User:TSchiroMGA/NMAC 3108 Journal

May 29, 2019 - 22:00 - Introduction
I am a senior at MGA. I hope to learn how to use the Wikipedia platform correctly and make a major contribution to the community by taking this course. I like to write so this class plays well into my existing interests. I wish everyone success in this course.

May 29, 2019 - 23:30 - Beginning with Wikipedia and Training Success!
This is my first serious attempt to work as a true content creator for Wikipedia. So far, I have created my Wikipedia account and I have linked it to WikiEdu.

I have successfully linked my Wikipedia account to WikiEdu and have already completed 3 training modules! I am excited to get started on the Wiki platform. I have learned how to evaluate an article's quality. That is very interesting and important in order to be able to evaluate my own work by the given standards.
 * Great work. I love your enthusiasm. Don't get too far ahead in the training. They will be scheduled each week. —Grlucas (talk) 11:37, 31 May 2019 (UTC)


 * How has working with Wikipedia been for you? If I'm honest, it's been a bit challenging, however, I'm grateful that this challenge will allow us to obtain a new skill.—Raequel.Sank (talk) 22:37, 2 June 2019
 * I agree that it has been challenging. New skills are always that way. Hopefully, we will be able to make a meaningful impact for the world.—TSchiroMGA (talk) 06:09, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

May 31, 2019 - 02:00 - Working on Discussions
Answering the Discussion postings proved to be harder than I imagined it might be. I had a hard time getting the reference tags working. In the end, so far I only have a couple of sentences written for the Second Week's discussion and a corresponding header. I plan to learn more about Wikipedia syntax soon so I can be more adept at editing its code and hopefully experience fewer errors. I plan to add more content soon to that page!
 * Remember, too, you can always practice in your sandbox and on this page. Keep up the good work. —Grlucas (talk) 11:37, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

June 4, 2019 - 12:21 - Editing Discussions
Today I added headers for the Discussion questions. I also researched and added in a reference in order to support the page's content. It required me to do some manual editing of the reference because my initial attempt generated an error. However, I was able to get it to work. Wikipedia's software automatically created the table of contents for the article. This helps to relieve a step. I learned that the software will generate a TOC for any document with three or more headings. I had to correct the References section heading because the software tried to place it as a subsection of section 3 rather than in its own area. The page needs a lot more work, however. More content is needed and a lot more references should be used in order to support the page's arguments. TSchiroMGA (talk) 04:25, 4 June 2019 (UTC)


 * You're making a lot of progress already. That's great. It's funny that you mentioned Wikipedia's software automatically creates the table of contents. I did not know this. I thought I was some sort of genius when the table automatically came up. It's good to know Wikipedia has our backs --AmaniSensei (talk) 15:31, 4 June 2019 (UTC)


 * Nice work. I agree that you are making a lot of progress and becoming quite familiar with the interface and editing process.  It is encouraging to know that a fellow classmate, with some attempting and experience can accomplish new feats on here.  Still learning and trying to keep up as it is all very new to me!! Keep up the good work!!-Jknox72 (talk) 03:12, 9 June 2019 (UTC)

Introduction
Since our class is focusing on the Macon, GA area, I have decided to evaluate an article that contains local Macon content. I have evaluated the following Article on Macon's Downtown Airport.

Possible Content Gaps
Everything in the article is relevant to the subject. In terms of distractions, I believe that the GA map provided is a little lacking. Obviously the airport would be located in Macon. Further, I would suspect that the majority of users would realize that. It would be more useful to show a city map so that users can see where the airport is from the context of Macon itself. The information about the Facilities and production of the airport could be updated to reflect that latest data from this current month (June 2019). In terms of items missing that could be added I would recommend beefing up the Facilities and Aircraft section quite a bit. Very little attention is given to the physical facilities. Images of the inside of the airport would be nice. Also, showing a picture of the runway and a plane landing and taking off would be nice too.

Possible Media Gaps
Adding additional gallery items, including, video content of takeoffs and landings would be a great addition. The Main History section is long compared to the rest of the article. It could be broken up into subheadings. Also, I would add a lot more content to “Facilities and aircraft”. In fact, I would break that down into separate categories with “Aircraft” becoming its own category. There is a major time gap in the airport’s history between 1944 and 1980. A lot more information should be added for each decade of the airport’s history.

Suggestions for Improving References
Reference Numbers 3-6 are all posted at the end of the History section rather than at the specific sentence that the data appears for each individual reference. This should be updated so that references are cited more properly and clearly. Also, the article copies public domain text directly. It should use it as a source rather than copying the text and rewrite it in its own way. The source for Reference 3 seems questionable.

