User:Kseguin82/sandbox

Topics For Assignment
For this assignment, I have chosen to search for three different topics to locate on both the Wikipedia and Canadian Encyclopedia webpages. The three topics that I have chosen to search for on these two websites are women in the military, gender studies and folk music. I chose to use these three topics because they have had a link to my life in some way at one point or another. Overall, these three topics interest me because of my education in sociology, the fact that I have many female friends in the military and my interest in music. As I began my searches for these topics on Wikipedia and The Canadian Encyclopedia, I essentially treated the search process as I would on any online source, like Google for example. Many online encyclopedias work in a very similar fashion as search engines, so navigating such web sites are relatively easy. The articles that I have chosen for this assignment are being used because they have very similar content in them, which makes it easier to compare when the time comes to do so.

Searching For Articles
When it came time to actually search for the articles needed for this assignment, it was a relatively simple task to find the articles. For both of these websites, it is simply a matter of typing in a certain topic into the search bar and finding the article (or articles) that best fits your needs. It would make sense to find articles that are as relevant as possible to what your initial search is. It is also only appropriate to search for subjects that are relevant to your topic. It would not make sense to want to research the history of folk music, but type in “diets for cats" into the Wikipedia search bar. With this being said, when I was searching for appropriate articles, I would type in words and phrases such as "folk music", "gender studies" or "women in the military" to find the best results as possible. This eventually lead me to the articles that I am currently using for this assignment. When I was searching for article sources on Wikipedia, I went to their search bar for appropriate topics. I searched for all three of my chosen topic through the search bar, and chose the article that I believed was the most suitable for each of the topics. I did this by sorting through many of the links that were associated with each of my topics until I found a suitable article. In order to determine this, I read or skimmed through each of the articles to confirm that they are legitimately linked to my topic and have factual information that is connected to my topics. The process for the Canadian Encyclopedia website for searching for articles was very much the same as the Wikipedia website. Though the Canadian Encyclopedia website works is a slightly different manner than the Wikipedia website, the outcomes are very much the same in the end of the search. However, the Canadian Encyclopedia website will give you various articles from your search for a particular subject matter, not just one specific article. Though many of these articles were relevant to what the initial search was, there were a few that were not. It is because of this that it is important to at least skim through articles to view their relevancy to your chosen subject.

Thoughts on Sources Used
Though sites such as Wikipedia and The Canadian Encyclopedia are very similar in nature, there are differences to them if you look closely. Wikipedia is a site that is more geared to allowing anyone from the world to edit the documents (adding or taking away information). Depending on the given article on Wikipedia, there will either be many credible sources for the article or absolutely none. The Canadian Encyclopedia seems to be more of a website that is designed for fewer people’s input. All of the articles that I have used for this assignment, there in only one author, if there is one listed. This website only seems to link up to other articles that are associated to its own website, also. If I had to state if one of these websites was better than the other, I would say that the Wikipedia website is the better of the two for a few reasons. Though the information given on Wikipedia is not always accurate, it does allow people to edit out information that is not accurate and provide proper information. If anyone knows the purpose of Wikipedia, you know that it is a site that was created to allow people have control over information sharing and that is what it does. Wikipedia, when it is done right, also has more links to scholarly and peer reviewed articles, historical documents that are difficult to locate, legal documents, ect. From what I have noticed, The Canadian Encyclopedia does not usually have these types of links, at least the many articles that I have looked at do not.

Wikipedia Article on “Gender Studies”
This Wikipedia article speaks about various things that are connected to gender studies. It talks about what gender studies actually is and how gender studies as a whole defines “gender”. Depending on the lens and discipline that you are using to look at gender, the word “gender” will have different meanings depending on the context, which is something that this article also addresses. This article has sections on some key players in Gender Theory from the sociological and psychiatric points of view, such as Judith Butler (sociologist) and Sigmund Freud (psychologist). This article also gives an extremely brief outline of the history of Gender Studies in more Western society. It also gives a general list of people who have been associated with Gender Studies throughout its history. This article describes that there are different ways of looking at gender through the use of societal expectations of what "gender" is and what biology says what gender is.Gender studies

Canadian Encyclopedia Article on “Women’s Studies”
This article specifically speaks about Women’s Studies and not just Gender Studies in general. It covers a few topics, such as Women’s Studies within Post-Secondary education in Canada and its history, sexism in scholarship research/writing/theory, and its relationship with the Women’s Movement. This article briefly discusses what Women’s Studies is and briefly outlines its history in Canadian society and education system. It also gives a small list of recommended readings about Women’s Studies in general for people who are interested in the subject. Outside of this, this article does not go into any depth into any of these subjects and only redirects you to other Canadian Encyclopedia articles that are vaguely related to the original topic of Women’s Studies. 

Comparison of Wikipedia and Canadian Encyclopedia Articles- Information
Though these two articles are about slightly different things, they are very much comparable to each other because Women’s Studies is a sub-topic of Gender Studies. In certain cases, both of these articles discuss very similar things, such as the history of Gender and Women’s studies and some of the issues that Gender and Women’s studies has faced since they have become popular topics (such as sexism and discrimination and issues with these studies as a whole). Both of these articles discuss the issues that some people have with the study of Women’s Studies and Gender Studies, as some see it as a study that only mainly looks at Women’s issues, (see Rosi Braidotti’s comments in the Wikipedia article). Both of these discuss important ideas about Gender and Women’s studies, such as the development of the ideas and theories about gender, important figures, and how the subjects are taught within mainly post secondary institutions.

