User talk:Dabenson

Mentoring
Welcome, Denise, glad to be of assistance to you during this class. Let me know what sort of articles you'll be working on with the public relations course, and depending what sorts they are, I should be able to give some advice on how to go about editing them. I might also suggest getting started with experimenting with the interface in a sandbox, but don't be shy about trying an edit on an article you know something about, so perhaps add a photo to the article on Simmons College, just to get a hang of editing. If you have any questions leave a message on my talk page or you can also email me. Good luck!

Hi
and Welcome to Wikipedia. Talk pages are for communications between editors ('users') about things happening on the encyclopaedia, and matters of editing. Your userpage is for (if you want) telling everyone a bit about what you're into (not too much, and preferably without personal details, twitter links and so on. Any questions about Wikipedia and editing can be put to any regular editor (you'll know us by our userpages and what's on our talkpages...). We may not know all the answers (we DON'T know all the answers...), but we usually know where to find them, or someone who does. Enjoy your time here. Peridon (talk) 16:55, 28 January 2011 (UTC) Hi and thanks for getting back to me. I would like to update my user page, can you tell me where I go to insert my information? ThanksDabenson (talk) 20:27, 31 January 2011 (UTC)denise

Hi
Hi, just testing the talk pages! Michelle.K.Rico (talk) 21:50, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Hi there, just testing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Caleylynch4 (talk • contribs) 20:34, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Stay warm!
Just wanted to test this out. See you in class tomorrow. Stay warm! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sudacris (talk • contribs) 02:20, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Subjects
Well the subject you'll be writing on really should be ones you have some interest in, and even some connection to. Are there parameters, like does it need to be a public policy topic? I started off editing articles on bands I'd seen recently, places I've lived, and the schools I'd been to, and branched off from there into disparate topics. I'd recommend some time surfing to find that elusive article that you'd be interested in, but also needs work done. On my Userpage I link to the categories Start-Class level-2 vital articles, Start-Class level-3 vital articles, and C-Class level-3 vital articles which are groups of articles that Wikipedia has decided are among the most important, but have surprisingly little work done on them. You might also try the random button, and then try clicking from there to get to an article that interests you. Let me know what and how you choose your articles!-- Patrick, o Ѻ ∞ 15:26, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi Patrick, Thanks for getting back to me. I will be needing your help on helping me with my project on public policy. I am looking at five public policy issues to contribute to the Wikipedia project. Our class adviser has suggested I perhaps keep it a simple topic as I will have to reference all my contributions. I was thinking of pat downs and screenings at the airports? Do you think that is a reasonable point of interest?Dabenson (talk) 19:01, 8 February 2011 (UTC)Denise

Referencing is definitely important, and I actually recommend that you find and plan out your sources first, before you start writing. That topic seems fine, and one of interest. I bet there are several prominent magazine from the last few months that could be good to uses as sources. You should also find a few articles in the topic, such as Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System and Secondary Security Screening Selection, and identify where work is most needed.-- Patrick, o Ѻ ∞ 20:44, 8 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Denise. I have also replied to your question on my talk page. :-) Dominic·t 23:31, 8 February 2011 (UTC)


 * I have replied on my talk page as well, and I echo the suggestion of planning your sources beforehand. Antony–22 (talk⁄contribs) 20:57, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

subject for public policy article
thanks Dominic

The article I have chosen for the public policy project is --Airport Racial Profiling--
 * Denise, I'm glad you're excited about the topic. :-) I think page title you'll probably want to use is something like "Racial profiling in airports" or "Racial profiling at airports" (you may have noticed this before, but Wikipedia convention is only to capitalize the initial letter in multiword titles or section headings). Incidentally, as currently named, your article will be global in scope. I imagine there are a lot of good sources on the topic in places outside the US (notably Israel), so you can either choose to write an article restricted to the US case (like "Racial profiling at airports in the United States") or else, I think a global scope will be fine as long as the US case is a major component of the article, which it should be anyway. Dominic·t 01:57, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Sandbox
Hi Denise, I took a look at the paragraph in your sandbox, and had some thoughts. I think part of the problem, is with having a point of view. I think you need to try for a more encyclopedic tone, that doesn't support one side or the other. This can be tricky at first, but I think you can get the hang of it. Phrases like "it may seem ridiculous" also take away from a neutral tone that editors try to use. I'd also name the "One writer", and the source for quotes like that should probably have an inline reference. Same thing with "one proponent of the practice". Good luck!-- Patrick, o Ѻ ∞ 21:17, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks Patrick. I spoke with my professor today and she also has guided me to write more of a research article..history, summary, conclusion, etc. Everyone has been helpful in helping me get my thoughts around writing for wikipedia. Also I am in the process to learn how to reference my work. Dabenson (talk) 23:42, 23 February 2011 (UTC)Denise


 * Good to hear! I realize there's this writing style conflict with students like you who, for their class, are trained to write term papers with a thesis, with exposition, and with a certain style, and though the article is judged for a class, that style doesn't necessarily translate into what Wikipedia wants for its articles. References are fairly easy, and anything in a will get turned into a an in-line reference that links to the full reference at the bottom of the page. Inside the tag, you can use citation templates to keep references in a standard format, though that's not required.-- Patrick, o Ѻ ∞ 23:11, 24 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Denise, sorry for the delay but work has kept me occupied. I like the organization of the article, and its good to divide the subject into those sections. I still feel that there is however, a tone that might not work on Wikipedia, which doesn't try to make judgments on events or issues. Describing 9/11 as "the most reprehensible crimes on American soil" isn't the most factual of ways. If you'd like to highlight the tragedy, maybe try "the September 11, 2001 attacks, during which nearly 3,000 people died..." instead. Wikipedia just loves dates and figures, and I like that you have some for the number of airports involved, and for the percent of security failures. I also hope we can get some sources for those and other statements soon, since those are what need to be backing up the text. Lastly, you can try to add some WikiLinks. Those are the links to other articles from inside the text using double brackets  .  "September 11 attacks" or Los Angeles International Airport" might be examples.-- Patrick, o Ѻ ∞ 17:43, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Referencing
The template is for displaying in-line citations. You should put the citations, that's the tag at the end of the sentence or paragraph that its being used for. The template will make it appear at the bottom, and let you click the number in the text to jump to the bottom to see the reference. If you want, I can give you an example on your sandbox itself.-- Patrick, o Ѻ ∞ 19:01, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I added the ACLU reference to the end of the paragraph about King Downing, and a section at the bottom to contain the references. I also fixed the section headings a bit, which already are bold by default, and don't need the quote marks. Do you see how that works?-- Patrick, o Ѻ ∞ 19:30, 16 March 2011 (UTC)