Tone Analysis
The article seems neutral in tone overall without any obvious bias. There are no claims of “best” or “worst” or other opinion words. The History section of the article seems to favor a militaristic perspective. Perhaps data from local citizen opinion at the time could be sourced from old newspapers so that insights about what people thought of the airport could be added?

Source Analysis
While the URLs seem to work, some of the References seem questionable in terms of how they are used. Reference #3, for example, is content that the article seems to use directly rather than rephrasing it in a custom way.

The references that are cited seem authoritative. However, the article needs more in order to support its content. Also, the references need to be placed in the article in a more refined way so that the reference appears where the data it supports appears. Reference #7 seems a bit biased because the article is more like a press release than a strictly informational article.

Talk Page Analysis
Unfortunately, there seems to be very few conversations on this article's Talk Page. Only a few contributors wrote comments and there is no obvious community collaboration going on.

The article is rated a C-Class. It is a part of the Aviation and Airports WikiProjects. Non-wikipedians will use more common language when refering to topics. Wikipedia uses a more detached style that focuses on content rather than emotion.


 * It's great that you chose the Macon Airport. I did not think about anything dealing with transportation services. I have reviewed the article and I agree with its content being neutral. Your evaluation mentions that you want to improve the "facilities and aircraft" section, which is a great way to progress towards a a successful article.—Tionnetakala (talk) 18:48, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

Introduction
Wikipedia already has a lot of content on the Macon, GA area. However, content gaps exist on the area. In that light, I have identified several topics that have a strong potential for being good candidates for the class article project.

Amerson River Park
Amerson River Park is listed on Macon GA’s tourism website. However, there is no article for it on Wikipedia’s Macon GA section. The area is potentially rich in history. Also, there are strong opportunities to add media like photos and video content that displays the area’s natural beauty.


 * Will you be working on Amerson River Park? If so, I can help collaborate to create a concise and credible article. Just let me know. -Tionnetakala (talk) 00:47, 21 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, I plan on creating at least 1 original article during the scope of this class. I welcome collaboration if you wish to do that for this project. I received your e-mail requesting help for the class. Please write your inquiry on the class help page so that the community can benefit from our discussion. I will be happy to assist you from there. Also, please note that your signature should appear on the same line as your text without skipping. I fixed it for you. Thanks!-TSchiroMGA (talk) 01:54, 21 June 2019 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure why your response to my comment didn't pop up in my alerts. However, I've decided to move forward with a different article. Good Luck on the article of your choice!—Tionnetakala (talk) 18:42, 23 June 2019 (UTC)
 * I wish you success as well!—TSchiroMGA (talk) 11:47, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

Coleman Hill Park
Coleman Hill Park has a strong rating on TripAdvisor’s Macon, GA website. However, there is no content for it on Wikipedia’s Macon GA section. This would be a great gap to fill in.

Rosa Parks Square
Rosa Parks Square is listed on Facebook. However, there is no content for it on Wikipedia’s Macon GA section. It would be interesting to see if there is a strong historical connection to the famous Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks.

Conclusion
Although there are a lot of opportunities to add content to Wikipedia’s Macon GA section, the article that I currently wish to pursue is Amerson River Park. My reasoning for choosing this is my strong interest in nature. I feel that it will give me a great opportunity to explore the area in detail and uncover interesting facts that can enhance Wikipedia’s Macon GA section.


 * Great list! Way to do your homework. (Oh, and I don't think it's necessary to sign your own journal posts.) —Grlucas (talk) 14:17, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

Introduction
It has come to my attention that the quality of our class's Discussion articles needs a lot of work. Specifically, the overall quality of content does not seem to fit Wikipedia's standards. I will be working on cleaning them up beginning immediately. I will post status updates here in this entry. I expect a large series of updates to be posted here.

First Steps - 04:47
My first step towards this objective is to review all of the existing content in the class discussion on Content Gaps. Currently, it seems that everyone is providing their own answers rather than consolidating information as a meaningful whole. I will analyze the information and try to get it to conform more to Wikipedia's Talk Page Guidelines.

Moving Discussion to Dedicated Talk Page Section - 05:13
The Content Gap class discussion was littered with miscellaneous posts that seem unrelated to each other. Everyone seems to be independently creating content to answer the question rather than working as a whole. I did not delete anyone's content. Instead, I moved it all to a subheader called "Talk Page". I am working on now distilling the information so that the information about content gaps flows seamlessly.

