User:Iryna Harpy

General information
I am happy to avail myself for assistance in copy-editing entries, as well cite checks and discussions surrounding content.

I am also willing to assist with Ukrainian and Russian translations of articles into English (not vice versa). I think it prudent that I qualify why I have nominated to present myself as being a beginner in both those languages although I am far from being one. They were my first languages however, as I have not used them for many years, I no longer feel confident about writing in either. Nevertheless, I have no problems in reading and understanding them, and am proficient in the idiom, nuances and related aspects of these languages.

Skills
Professional background
 * Proof-reader (English language: British English and Australian English);
 * Researcher on multicultural and various socio-political issues for the Parliament of Australia;
 * Retired Lecturer/Tutor.

'Mission Statement' and bias
My aim is to assist in making Wikipedia a coherent and relevant resource.

Whilst I have, for professional reasons, cultivated an ability to remain as objective as is possible on any subject, it is inevitable that I will be predisposed towards allowing personal opinions to creep into any contributions I make. If you feel that I am allowing subjective preferences to override, please let me know.

It may appear that I'm highly verbose (erhem, read as self-evident!) but I am actually extremely skilled at being able to convey abstract concepts in lay (or 'concrete') terms... except on talk pages where I drone on and on and on. I'm committed to the idea of making the content as accessible as possible without sacrificing the comprehensive level of the subject matter.

Too much information
I'm a dried up old biddy with absolutely no sense of humour, irony or satire. I carry tissues in my bag for cleaning dirt off public transport seats while making much noise about, "What is the world coming to!" in order that everyone in the carriage cringes with embarrassment and is reminded of their mother.

The Zaporozhian Cossack userbox isn't indicative of an imagined alliance or allegiance... I am genuinely descended from Zaporozhian cossacks who fled the razing of Sich and ended up settling in Poltava. After so many decades on this planet, it's probably the only fact I know to be a fact.
 * Pssst, you... yes, you (if you're still reading)...

My ancestry does not determine my POV, nor does it define me in a more meaningful way than anything else that shapes any individual in our complex contemporary society. I have been called a Ukrainophile, a Ukrainophobe, a Russophile, an anti-Semite, a pro-Zionist, a pan-Slavic ideologue, a Kremlin stooge, the 'scourge of the earth' for deleting or reverting biased and pejorative 'contributions', ad nauseam. I choose to take it as a compliment in that, if other users can't quite get a handle on me, it means that I'm seriously trying to follow the spirit of the Wikipedia project.

Useful information and links
Template stolen from Jennavecia umpteen dozen times. Thank you, Jennavecia, for 'enabling' me to be a productive kleptomaniac!