Tips, Tools, and Considerations for editing as we begin work on the Field Book Project material in our Expeditions & Editors Wikipedia Edit-a-thon; also best ways we can build a resilient relationship between GLAMs and Wikipedia. Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/DC/Field_Notes for more details.

1. Expeditions & Explorers:
An Edit-a-thon
Discovering Wikipedia with
Tips, Tactics, and Tools
Meghan Ferriter, PhD
Research Associate
Smithsonian Institution Archives
21 June 2013

2. Edit-a-thon: An Overview
Welcome!
Thank you for being here to help us create and
improve articles relating to Expeditions and Explorers
of the Field Book Project. Learn more about the joint
project from Smithsonian Institution Archives and
National Museum of Natural History.

3. Roadmap
Our Roadmap today:
o Brief Introduction to editing on Wikipedia
o Excellent and more detailed resources
• Here: http://www.slideshare.net/sosarasays/women-
inthearts2013wikipediaslideshare
• Here: http://editathon.org
• Here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:A_Primer_for_newcom
ers
o Principles
o Building Webs of Knowledge with
GLAMs & Wikipedia
o Let’s Start: Smithsonian-Roosevelt
African Expedition (1909-1910)

4. Principles
• Wikipedia is an encyclopedia…but so much
more
• 5 Pillars: Encyclopedia, NPOV, Free content, Be
Polite, No Firm Rules
• 6 Values: Freedom, Accessibility and Quality,
Independence, Commitment to openness and
diversity, Transparency, Community
• Communication, Candor, Consistency…
• If you’re not sure, ASK!
• We are working together – Be Polite 

5. Building Webs of Knowledge
• GLAMs & Wikipedia: Mutually Beneficial Relationship
• Opportunities to improve quality of resources and
material on Wikipedia with GLAM collections &
materials
• Opportunities for GLAMs to share content with wider
audience
• Literally navigable: cross-linked, easy to access, &
move between
• How about a non-GLAM look at the
same building process?

6. What you can do to an article on
Wikipedia*
• Create wikilinks, or links between articles
• Identify and find citations + resources
• Edit grammar, structure, and “flow”
• Format and template articles, categories, sections
• Add media content: images, videos, podcasts, etc
• Create an article
• For our purposes: Help people learn,
make decisions, and become more
involved with GLAMs & Wikipedia
*not even close to an exhaustive list!!

7. Getting Started
• User page
o Conflict of Interest Statement
• Sandbox
• User Talk
• For today:
o Expeditions & Explorers Edit-a-thon & To-Do List
o Etherpad: http://beta.etherpad.org/p/fbpwiki
o (search:) WP:CHEAT
• Community resources like the TeaHouse

8. Articles & Projects
• The ideal Wikipedia article is well-written, balanced,
neutral, and encyclopedic, containing
comprehensive, notable, verifiable knowledge.
• What’s the difference between an article and a
WikiProject?
o WikiProjects are places on Wikipedia in which editors can
coordinate coverage around particular subject area
• Remember there are many happenings
beyond articles & projects in the Wikiverse
– explore and get involved!

9. Editing:
The Space & Layout
• PAGE: The page layout consists of tabs along the
beginning. These are:
o Article – Discussion – Edit - View History – Star (“Watch”)
• ARTICLE
o Lead section: summary para, Table of Contents, Infobox, Image
o Main body: up to 4 levels of sub-sections
o Closing sections:
• See also, References, Notes
• Bibliography, Further reading, External links
• Categories, interwiki links
• STYLE: It’s up to you/the first editor
o Some parts of a great article – Image, Killer Intro,
o Clearly stating argument for notability

10. Editing Steps
• Sign in!
• Gather materials and/or find article you’d like to
edit
• Copy and Paste the part you’d like to edit in your
Sandbox (make it non-google-able!) or in Word, etc
• Make edits or create article
• Provide Edit Summary
• “Watch” article
• Preview Changes – Save Changes
• Questions: Talk pages

11. Best Practice Tips*
• Start by reading over similar subject articles
o For formatting
o To see what is most useful information to gather
o Where to improve or create relatedness through wikilinking
o EX:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Exploring_Expedition
• Cite and provide two or three resources + image
• Triangulate resources – from different institutions and
types if possible
• When creating an article: Format, add
categories, call to action by starting sections,
call to action by creating redlinks
*Meghan’s suggestions – please suggest MORE

12. Under Construction
• Planning
o Review existing
o Think about “story we’re trying to tell”
• Resources we gathered:
o Collections records
o Existing articles – to create a robust “web of knowledge” & wikilink
o websites
o original books written by subjects
• Consider: What’s the best way to tell the
story with these resources?
… Let’s SANDBOX it

13. The Smithsonian-Roosevelt African
Expedition
• As a part of our learning process, we converted a
redlink into an active article – we chose to build
one for:
The Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition
• We started by citing and naming the Expedition
and, therefore, building a link off Teddy Roosevelt’s
article
• From there, we gathered information,
maps, and used the electronic resources
from the to-do list to build an account of
the Expedition, its members like Heller, Loring,
and Mearns, and the results of the trip.

14. The Result: A New Article!

15. Additional Resources

16. 10 “Rules” for Editing
• Register for an account (but you don’t HAVE to)
• Learn the Five Pillars
• Be Bold, but Not Reckless
• Know your Audience
• Do Not Infringe Copyright (free, open, public domain)
• Cite, Cite, Cite
• Avoid Shameless Self-promotion
• Share your expertise, but don’t argue
from authority
• Write Neutrally and with due weight
• Ask for help – {{helpme}}
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC2947980/

17. Core Wikipedia Policies
• Neutral Point of View
• Verifiability – reliable and correctly cited sources*
• No “original research”
• Assume good faith toward other editors
• Avoid conflict of interest(s)
• In-built process of review, discussion,
consensus-seeking PLUS dispute
resolution, voting, collective editing

18. Useful Templates
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Infobox_scien
tist

19. Thank You for Editing!
Meghan Ferriter, PhD
Research Associate
Smithsonian Institution Archives
ferriterm@si.edu
(tw) @MeghaninMotion
(wiki) Meghaninmotion
Get in touch if you have tips for building
webs of knowledge & improving
GLAM-wiki relationships!