User:Snarfa

From June 2012 to 31 July 2014, I was project manager of Communicate OER. This project aimed to build the Wikipedia community and the quality of Wikipedia content. I did very little editing in article space in connection with this project. When I did, it was in order to assist and train new Wikipedia contributors, not to advance an editorial objective. Feel free to contact me on my talk page if you have questions, ideas, or concerns relating to that work.

Welcome to my user page


Hi there! I'm Sara Frank (Bristow), a project manager and researcher focusing on health informatics and education technology. I presently work as a Program Manager for the Center for Health Information Partnerships at Northwestern University. In the recent past I worked mainly on policy and practice for blended/virtual K-12, online higher education, and open educational resources (OER) –  with a focus on the use of wikis as research, education, and dissemination tools; my company is Salient Research. I've been in this line of work since 2002.

I had the honor of working with Pete Forsyth and Bob Cummings on the Communicate OER project to improve Wikipedia articles related to open educational resources from June 2012-July 2014; we ran our fourth course on Writing Wikipedia Articles from February to April 2014. Course materials are available here.

What, me edit Wikipedia?
I first edited Wikipedia in 2007 because I couldn't stand all those blasted typos. Sheesh. I stopped logging in to my account at some point because I didn't fully understand or engage with the Wikipedia peer review process - I regret that now. Most of my 2012-2013 Wikipedia work was related to the Communicate OER project. Prior to that I worked extensively on the MediaWiki-based Re.ViCa and VISCED projects from 2010-2012; I even wrote the bulk of the Re.ViCa/VISCED Wiki FAQ - which was, or seemed, accurate at the time. My contributions to the inventory of US virtual colleges and schools during that time period are visible here.

Conflict of Interest?
I'd like to be able to edit the article on UKeU (UK eUniversities Worldwide Limited), which seems to need some citations and general tonal updating as of January 12 2015. Some may see a potential conflict of interest as I did some work for UKeU in 2003-2004. Please contact me if you have concerns about my contributing to this article.

Stuff that helps people edit Wikipedia
I've learned a lot about how to edit Wikipedia! It's a process.
 * Editing - The basics of editing this modern marvel
 * Brochure on editing Wikipedia - This great, actually
 * Wikipedians - Who on earth do we think we are?
 * Five pillars - The fundamental principles of Wikipedia
 * Policies and guidelines - Not the same thing
 * Notability - Who/what actually gets an article, you ask?
 * Manual of Style - Who doesn't need one of those?
 * Conflict of interest - This is really, really important
 * Info about wiki markup - Get your geek on
 * Featured content - You want to write a featured article, someday. Don't you?

See also the self-paced version of the WIKISOO Writing Wikipedia Articles course for course materials and videos - if you're ready for the Deep Dive!

Further suggestions are welcome on my talk page.

Tribute to Adrianne Wadewitz
I met Adrianne Wadewitz only once, and only virtually, when she was a guest panelist for our online Writing Wikipedia Articles course in 2013. She was a passionate speaker and very inspiring to our students. An editor from 2004, Adrianne was on the board of the Wiki Education Foundation, and an advocate for female editors of Wikipedia - who comprised only 9% of Wikipedia editors as of April 2014, the month of her tragic death at the age of 37. Adrianne's is the first face you see in the. Adrianne inspires my continued work here, meager as it is, and I highly recommend the touching Wikipedia Signpost tribute to those seeking a fuller picture of her work and legacy.