User:ShaneGero/draft course page/Timeline

Who Can Participate?

 * You do not need to be a member of the Society to participate in the SMM WikiSprint
 * If you work with or study marine mammals, you can take part.
 * REGARDLESS of your expertise or experience with editing Wikipedia.
 * We are looking for professors, graduate students, trainers, managers, and enthusiasts to help share current knowledge of marine mammals.

What you need to do to Participate
1. Get a Wikipedia account: [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Main+Page&type=signup Create Account] 2. Enroll as a “student” in the top left corner of this page. - NOTE: you must be logged into Wikipedia for this to work 3. Take the Wikipedia Tutorial 4. Make sure to "ADD ARTICLE" beside your username in the student table below before editing each article or we will not be able to track your contributions to the WikiSprint. 5. Start Editing - it's that simple

Key Goals
While you are free to contribute to the articles in which you are most interested, keep in mind the Marine Mammal WikiSprints key goals:

1. Create a community of expert editors who are passionate about public access to science

2. Give focus to referencing statements so that Wikipedia can act as a portal to primary literature

3. Produce accurate and up-to-date species articles

4. Have fun!

Key Tasks to undertake
There are some key additions that the Society for Marine Mammalogy has identified and if you're interested in contributing to the development of those pages please find the list below.
 * Create species articles for all missing species in the SMM’s taxonomical listing found at List of marine mammal species. NOTE: The new ORDER Cetartiodactyla which replaces the Cetacea with Mysticeti and Odontoceti as suborders.
 * Include details about all subspecies in articles about the species.
 * Update IUCN red list of threatened species conservation status to species articles.
 * Ensure taxonomical accuracy based on the List of marine mammal species which is based on The Socitey for Marine Mammalogy's List of Marine Mammal Species & Subspecies.

Examplar Species Articles
WikiEducation Foundation Content Expert User:Ian(Wiki Ed) has developed a template for species pages with examples.


 * Featured articles: Excellent articles for examples - but confirm taxonomy
 * Blue whale
 * Fin whale
 * Orca
 * Pinniped
 * Sea Otter


 * Good articles: to use as examples - but confirm taxonomy
 * Sperm whale
 * Polar Bear
 * Walrus
 * Dugong
 * Bottlenose dolphin
 * California sea lion


 * Related pages which need attention - Particularly stronger referencing:


 * Cetartiodactyla - clarify it is now the accepted order including the cetaceans
 * Cetacea - to highlight it is unranked and no longer the Order
 * Mysticeti - to highlight it is unranked
 * Odontoceti - to highlight it is unranked
 * The effects of climate change on marine mammals
 * Whale vocalization
 * List of cetaceans
 * Marine mammals as food
 * Whaling
 * Cetacean intelligence
 * Subspecies
 * Look at the Things to Do section of the Portal:Cetaceans
 * See here for other articles listed under the Category of Marine Mammals

Edit Conflicts
It is possible with many of us focusing on marine mammal articles that two editors are working on the same article at the same time. This could lead to conflicting edits. Consider if, person A and B are editing the same page but A saves first. Then when B saves they are trying to save their edits within an outdated version of the article. In this case, Wikipedia will respond with an "edit conflict" page, because the software can't independently reconcile the differing edits made by A and B's to the article. The conflict page gives B an opportunity to adjust their edits to the differences A made). Good rules of thumb to minimize edit conflicts:
 * Edit the smallest portion of the article necessary at one time by using the [edit] buttons for a given section and not the edit tab for the entire article
 * Wikipedia also has an "In Use" notice if you intend on conducting a major edit a given article for over a longer time period. Simply put inuse on an article before proceeding with a major edit, and remove the template when the editing is complete.
 * To learn more about how Wikipedia deals with these conflicts read here: Edit Conflicts

Now until January 18th

 * Tasks
 * Get a Wikipedia Account: : [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Main+Page&type=signup Create Account]
 * Enroll in the Marine Mammal WikiSprint on this page
 * Learn from the Resources page about editing, illustrating, and adding content to Wikipedia
 * Take the Wikipedia Tutorial

Day 1: January 19 - Everyone is onboard
Welcome! Thanks for being passionate enough about marine mammals to get involved in the Marine Mammal WikiSprint!


 * Tasks
 * Establish your user page - let people know who you are and why you're editing
 * Take the Wikipedia Tutorial, if you haven't already, to learn the basics.


 * Milestone:
 * All involved have Wikipedia user accounts, have added to their user page, and are enrolled here on the course page.

Day 2: January 20 - Getting Started with Edits
Wikipedia is bigger than anyone realizes, so there is so much you can contribute. Whether you're a researcher, graduate student, trainer, government manager, or enthusiast; there are places your understanding can improve the content of the articles. Try to figure out which articles your interests and expertise will improve: “Evaluating Wikipedia article quality”


 * Tasks
 * Get editing!
 * Consider starting with the species you study or know best. If you work with polar bears, start with the article on Polar bears.
 * Whatever article you choose to edit, make sure you "ADD ARTICLE" next to your user name in the student table below!

Day 2: January 20 - Giving Wikipedia your Expertise
A common complaint of many professors and teachers is that Wikipedia is not a well grounded reference for information. Nonetheless, the public assess basic information about marine mammal behavior, species facts, conservation issues, and taxonomy here everyday.

A key initiative for this Marine Mammal WikiSprint is to support as much of the content, existing or added by us, with trustworthy references. We are looking to our expert members to bring real backing to the articles where it is lacking. Given that millions of users access Wikipedia for facts everyday, lets allow them to move deeper to primary literature by linking in references that support the content online.


 * Tasks
 * Learn how to reference your sources with Help:Referencing for beginners or with this PDF: Citing sources on Wikipedia

Day 4: January 21 - Communicating with each other and inviting colleagues
The Wikipedia community is a diverse place and everyone's edits carry the same weight. Editors have distinct backgrounds, varied ideas, and bring different abilities to the articles. Whether you have a PhD in physiology or just like seals, your edits will be included together in articles about pinnipeds.


 * Tasks
 * Use a user talk page to get in touch with someone else about an article you are both editing
 * Get someone else to join our mission this week - invite them to Enroll in the WikiSprint

Day5: January 22 - Exploring deeper in the topic area
Although there is likely lots to be done, try not to spend all week editing a single article. Part of the fantastic functionality of an online encyclopedia is that you can link between articles in an instant. Today try to move to another linked article from that you have been editing.


 * Tasks
 * Move from the article you edited yesterday by linking within to another relevant article - and assess and edit that article

Day 6: January 24 - Maintaining a relationship with your pages
Wikipedia articles are living in real time. Users from around the world can add and subtract content at any time. Wikipedia has a feature that allows you to add specific articles and be notified of changes when they happen. If you have been passionate enough to add your expertise to an article this week, make sure you continue to do so, by monitoring those articles in the future.


 * Tasks
 * Add the articles you have been editing to your watchlist, so that you can monitor changes as the happen in real time.

Day 7: January 25 - Wrapping up the Sprint
We did it! This has been the first big push to get the Society for Marine Mammalogy active as expert users of Wikipedia. As a community, we have increased public access to accurate information about marine mammal species, their habitat, and the conservation issues surrounding them.


 * Tasks
 * clean up any thing you have been working on this week
 * keep an eye on your watchlist for future edits and updating.

For the Future
KEEP Editing!'
 * Don't let this be the end of your involvement with Wikipedia. Most of the world access informatics through this website, including about the animals.
 * Add this course page to your watchlist so that you can stay current with the next SMM WikiSprint upcoming this year.