Adding in Dedicated Content Sections - 06:28
In order to promote readability, I have added subheaders that differentiate the subtopics into logical groups. The current subheaders are "Defining Content Gaps", "Identifying Content Gaps" with subsection "Wikipedia Mechanics", and "Bias". All content is directly supported by reliable sources.
 * Again, don't sign your own journal posts. Also, you needn't footnote Wikipedia pages you link to in your post. That said, your analysis here is absolutely correct. A discussion should be a discussion — not, as you say, a series of unrelated posts. You guys know how to talk, right? —Grlucas (talk) 14:23, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Dr. Lucas: Thank you for your feedback. I should have now removed the redundant links to Wikipedia pages so that they should no longer appear in my reference list. I will practice not signing my own journal posts starting immediately.
 * I really appreciate you pointing out the issues with our class discussions. Honestly, I was confused the whole time I was doing it since I thought I had to post the same way everyone else was. Of course, I should have just asked the professor so it could have been fixed earlier! Thank you for going through and changing things so the discussion would look more like an actual talk page. I will say the page does look a bit confusing since it is hard to tell where one person's statements start and another's begins. Of course, that is understandable since you had to go through everyone's bulky posts. Great job! — Sabub (talk) 21:51, 21 June 2019 (UTC)

Introduction to Sources
Wikipedia is full of useful content to learn from and explore. In order to maintain quality content ratings, it is important that all content published is properly cited.

My Experience with Adding Sources
The Citation tutorial on Wiki Education's website provided a nice step-by-step tutorial. I learned how to insert citations with both the  VisualEditor and  Wikicode. Personally, I prefer to use Wikicode because it offers more intimacy with the content that I am writing.

Copyediting
I edited the Georgia Music Hall of Fame article. I read through it an removed the word "insightful" from its description of Georgia Music Magazine's content because it violated Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View policy. I also added subheadings to the history section in order to break up the large paragraph that was virtually unreadable.
 * Did I miss your citation? Great support here, but you needed to add a citation to an article. —Grlucas (talk) 15:57, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Dr. Lucas: You are very correct. I have just added in a citation for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame's Award.—TSchiroMGA (talk) 17:04, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Great. Be sure your punctuation goes before your footnote. —Grlucas (talk) 18:37, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Dr. Lucas: Thank you for reminding me. I have just corrected it. I have also added a new subsection to document the issue below.—TSchiroMGA (talk) 18:51, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

Adding Citations
I have added a citation that supports the Georgia Music Hall of Fame's 2008 Exhibition of the Year Award. I chose the Georgia Department of Economic Development as the source because they fit Wikipedia's criteria of being a credible and reliable source of valid information.

The Importance of Proofreading
I have found that one can make errors in a variety of ways when updating Wikipedia. For example, I made a style error on a footnote recently by inserting the footnote before the punctuation. This serves as a strong reminder to fully proofread one's work before publishing changes.
 * 👍🏼😁 —Grlucas (talk) 18:59, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

Introduction to Problem
This upcoming week we have a new Discussion topic to work on. I am concerned that it will be highly-disorganized yet again. The main problem has been that all of the posts seem disparate and noone was coordinating with each other to build a cohesive article that fully articulated a response to the prompts.

Suggested Solution
In order to prevent poor organization I went ahead and added headings and subheadings to the page. I hope that this will keep the discussion organized so that content is added in appropriately and a good quality article is the final result.

A Need for Ongoing Maintenance
Throughout this week I plan on watching the discussion as it unfolds. My objective will be to keep the page cleaned up as we go. Hopefully, the class will use the designated area of the page to talk it out and insert appropriate content in the designated sections. I understand that the initial subheadings that I created may need additional revision. However, my plan will be to monitor the page's development so that it does not become a runaway train again.
 * The struggle is real. —Grlucas (talk) 15:58, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Dr. Lucas: If you have time, I hope that you decide to publish an audio update for Week 5 on your website. I find them helpful in terms of reinforcing learning objectives. Thanks, Tim—TSchiroMGA (talk) 18:33, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, but I need to finish grading. I should have something up there by tomorrow. Thanks for your patience. —Grlucas (talk) 18:37, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * I went to make an additional post to the discussion; however, the discussions are scattered again. I would help, but there are huge blocks everywhere. Thanks for the effort.Tionnetakala (talk) 00:11, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
 * I believe that students have been confused because they are treating it like a discussion on D2L (BrightSpace). People even were posting below the References section! I fixed that part and massaged the text some as well. I am feeling inspired to create a demonstration video so users can see visually a suggested format. However, that plan would only work if people actually watched such a video. My thought is that cited article content answers the discussion prompts and a separate subsection at the bottom (ie, "Talk Page") stores class conversation about it. The idea would be to keep it clean so that the response flows like an article. I imagine it as an opportunity to create a collaborative article. An opportunity that we as a class have squandered.—TSchiroMGA (talk) 13:15, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review
This week I conducted a peer review for LynzeeWhite. The process was not difficult. It mainly involved checking the article against Wikipedia Guidelines. It was useful going through the process because we could apply theory to actual articles.

