Wikipedia:GLAM/The Children's Museum of Indianapolis/MAP

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Sharing the Children's Museum's Treasures: A MAP Wikipedia Project
This page is a step-by-step guide for students in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis' Museum Apprentice Program (MAPs). From January to April 2011, students will be researching notable objects in the Children's Museum's collection and creating Wikipedia articles to share their work.

Meeting 1: Get started[edit]

  • The Wikipedia Leader should guide the team through the following steps, reading them out loud as you go.
  • The Progress Reporter should follow along with the Wikipedia Progress Guide and check off each section as you go.
  • If any questions arise at any step the Progress Reporter should write them down on the Wikipedia Progress Guide.
  • Read Guidance for Young Editors as a team. There are also multiple printed copies of this article in your Research Notebook.

Create your account[edit]

Decide on a username that is not your real name.

  • Each Wikipedia Leader on your team should create a personal account.
  • Sharing an account is not allowed in Wikipedia, so you should not create an account for your team as a whole.
  1. Click on the blue link "Create Account" in the top right corner.
  2. Click on the blue link "Create One" in the sign in box.
  3. Fill out the information on the page (email is not necessary) and click the "Create Account" button.
  4. Your username will now appear in red in the top right corner.

Wikipedia tutorial[edit]

Begin this tutorial to get you started on basic editing, formatting, and citation guidelines.

  • This week complete only the first four tabs.
  • The Wikipedia Leader should read each section aloud (they're short).
  1. Introduction: You do not have to watch the video
  2. Editing: After you finish reading this tab, be sure to Try Editing in the Sandbox as they suggest.
  3. Formatting: After you finish reading this tab, try to add bolding, italics & headings in the Sandbox.
  4. Wikipedia Links: After you finish reading this tab, try to add some links and categories in the Sandbox.

Important readings[edit]

It is important that you read about the Five Pillars of Wikipedia. Read this together as a team.

Meeting 2: Create your userpages[edit]

Review Wikipedia policies on references[edit]

Make sure everyone understands the Five Pillars as well as the policies of No Original Research, Verifiability, and Notability.

  • These policies are important to understand as your team begins compiling your research.
  • The Wikipedia Leaders and the Research Leaders should understand what counts as a verifiable reference, and what makes your article topic notable.
  1. Return to the Tutorial and complete the fifth tab, titled Citations.
  2. Citations: After you finish reading this tab, try out using the reference markup code in the sandbox.

Create your userpage[edit]

Creating a user page will be your first time editing in Wikipedia!

  • The “Creating a userpage” document will walk you through the steps involved in setting up your userpage.
  • Use the WikiMarkup Cheat Sheet as you begin your edits.
  1. Make sure you're signed in.
  2. Click on your user name, which is a red link, in the top right corner.
  3. Click the “Edit” tab (located between “Read” and “View History”) to make several edits to your userpage.
  4. Do not include any personal information about yourself, however it's OK to say that you're a student working on a project with the Children's Museum.

Create a draft/sandbox[edit]

A sandbox is a subpage of your userpage that can be used for drafting articles.

  • These pages are not live articles, so they do not have to meet all of the Manual of Style requirements.
  • Each team should make only one draft for their article. Choose which Wikipedia Leader's userpage you will create it on.
  1. Go to your user page and click on the Edit tab.
  2. On the Edit page type: [[User:You/Draft]]. Exchange "You" for your username. This will create the sandbox. (Name it anything you like, as long as you include the backslash).
  3. Click Save to save your edit screen and take you back to your user page.The link will be red, which means that the page does not exist yet.
  4. Click on the link, and it will bring up a screen that says "Wikipedia does not have a user page with this exact name."
  5. Type something in the Edit box and click Save. This will create your draft page.

Meeting 3: Compile your research[edit]

Add the GLAM article template[edit]

GLAM stands for Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums. We will use the resources of GLAM so that our formatting corresponds with other artifact articles.

  • You will use the GLAM Article Template as a way to automatically add headings and an infobox to your draft and article.
  • The template includes an empty Infobox to be filled out and detailed suggestions for the content to be placed under each heading
  1. Copy the following text and paste it into your new subpage: {{subst:GLAM Article}}
  2. Save the page and include a note in the Edit summary such as "GLAM template". You'll notice that the page now has new headings.
  3. Edit your draft again to see the template code, which includes suggestions in brackets that look like <!-- this-->. Do not put your content in between these brackets or it will not appear when you save it. The information in the brackets is just there to remind you what to put where.
  4. Remove all of the suggestions and brackets (<!-- content-->) after you've added your research and filled out the infobox. Only the research, references, and WikiMarkup that you added should remain (in addition to the headings and Infobox).

