
Organisations
- Pinchgut Opera and Sydney Theatre Company (These are articles about Sydney artistic organisations. Such articles need free-to-use images and care with references.)
Biographies
Note: Biographies of living people have stricter requirements, especially biographies of living persons. New editors should be particularly careful editing these.
- Norman Selfe (This is another Featured Article. It contains red links to specific Royal Commissions that can be made developed into their own articles.)
- Florence Violet Mackenzie (This is an article about an significant female Sydney engineer.)
Relevant Wikipedia policies and projects
edit- The Principles: The Five Pillars of Wikipedia
- The Essentials: Notability; Verifiability; Neutral Point of View; No Original Research
- Wikipedia policy for Biographies of Living Persons (BLPs)
- Wikipedia Policy for Conflict of Interest (COI)
- WikiProject Sydney
- 1Lib1Ref Project (https://w.wiki/44X) Books and Bytes Newsletter #33 April-May 2019
Editing and writing help
edit- Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia
- User Guide for "Visual Editor" (also includes section on editing images and media files)
- Wikipedia: Training for students
- Wikipedia: Teahouse
- The "Talk/Discussion" pages of your own User page and/or the article page
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Visual arts
- How to improve your writing
Some good sources
edit- Dictionary of Sydney (has articles on buildings, people, events)
- Australian Dictionary of Biography
- Design and Art Australia Online
- The Conversation (has articles on architecture, arts, cities, environment, society)