Discussions
As predicted, the class discussion is yet again wild. In the beginning of the week I setup page headings and subheadings in order to organize content. However, they were not used in the way in which I expected. My thought process was that students would converse in the Talk Page section and write appropriate content in the remaining sections. In other words, I thought that the sections and subsections should look like a Wikipedia article.

Instead what happened is that users are talking throughout the article section. Also, people published content below the References section and no references were used. This is even true on the Defining Neutrality subsection that implies that references will be sourced. Also, as a class, we still are not using Talk page guidelines correctly.


 * Thanks for the advice. You and a couple of my peers are really leading the class into the direction in which the class needs to go into. As well as tightening me up with the things I need to work on so I can be come an expert in Wikipedia. Its not that hard to do it just takes putting in the time and doing it. So I appreciate everything that you do.—Justin (talk)

Original Plans
Originally, I had planned to create an article for Amerson River Park. However, it is more logical for me to conduct work closer to where I live rather than two hours away. Also, other classmates who live closer to that Park appear to be writing an article for it.

New Research Plan
In that light, I have selected two new article subjects. The first is Pasaquan and the second is Historic Westville. I have already contacted the directors of both locations and have exchanged email correspondence with them.

Pasaquan
The article about Pasaquan is a stub that needs a lot of work. Fortunately, Pasaquan has an extensive online archive full of content on it. In addition, the site's director has given me permission to shoot photographs onsite. He has also said that he can help me find additional source documents regarding the site.

Historic Westville
Historic Westville needs less revision than Pasaquan. I currently plan to work on a single section within the scope of this course. Some of its content is out of date. I plan to update that part today. The site's director has said that a lot of material that they have regarding the site is in printed form rather than online. I am working on coordinating a time in which we can meet so that I can review the materials.


 * Good work. You know you could work on both articles, if you want. Also, remember that secondary research is the most appropriate for Wikipedia. While you can use some info from the directors, the best sources are notable secondary ones, like newspapers, etc. —Grlucas (talk) 14:28, 1 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Hey Timothy your journals look very organized and put together. I think that it is great that you live close to Pasaquan & Historic Westville . I live so far away to visit where my article is located.-Acm2625 (talk) 16:08, 6 July 2019 (UTC)Acm2625

Assess Available Resources at Your Library
I visited my local library in my research phase. I learned that they did not have an archive of old editions of the local newspaper. Also, they no longer use microform to store archived copies of the paper as depicted in many films.

Independently Acquire Needed Resource
I suspected that the local paper likely had a lot of useful information regarding both sites I had selected. That compelled me to purchase an online subscription to it so that I would have access to its archives. I learned that I could cite those URLs as long as I indicated that they had a fee required. My tip is to be willing to pay for additional research as necessary in order to find the best sources for your article.
 * Great tip. I recently did this for a magazine, too. The great thing here is that it's usually not much to get access for a short time. —Grlucas (talk) 14:33, 8 July 2019 (UTC)

Historic Westville
I updated Historic Westville's status as a reopened site and provided three independent reliable sources to back up the claims. I also performed copyediting in the space in order to remove outdated and incorrect information about the reopening date. In addition, I added information about the well-documented protests that occurred when the site was in transition to Columbus, GA.

Historic Westville
Historic Westville already has a presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. However, a quick review of their profiles indicates that they could be updated more frequently. I recommend creating a social media calendar and sticking to a regular posting schedule for each platform. In addition, I think that it is a good idea for each platform to be in sync with each other.

Pasaquan
Pasaquan does not have a developed social media presence at all. In addition to the suggestions regarding Historic Westville, I would also create new social media accounts on all of the major social media platforms.

Planning
Pasaquan is not open in July. Therefore, I reorganized my field trip to find content gaps in other parts of Marion County. I made my trip efficient by routing destinations in a linear path. I began on the south side of the County and moved north.

Destinations
I discovered that the local school district lacked photo content. I visited the office building for the local Board of Education, L. K. Moss Primary School, Marion County High School, the Josh Gibson Community Center, the Marion County School District Center for the Arts, and the closed gate of Pasaquan.

Executing Trip
I packed my digital camera and tripod and made my way to each destination. I had to make adjustments for each shot. I made sure to take multiple photos of each scene so that I would have plenty to choose from later.