Add your research and references[edit]

You will now flesh out your article on your draft page before making it live. You can add your research and references as you review them.

  • Using the information your team has gathered about WikiMarkup, verifiability, and no original research, begin to add your research and references to your article draft.
  • This can be added to over the coming month and at your next session.
  • Don't forget the WikiMarkup Cheatsheet as you begin to edit your draft.
  1. Working with the Reference Leaders, begin to add your notes under the appropriate headings in the article draft.
  2. Go to the Reference Generator Tool and use your Reference Worksheet to add in the information you know. Be sure to click the appropriate type of source on the left side (is it a book, journal article, newspaper article, or something else?)
  3. Click "Get reference Wiki text" and copy the code.
  4. Paste the code (which is the citation) directly after each fact you are citing in the article. This will create in-line citations.
  5. When you add notes from another source, return to the Reference Generator Tool and create new code for that source.
  6. Repeat this process until all of your notes (each statement followed by a citation) are added into the article.

Meeting 4: Make your article live[edit]

Create your article's page[edit]

Your article may not be complete; that's fine! As long as you've filled out the InfoBox and added to some of the headings, your article can go live.

  1. Click Edit on your article draft page.
  2. Copy all of the code off of the page.
  3. Click on the red link of your article:
    Bucky (Tyrannosaurus rex), Fireworks of Glass, Captain Kidd's cannon, Reuben Wells (steam engine), Water clock (Indianapolis).
  4. Paste the code from your article draft into the Edit box and click Save. Your article is now live!

Add tags and categories[edit]

Adding tags and categories will prevent your article from being tagged an orphan.

  1. Click on the Talk Page (Discussion tab) of your article and click Edit.
  2. Copy and pate the following template: {{EducationalAssignment}} onto the article's Talk Page.
  3. Go back to your article's main page and click Edit.
  4. Add [[Category:The Children's Museum of Indianapolis]] to the bottom of the article. It should appear on the article's main page (not the Talk Page).
  5. Find any other appropriate categories to add to your article. In the Wikipedia search box type Category: followed by whatever category topic you are searching for. If the category exists, add it. (Example: Dinosaurs, Archaeology, Public Art).
  6. It is preferred that you include the most specific category possible (for example: "Glass artworks" instead of "artwork".)

Add an image[edit]

There are many concerns about copyright that need to be considered before uploading a new image to Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons.

  • Images should be added to your article only after it is live, not when it is still in draft form.
  1. Check the Commons Category:Children's Museum of Indianapolis for images already uploaded of your topic.
  2. Click on your image to bring up its page in Commons.
  3. Click "Use this file" next to the Wikipedia symbol, located above the image.
  4. Copy the top option, which will look like [[File:Baby Louie oviraptorid.jpg|thumb|Baby Louie oviraptorid]].
  5. Click on the Edit tab of your article.
  6. Paste the image code into the InfoBox after the words Image =.
  7. In the code, replace the word thumb with 300px to make it the appropriate size for an InfoBox.
  8. Add an edit summary such as "Added image" and click Save.

Edit and add more[edit]

Now that your article is live, check to make sure that your article uses citations correctly and has no major grammar issues.

  • Wikipedia articles can always be added to! They are never actually "done."
  1. Read through your article to make sure that it flows well, sentences are clear, and information is under the heading that makes the most sense.
  2. Remove headings that you didn't use (such as possibly Artist), or combine headings that are too short. If one heading seems long, you can add a subheading under it if it makes sense to do.
  3. Make sure that each fact has a citation immediately following it.
  4. Be sure to add any new research (and appropriate citations) that your team has compiled since the last meeting.

Share your work[edit]

Now that you've worked so hard to research your topics and share the information on Wikipedia, make sure people see it!

  • Link your article: Go to other Wikipedia articles that mention your topic and make sure they link to your article.
  • Did You Know: If your article is new, or you expanded the content of an article by five (known as "five times expanded"), your article is eligible for the Did You Know column on the Wikipedia Main Page.
- Submit your nomination!
- Use the Assessment Quality Scale to get a sense of where your article stands.
- Ask for help in assessing your article.
- Request your article be peer reviewed for Good Article or Featured Article status.

Help[edit]

Use these resources to find help anytime, anywhere: whether you're in your teams or working from home.

Guides and check lists[edit]

Sandbox help[edit]

Help from a person[edit]

  • {{Helpme}}: Place this template into your talk page and a Wikipedian will come help you.
  • Wikipedia:New contributors' help page: Go here to post specific questions and receive quick help.

Everything you need to know[edit]

Wikipedians are always available to help you!

  • Find your answer at Wikipedia:Help
  • Click Show on the templates below for a number of helpful links.

Tutorial videos[edit]