Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Maryland/Implementing Digital Curation (Spring 2018)

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Course name
Implementing Digital Curation
Institution
University of Maryland
Instructor
Jesse Johnston
Wikipedia Expert
Shalor (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Digital Curation, Digital Preservation
Course dates
2018-01-25 00:00:00 UTC – 2018-05-10 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
8


We are working on digital curation projects. The wikipedia portion of this course is designed to help you synthesize, understand, and make useful the overview of the field that you have gained from previous course and the current course readings. It is helpful to interpret it for a broader public and work on summarizing skills. As a digital curator, this assignment also asks you to help the field by improving references and reliable knowledge about the field.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Jenny 1990 Data curation
Lwarres Data curation
Mreid123 Oral history
Smille16umd Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification
Acleaven Digital curation
Jf umd Community archives
Zacharytumlin Elizabeth Yakel
Lc.umd Oral history

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Monday, 29 January 2018
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project

Welcome to the Wikipedia project timeline for INST 742. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project. 


This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia. 


The course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page. 


To get started, please review the following handouts: 


Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
  •  Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.) 
  •  It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade. 
  •  When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page. 
  • Please take a look at the instructor's Talk page, too, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Morskyjezek 
Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 2

Course meetings
Monday, 5 February 2018
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

 It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page. 


  • Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
  • Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings. 
  • Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these): 
    • Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
    • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
    • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
    • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
    •  Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted? 
    • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
    • Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? 
    • How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
    • How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
  •  Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Morskyjezek (talk) 10:31, 1 March 2018 (UTC). [reply]

Here are some articles to consider for this evaluation assignment:

In class - Discussion
What's a content gap?

Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.

  • Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
  • What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
  • Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
  • What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?
Assignment - Copyedit an article

Choose an article. Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. Then, make the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article.

Assignment - Course Journal (Blog)

As part of the project journal, you should recount some of your work editing Wikipedia. Topics to consider include the challenges of editing, the nature and ethos of the wikipedia community (particularly for new/novice editors), what qualities you see as indicative of better articles, the overall representation of digital curation topics on wikipedia, or reflect on the research and writing process. You should be thinking about one blog entry each week during the course, and those during the Wikipedia unit may be devoted to this assignment. 

For the first installment, consider: 

  • questions around the quality and coverage of articles dealing with digital curation and digital preservation topics. What's there? What's missing? Are the articles of high quality? 
  • the digital preservation project. Is it active? What's been tagged? 
  • the experience and process of evaluating an article

Please use the course blog for this assignment. You can find the course blog at http://blog.umd.edu/digcur/. 

Week 3

Course meetings
Monday, 12 February 2018
In class - Discussion
Thinking about sources and plagiarism
  • Blog posts and press releases are considered poor sources of reliable information. Why?
  • What are some reasons you might not want to use a company's website as the main source of information about that company?
  • What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
  • What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?
Assignment - Choose your topic / Find your sources

It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.

  • Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
  • Find an article from the list of "Available Articles" on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself.
  • In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article.
    • Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page.
    • Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Biographies

Books

History

Assignment - Course Journal (Blog 2)

As part of the project journal, you should recount some of your work editing Wikipedia. Topics to consider include the challenges of editing, the nature and ethos of the wikipedia community (particularly for new/novice editors), what qualities you see as indicative of better articles, the overall representation of digital curation topics on wikipedia, or reflect on the research and writing process. You should be thinking about one blog entry each week during the course, and those during the Wikipedia unit may be devoted to this assignment. 

For this installment, consider: 

  • coverage of digital curation, digital preservation, and digital library topics. Is it representative of the field that you've learned about? Are major contributors mentioned and cited? Do they have biographies?
  • Is there a "content gap" around digital curation? Are there subtopics that are not represented? Are there any reasons that these topics have or have not been covered? 
  • In looking at one of the assigned articles of interest to you, how would you evaluate it's quality? What are the strengths and weaknesses? What do you think is necessary to improve the article (articulate some specific actions)? 

Please use the course blog for this assignment. You can find the course blog at http://blog.umd.edu/digcur/. 

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 19 February 2018
In class - Discussion
Thinking about Wikipedia
  • What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
  • What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
  • On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
  • If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?
Assignment - Draft your article

You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing.

Creating a new article?

  • Write an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox.
    • A "lead" section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.

Improving an existing article?

  • Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement in your sandbox.


Keep reading your sources, too, as you prepare to write the body of the article.

Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
  • First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
  • Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review. Then in the "My Articles" section of the Home tab, assign them to yourself to review.
  • Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
  • As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
Milestones

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 26 February 2018
Assignment - Expand your draft
  • Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
  • If you'd like a Wikipedia Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the "mainspace."

Editing an existing article?

  • NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
  • Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!
  • Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.

Creating a new article?

Assignment - Did You Know
  • Optional: For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence “hook,” nominate it for “Did you know,” (see the DYK instructions handout) and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors. Wiki Education staff can provide support for this process.


Handout: "Did You Know" submissions

Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 5 March 2018
Assignment - Continue improving your article

Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.

  • Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.
  • Consider adding an image to your article. Wikipedia has strict rules about what media can be added, so make sure to take Contributing Images and Media Files training before you upload an image.
Assignment - Polish your work

Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
  • Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.

Week 7

Course meetings
Monday, 12 March 2018
In class - In-class presentation

Present about your Wikipedia editing experience.

Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:

  • Critiquing articles: What did you learn about Wikipedia during the article evaluation? How did you approach critiquing the article you selected for this assignment? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?
  • Summarizing your contributions: include a summary of your edits and why you felt they were a valuable addition to the article. How does your article compare to earlier versions?
  • Peer Review: If your class did peer review, include information about the peer review process. What did you contribute in your review of your peers article? What did your peers recommend you change on your article?
  • Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
  • Wikipedia generally: What did you learn from contributing to Wikipedia? How does a Wikipedia assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?
Assignment - Final article

It's the final week to develop your article.

  • Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
  • Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!
Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.

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