User:Learmonth.p/reflection

Wikipedia Reflection
I have taken Wikipedia for granted for the past 10 years. I've been using it as a tool to fuel my curiosity and to learn about everything from American politics to my favorite bands. It isn't until now that I realize how much work goes into keeping Wikipedia a high quality and free resource for the public. I assumed Wikipedia was a place for people to copy and paste information and then move on with their lives. I didn't see it as a community of thousands of dedicated Wikipedians spending their valuable time contributing and editing to the website. After spending a few months on Wikipedia editing pages and creating my own page I've gained insight into Wikipedia and its community.

Learning the rules of Wikipedia including how to cite sources and edit pages was a challenge at first. I thought Wikipedia was just too difficult for newcomers. I've since realized that these extensive Wikipedia rules and norms might be beneficial to the community and the website. The time and commitment it takes to get to know the expectations of a Wikipedian acts as sort of an initiation for new users. Without this barrier of entry, anyone could join the site and contribute without taking the time to learn the rules and expectations of Wikipedia. This learning curve makes sure that only the most committed newcomers contribute quality information to Wikipedia. The first challenge I faced when contributing to Wikipedia was determining what to contribute. I spent the first few weeks searching topics I was interested in, but couldn't find any articles that weren’t already created. I also looked at Wikipedia zone list of articles that need to be repaired which was suggested by Wikipedians themselves, but couldn’t find anything I was interested in. I eventually chose to write about CDM Smith, a private civil engineering firm where I was a co-op from July to December 2015. The time it took me to find an article to create shows one of the first entry barriers for a newcomer. It's not often a casual Wikipedia user will come across something that needs editing or a page that needs creating, but instead these things need to be deliberately found.

The next challenge was to research CDM Smith and to learn how to cite the sources within my Wikipedia page. Finding reputable secondary sources about CDM Smith was difficult because they are a private company, but I managed to find a few extensive articles. My only hesitation with the sources I found was that they were behind a paywall, specifically academic databases, which I had access to as a student at Northeastern University. My concern was that other editors and moderators of Wikipedia would not be able to check the sources’ credibility without expensive subscription to these databases, but I was reassured by experienced Wikipedians that it was acceptable. After finding sources, I needed to cite them within my Wikipedia article. The only problem with citation on Wikipedia is that there are many different ways to go about it that are all of the preference. With the help of my professor I was able to choose a citation system that kept my prose from getting too cluttered while also organizing the citations at the end of the article. Although I like many aspects of Wikipedia I think one thing they could change to benefit newcomers is to pick one citation system. This would also benefit experienced Wikipedians. A few weeks after publishing my article I had an edit from someone who changed my citation system from one to another which directly put the links in my prose. I initially thought they did me a favor but it turns out they actually used a less effective system. Due to my naivete as a new user my page would have gotten a little worse without my knowledge.

Now that I had my article published with the necessary sources, it was time for me to make sure my article met the standards for a perfect Wikipedia article. The most important step of this is making sure that the page is not orphaned, meaning it is connected to other Wikipedia pages throughout. Wikipedia has a very extensive list of rules and norms but navigating them can be quite difficult for a newcomer. As a newcomer without advisement from an experienced Wikipedian, I don’t think I would have found the guidelines for a perfect article.

Wikipedia walks a fine line between being too intimidating for newcomers and being too easy and inviting to just anyone to contribute less than quality information. The old style interface, extensive rules and norms, and experienced community create an environment that is inclusive to those who want to adapt to Wikipedia’s standards. I’ve used Wikipedia for over 10 years without much thought of how it all came to be. I might contribute or offer some editing in the future, but I know for sure I will never take it for granted again.

Phil Learmonth (talk) 02:23, 20 April 2016 (UTC)