User:Iorek85/Getting the most from Wikipedia

Just a space for an idea I had to help newbies get the most out of the information on wikipedia, in one simple place. It's still in progress.

Getting the most out of Wikipedia

Wikipedia is the largest encyclopaedia on the planet, with over a million articles on every possible topic. Some critics, however, are concerned that anyone can edit wikipedia, and thus consider it unreliable. This can be true; people sometimes add innacurate information. To make sure you can be as certain as possible that the information you are using is accurate, here are some tips to check the accuracy of an article.

1. Check for Featured Article status.

Featured articles are marked by a small star in the top right of the page. Featured articles are the best Wikipedia has to offer, and the information contained in them is most likely accurate. However, featured articles can still be edited after they are awarded the status, so be mindful of vandalism (see 4).

2. Check for warnings

Pages sometimes have templates at the top of them, as either warnings, such as;

The factual accuracy of this article is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

Or reminders and categorisations for wikipedians, such as;

Take note of the kind of warning, and be careful taking information from these pages. Some warnings simply mean the article could be hard to read; for factuality and neutrality issues, check the articles talk page to see what is under dispute.

Vandalism is a constant, but managed, problem on wikipedia. Templates such as;

This page has been temporarily protected from editing to deal with vandalism. Please discuss changes on the talk page or request unprotection. You may use {{editprotected}} on the talk page to ask for an administrator to make an edit for you.

show that a page is a frequent target of vandalism. These pages are still likely to be accurate, and monitored by wikipedians for vandalism; however, some could still be missed. As such, be careful when relying on information.

3. Check the talk page

The talk page is perhaps the most useful page you can use to check the veracity of an article. The top of the talk page may also have some templates, such as

This article is a former featured article candidate. Please view its sub-page to see why the nomination failed. For older candidates, please check the archive.

These can be useful in determining the accuracy of the page. Check why the page was not successful at it's featured article nomination; it could just be it is too short, or not well written, but still accurate. The top of the talk page may also show this box;

Iorek85/Getting the most from Wikipedia has been listed as a good article for meeting the criteria for this category of articles. If you can expand or improve it further, please do so! If it does not meet the criteria, or has ceased to since its inclusion, you can delist it or ask for a review.

Good articles are articles of a high standard, though not quite as good as featured articles, and are generally reliable.

Have a look at the comments people have made, especially regarding accuracy or content. See if editors are arguing over the content of a section; read the arguments on both sides. Be wary; the version of the page you are vewing may not represent a consensus. Check the dates, however; the dispute may have been resolved a long time ago.

If you are unsure of something in an article, or want to ask a question, ask it on the talk page. Place it at the bottom, and use section headings like this; ==Question== . Don't forget to sign your comment by adding four tildes to the end of your comment like this; ~~~~

4. Check the history page

This page shows you all of the edits made to the page. Check the most recent edits to see if the page has been vandalised recently. Generally, most vandals use I.P addresses instead of account names; but remember that many good contributors also use anonymous I.P addresses. Read the comments made by the editors; 'rvv' or 'rv' means 'reverted vandalism', meaning that the edit before theirs was considered vandalism and removed. It is good practice on wikipedia for editors to add summaries; be wary of those that don't.

5. References

All featured articles and most good articles will have comprehensive references. References are an excellent sign that the article is well researched and relaible, but remember that this is no guarantee. If relying on a piece of referenced information, check the reference, follow the link, and see if you think it is a reliable source. References are also an excellent place to look for more in-depth information on your topic.

6. Searching

If you can't find what you are looking for, check you have spelt it correctly. Disambiguate queries by adding more information; searching for 'House (tv series)' will yeild better results than just 'House'. If you still can't find what you are looking for, try the google wikipedia search.

For smaller topics and specific searches, try looking up the general area and work down. For instance, if you're trying to find the 135 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, try looking up the RAF page first. While wikipedia has over a million articles, it can't have one on every single possible object or idea; but at some level of depth, there will be an article covering what you are looking for.

For more information on searching, see Searching Wikipedia

7. Helping out

If you do find errors, and have the time, we would appreciate it if you could correct the errors you find. Be it spelling mistakes or blatant vandalism, be bold and edit them out.

For more information on researching with wikipedia, see Researching with wikipedia

See also

General information, guides & help

• About the project
• Help pages — help on editing, starting new articles, and many other topics.
• Wikipedia FAQs — frequently asked questions about the site.
• Glossary — a glossary of common Wikipedia terms.
• Where to ask questions — a list of departments where volunteers answer questions, any question you can imagine.
  
• What is Wikipedia
• What Wikipedia is not
• Policies and guidelines for contributors
• Manual of Style

Wikipedia behavior

Tutorials

• Wikiquette
• Neutrality
• Avoiding common mistakes

Overarching principles

• Civility
• Contributing
• The neutral point of view

The Wikipedia community

• Contact us
• Wikipedians — different listings of regular contributors; you may add yourself if you wish.
• Wikipedia:Community Portal is a gateway to the community. It lists a number of open tasks and group projects such as Wikipedia:Collaboration of the Week.