To a point, both of these articles will bring you to other articles with more information that is related to article that you are reading. If we look at the Wikipedia article, we can see that Wikipedia has more links to other articles about things that are related to Gender Studies, such as some Gender Theorists, Men’s Studies, academic studies with Gender Studies, and other theory. All of these links are within the Wikipedia article itself. The Canadian Encyclopedia article also has a few linked articles that are somewhat related to Women’s Studies, such as links to universities that off Gender Studies courses, sexism, language and the federal government. Wikipedia does a better job at giving other links that are directly related to Gender Studies in this case. The links that the Canadian Encyclopedia provides are just other articles that are related to the topics that you click on and do not necessarily relate back to Women’s Studies or Gender Studies. For example, you can click on “Federal Government” at the end the Canadian Encyclopedia article about Women’s studies and the first article about “Federal Government” is just about what a federal government is and continues on like that with every other article that is brought up about a federal government. In the Wikipedia article about Gender Studies, if you click on the word “Sociology” in the first paragraph, you will be brought to an article about sociology, but you will see that this article also talk about gender in sociology.

What is good about the Wikipedia article is that you see that there are changes and edits being made to the article. If you look at the editing history of the Gender Studies article, you can see that it gets revised on a regular basis. The Canadian Encyclopedia article states that is has been edited recently, but we do not know who was responsible for the edit and what information was taken out or put in. Since we do not know the sources of information for the article, we do not know the accuracy of the editing for this article.

Source material in Wikipedia and the Canadian Encyclopedia
If we look at the source material, references, contributors and other reading for both of these articles, we can see that the Wikipedia article is the more superior article in this case. The Wikipedia article has more obvious sources for its article and has many contributors to the article (which can also be traced). This particular Wikipedia article provides citations at the bottom of the page where sources can be found. These sources do very in academic journal articles, books, and other sources. Generally speaking, the source material is relevant and accessible to anyone who wants to, though broken or outdated links might be an issue at times. Though the Canadian Encyclopedia article has a listed author to it, it does not have any material that is listed as credible source material- they have absolutely no sources listed at all. The Canadian Encyclopedia article has no citations has to where the information comes from, which makes it difficult to figure out whether or not the information is correct and accurate.

Assessment of Wikipedia and Canadian Encyclopedia Articles
From looking at both of these articles (and other ones), it is safe to say that the Wikipedia article is far better than the Canadian Encyclopedia article. This is for many reasons, the main reason being the fact that the Wikipedia article expands on its information and also gives citations for its information. Despite the fact that the sources of information are not always accurate and are far from being authorities of the information, there is still the acknowledgement of the works and information from those who are using Wikipedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia states that there is one author to the article in many cases, however, there is rarely (if not ever) a citations section to the articles. If there are any indications of acknowledging source information, it is linked to other Canadian Encyclopedia authors and articles. This suggests to me that authority information is not that important to the Canadian Encyclopedia, that just having information is good enough (whether it is correct or not). Though Wikipedia in general does not always have correct or current information, it seeks out the proper information and source material used by its users and participants. There is no clear indication of these being done by the Canadian Encyclopedia.

The Wikipedia article is better because of the fact that it has explanations about its topics, where the Canadian Encyclopedia hardly has any explanation. Though the Canadian Encyclopedia provides brief information about its topics, it is hardly enough information that allows one to learn more about the topic. Wikipedia is generally a website that leads you to other pages within the site that directly relate to the page you are looking at, while providing many external links to other relevant information. What this does is allows you to learn more information. Particularly with this Wikipedia article, we can see that there are significant theorists in the field of Gender/Women’s studies, ideas, a history of Gender/Women’s studies and issues that go along with it. With the Canadian Encyclopedia, we can only see that there are generalities with the information that they are providing. When we see generalities, it usually means that there is a lack of information.

A Note About My Sources
I have chosen ten other books that are related to Gender Studies and Women's Studies. Since Gender Studies and Women's Studies are subjects that cross over many disciplines, like history, sociology and psychology, it is important to have books and articles that reflect that. The sources used speak about a wide range of topics that all relate back to the idea of gender, masculinity, femininity and what these things can mean in different cultures and time eras. Some of these articles and books speak more about theory when it comes to gender (Judith Butler, Erving Goffman). Many others from my list deal with the historical contexts of gender, such Myra Rutherdale's article and Margaret Randolph Higonnet's book. However, many of these books and articles deal with more general topics relating back to the idea of gender and how it is interpreted and how we study it throughout society.

My Sources
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex" 1st (paperback) ed. Routledge, 2006. Print.

McNay, Lois. Gender and Agency: Reconfiguring the Subject in Feminist and Social Theory. 1st ed. Polity, 2001. Print.

Adams, Rachel, and David Savran. The Masculinity Studies Reader. Etobicoke: Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. Print.

Rutherdale, Myra. "Canadian Methodist Women, 1766–1925: Marys, Marthas, Mothers in Israel." University of Toronto Quarterly (2007): 253-54. Project Muse. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. .

Burfoot, Annette, and Susan Lord. Killing Women: The Visual Culture of Gender and Violence (Cultural Studies Series). Cultural Studies Series (Book 6) ed. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2006. Print.

Zemon Davis, Natalie. ""Women's History" in Transition: The European Case." Feminist Studies 3.3/4 (1976): 83-103. JSTOR. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. .

Randolph Higonnet, Margaret. Behind the Lines : Gender and the Two World Wars. New Haven: Yale UP, 1987. Print.

Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. English ed. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1959. Print.

Epp, Marlene, Franca Iacovetta, and Frances Swyripa. Sisters or Strangers?: Immigrant, Ethnic, and Racialized Women in Canadian History (Studies in Gender and History). Paperback ed. Vol. Studies in Gender and History. Toronto: U of Toronto, 2004. Print.

Dietrich, Linnea S. "Avant-Garde Gambits 1888-1893: Gender and the Color of Art History."Woman's Art Journal 16.1: 56-58. Jstor. Web. 29 Oct. 2014. .