Publishing Photos
I have published my best photos to Wikimedia Commons. As you can see above, many of the places that I took photos of lack their own Wikipedia pages. I plan on creating those articles so that I can give my photos a home on Wikipedia. I also gained experience adding a photo to an infobox and as a gallery.


 * Posting a photo or two here would have been nice. It's "therefore." —Grlucas (talk) 12:57, 15 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Dr. Lucas: Thanks for the suggestion about adding photos to this post. I have executed on it by adding photos and I have also corrected my use of "therefore." I always get confused about that word's spelling. Thanks for the feedback.—TSchiroMGA (talk) 13:44, 15 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Check out the gallery option for photos. —Grlucas (talk) 13:55, 15 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Dr. Lucas: I have converted the images into a gallery. Thanks.—TSchiroMGA (talk) 14:04, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

July 15, 2019 - 08:04 - Linking articles
I created a new Education subsection on the Marion County, GA page. I then linked it to the Marion County School District page. I also created a link for L. K. Moss Primary School to indicate that an article needs to be created for the school. In addition, I updated the article's lead section to include all of the communities of Marion County and their corresponding links.


 * Great! Do footnotes go before or after punctuation? —Grlucas (talk) 12:59, 15 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Dr. Lucas: I have corrected my error on the Education subsection. It looks like I still need to polish those skills!—TSchiroMGA (talk) 13:49, 15 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Nice work on the education section of the article, I think the school district is an important fact about Marion County-Acm2625 (talk) 13:08, 15 July 2019 (UTC)Acm2625

July 22, 2019 - 05:38 - Reflective Essay
Most of my Wikipedia experience was limited to reading content before I took this class. I had never taken on a major project with the platform. This required me to first get my bearings in order before I could proceed with the serious work of writing.

MediaWiki Platform
One of the neatest things that I have discovered is that the MediaWiki platform is so dynamic. I love how it transforms simple code into complex HTML equivalents. This helps to reduce the learning curve for new users. Also, this makes it easy for existing articles to be in instant compliance with new code standards as they are approved in the future by simply updating the platform rather than the code of each article.

Critiquing articles:
After I created my article evaluation, I realized that I needed to break it down with subheadings. I approached critiquing the article using the guide that WikiEdu provided. I noticed that the airport could use additional media to support its content.

Copyediting
I provided copyediting for a variety of articles, including, Marion County, Marion County School District, Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Historic Westville, and Pasaquan.

Media
I took a field trip and added the following photos to Wikimedia Commons.

Pasaquan Research
I have added a lot of research to my main project Pasaquan. The article was just a stub when I began enhancing it. My goal has been to add enough content to make it a full-length article. I believe that I have accomplished this.

Sourcing Content
The latest version of my article is much more developed compared to its original incarnation. I copyedited it, provided additional media, reorganized it with appropriate subheadings, and performed research. The local library did not have archived copies of the local newspaper so I purchased my own subscription to it. This has helped me in gaining sources for my articles that would have otherwise been inaccessible. Also, I was able to convince the library staff to let me borrow a reference book for an extended period of time.

Content Gaps
At approximately 200 words, the original article lacked many details when I began. It had no subsections and only four sources. Through research, I discovered many content gaps, including, details on the site's origins, its creator, construction, ownership transition, restoration, publicity, and references in popular culture. I copyedited the article and added research from verifiable secondary sources in order to flesh it out.

Adding a New Pasaquan Gallery
I added a gallery of original photos taken at Pasaquan's reopening in 2016.

Peer Review:
My peer review process involved a step-by-step approach. I analyzed the article's lead section and structure. In addition, I checked for balanced coverage, neutral content, and reliable sources. My main consensus was that the article's lead section could be improved by adding additional references.

Feedback:
While no one outside of class has provided me with feedback, my fellow students and our instructor have done so extensively. I have always tried to implement any suggestion presented to me as soon as possible.

Wikipedia Generally:
Wikipedia taught me how to work collaboratively. Working on the platform has been a steep learning curve. However, its public utility is apparent when you consider how much good quality information can be provided for free to the general public. Although I have gained experience with the platform, I realize that there is so much more left to learn. I feel prepared to accept that challenge.

Epilogue
As time becomes available, I plan on creating more articles for Marion County, including, L. K. Moss Primary School, Marion County High School, the Josh Gibson Community Center, and the Marion County School District Center for the Arts. Wikipedia is an exciting platform that can add to the world's knowledge. I am grateful for the opportunity to invest in it.


 * Well done! Thank you for all of your collaborative work this semester. I'll see you around Wikipedia! —Grlucas (talk) 14:47, 24 July 2019 (UTC)