User:Bemmax

Welcome to my userpage
My name is Bem Max Nomor. I am a historian, journalist, broadcaster and Wikipedian. I am an encyclopaedia enthusiast par excellence.

My interest in encyclopaedias
My dad had a good collection of encyclopaedias: general and specific fields. So I grew up reading encyclopaedias and less of novels as my peers. I virtually read through the entire 16 volumes of the Harver Junior World Encyclopaedia which was my favourite because it was elementary, concise and easy to understand. I also read the Life Cycle Library for Young People (an encyclopaedia of human life) extensively.

During world sporting events and when specific countries were in the news, I read the Encyclopaedia of Nations to have a basic understanding those countries. The Medical Encyclopedia was handy when I needed to understand diseases and medical terminologies. Other encyclopaedias I used sometimes were Britannica and Americana.

When my dad bought our first family desktop computer in 2002, I was introduced to Encarta Encyclopaedia; and because it was multimedia, I found it more interesting.

While at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, sometimes I would spend the weekend with my friend, Kingsley Wonotanzokan Tagowa, who had a laptop installed with Encarta Encyclopaedia.

Always, I would go to Kashim Ibrahim Library (KIL) and queue up for a-40-minute-access-session to Encarta encyclopaedia.

When I discovered Wikipedia
I discovered Wikipedia while researching for a term paper for my undergraduate degree in 2004. It was as interesting as Encarta but more because almost all related articles were hyperlinked. The irresistible urge to learn more about a subject would sometimes lead me into the ‘wilderness.’ More amazing was the fact that it had up-to-the-minute information. I remember marvelling at how they were able to achieve it.

My obsession with Wikipedia became an addiction such that sometimes I would spend all-night in an internet café reading randomly through articles. But I didn’t start editing until 2009.

My mission on Wikipedia
I spend most of my time editing content relating to Africa and Nigeria in particular. As a graduate of history, I also edit historical articles on topics I am conversant with. As a journalist off-Wikipedia and random page patroller here, I help in copyediting articles. I will be joining Wikinews soon.

In the nearest future, I intend to become a Wikipedian in Residence in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums, (GLAM) and cultural heritage institutions in my locality to broaden Wikimedia content.

My vision on Wikipedia
My vision is to be the highest contributor of indigenous African content on Wikipedia.

I also hope to become a Wikipedia Ambassador when I have time.

My works on Wikipedia
I am a member of Wikipedia's guild of copyeditors and a random page patroller. I am a participant of WikiProject Clean Up, WikiProject Cities and WikiProject Africa and WikiProject Nigeria.