Welcome!

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Hello, Coleman laura, and welcome to Wikipedia! My name is Shalor and I work with the Wiki Education Foundation; I help support students who are editing as part of a class assignment.

I hope you enjoy editing here. If you haven't already done so, please check out the student training library, which introduces you to editing and Wikipedia's core principles. You may also want to check out the Teahouse, a community of Wikipedia editors dedicated to helping new users. Below are some resources to help you get started editing.

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  • You can find answers to many student questions on our Q&A site, ask.wikiedu.org

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me on my talk page. Shalor (Wiki Ed) (talk) 20:45, 28 November 2018 (UTC)Reply


Notes

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Hi! I have a question - is this meant to be added to the page, or is this meant to replace it? If it's meant to replace it, keep in mind that you will be removing a lot of information that likely belongs in the page - you should only make huge changes like this if it's absolutely necessary and it's heavily recommended that you post to the article talk page first to discuss this.

As an addition, I do have a few notes:

  • The statistics section is a little confusing since it just seems to kind of be there and doesn't really explain how it pertains to deaf culture per se. This isn't to say that it can't be in the article, but it should be tied in somehow. Just keep in mind that we can only summarize what is in the source material, so if the source only discusses statistics without covering it in a cultural aspect, then it's something that would more belong in the main article on deaf people.
  • The section on deaf education and culture looks to approach this primarily from the viewpoint of the United States and doesn't take a global approach, so this should be further expanded as you find coverage on this in other countries or cultures. To a degree the section on social customs looks like it does this as well - customs may differ depending on the country and culture as well, so use extreme caution when representing something as widely applicable. Essentially, make sure that you have a wide variety of sources that establishes this as the norm.
  • You rely very heavily on the deafculture.com website - be cautious when using websites and web content as sourcing, as it's much harder to guarantee the site's reliability. In this case, the site doesn't give much or any true information about who writes the page, what type of editorial oversight it uses (if any), or whether or not it verifies the information posted there. As such, in order to show that it's a reliable source we'd have to be able to show where it's routinely cited as a reliable source by other reliable sources, especially scholarly and academic sources. Predominantly relying on a source also poses issues as far as verification goes, as it doesn't really show a depth of coverage and may not be enough to show that something is seen as generally applicable to a wide group of people.

I hope this helps! Shalor (Wiki Ed) (talk) 21:06, 28 November 2018 (UTC)Reply

Large changes at Deaf culture

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Hi, Coleman laura, I've reverted your recent changes at Deaf culture and I wanted to explain why. First, the good news: you seem to have done a good job at gathering source materials, doing research, and summarizing. You have also mastered the use of sourcing and citations, and that is a crucial first step for being a successful editor here, so bravo for that. A lot of the content you added in the series of six edits is fine, especially the sourcing, and most of it can go back into the article as it was, possibly with some adjustments here or there after discussion. The education section in particular is pretty good as is, and if you want to put that one back in as is, afaic you can do that now without discussion. So that's the good news.

Unfortunately, in the case of removal of sourced content and in general, this is too big a change for a brand new editor without discussion with other editors at the article. I see that you made one smallish edit in your sandbox based on peer review, but peer review in this case I presume means other students who are brand new editors with no or little experience at Wikipedia, and none in the Deaf culture article. It would be good to get feedback from more experienced editors as well, especially those with some knowledge of the subject, or experience at the article.

I see that in a review of your sandbox material, your Wiki Ed content expert, Shalor, said this on your Talk page: you should only make huge changes like this if it's absolutely necessary and it's heavily recommended that you post to the article talk page first to discuss this. Unfortunately, you did not seek to do that. Had you gone a little slower, editing incrementally and waiting a couple of days between edits for other editors to catch up and react if necessary, there would have been less of a problem I think. You have some great content here, especially in the last edits (Education), but it's impossible to selectively revert only an earlier, problematic edit, once it's been changed by a subsequent edit, even if the latter edit is all to the good. So, I had to revert the whole thing. Don't despair, though; after discussion, most of it can go back in again (and as I said, you can put the Education section back now). I've made a few specific comments about article content at the article Talk page. Cordially, Mathglot (talk) 21:29, 29 November 2018 (UTC)Reply

Method for transferring edits

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Hi Laura, in this edit at Talk:Deaf culture#Recent edits you said, "Unfortunately, the format we use in my class to transfer our edits does not move the citations with." Can you elaborate on the method or format you're using? What do you mean by "transfer our edits" exactly, and how is that carried out? What happens to the citations, are they left behind? If I understood the process better, I might be able to help better. Pinging User:Shalor (Wiki Ed). Mathglot (talk) 08:32, 30 November 2018 (UTC)Reply

Come back after class!

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Hi Laura, just wanted to say that I think you'd be a great addition to the Wikipedia community. So, whatever happens at Deaf culture or with your #AMWriting course at GWU, I hope you will come back afterward as an editor at Wikpedia. When it's not for a course, you get to work on improving whatever articles you choose, and it's a lot more fun. Anyway, do well in your course, then come back either after class, or after graduation if you're too busy before then. Come say "Hello" on my Talk page when you do.

For now, though, let's get back to your assignment  . Your recent readditions of the Education stuff look fine. I've left you a reply to the questions in your message at Talk:Deaf culture#Proposed Edits. Cheers, Mathglot (talk) 22:02, 3 December 2018 (UTC)Reply