User:Astrocog

'''Welcome to Wikipedia! I am AstroCog.'''

I live in the state of New York. I am a science teacher by profession. Editing Wikipedia and participating in the project is an ongoing hobby of mine. I find Wikipedia to be one of the most useful websites on the internet. Becoming an active editor requires practice and perseverance, but such effort is rewarded with a fulfilling community experience.

Five pillars
Are you a new editor? I think it would be valuable for you to familiarize yourself with the core principles of Wikipedia:

Wikipedia help
Helpful information for everything else can be found here:

Statement of Philosophy
I am here to contribute to the content, maintenance, and community culture of the encyclopedia. I originally started as an editor to improve a single article. It took two years, but that article was promoted to featured article status. Along the way, I learned how to edit, engage in civil discussions with other editors, and how to navigate the policy thicket of this website. I also learned how to do better library research, using databases and library collections to find source material.

Originally trained as a professional astronomer, I have a background and knowledge useful to projects involving science, particularly astronomy. I regularly contribute to discussions at WikiProject Astronomy, and I was the primary author of the notability guideline for astronomical objects. Writing the guideline, and shepherding it through the proposal and voting process allowed me to develop skills in diplomacy and argument building, as necessary for engaging in the culture of Wikipedia editors.

I am more interested in adding substantive content to the encyclopedia than in the busywork of minor edits, though I applaud and recognize the effort of those editors who fix grammar, spelling, and work tirelessly in the background on formatting, layout, infoboxes, etc. My relatively small edit count I think shows two things: While I edit regularly, mainly reverting vandalism and generally fixing pages on my watchlist, my best contributions come in spurts when I am engaged in a content project.

I believe strongly that Wikipedia should be comprised of information that is valuable to readers, and I have participated in deletion arguments for content that I think is unencyclopedic. Not every person should have a mainspace article. Not every rock or star in the cosmos should have a mainspace article. A tendency among some editors to create articles for, well, everything they come across, dilutes the encyclopedia, in my opinion. If this makes me a deletionist, so be it. I do agree with fellow editor DGG in that if a reader should find something useful if they search for it. However, what they find need not be an article. It could be a section of an article. It could be information in a list. My point is that not everything needs an article.

Because of its crowd-sourced nature, Wikipedia has lent itself to millions of articles on relatively esoteric and specific topics - depending on the interest of the particular editor. This is understandable. But this has had the unfortunate side-effect of creating a high number of articles pertaining to pop culture and niche phenomena (ships, planes, trains, hurricanes, etc) compared to what are considers vital articles for an encyclopedia. I admit to being a part of the problem, having edited many articles related to television and film. However, my involvement in Wikipedia encompasses many varied aspects of content editing and maintenance, and I think I do not ‘’always’’ limit myself to just those topics that are of immediate interest to me.

If the encyclopedia is to thrive and remain competitive in the future with other information sources on the internet, a strategic effort to strengthen its core, especially vital articles, must be sustained. Additionally, efforts to increase the number of female and minority editors ‘’who persevere’’ must continue. Education and outreach to new and potential editors must be sustained, especially in schools and public events.

Useful Tools

 * I use this reference generator all the time.

Featured Articles

 * 1)  The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. - With the exception of a few sentences, I researched and wrote this entire article, which was in bad shape when I found it.

Background of WP work

 * Notability (astronomical objects)

Pages I created

 * Brisco County, Jr. (character)
 * Star trail
 * List of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. episodes
 * Frederick Stephani
 * David Simkins
 * /Niels Nielsen Alling
 * /Perth Amboy Evening News
 * PSO J318.5-22

Templates

 * /Template:astrocog_test

Sandbox

 * /Sandbox
 * /Milky Way reboot
 * /Giroux Daguerreotype - first commercially-produced camera
 * Template:Camera brands

Barnstars
Barnstars