User talk:VivaLaLacy


 * Let me be the first to welcome you and commend you on your enthusiasm and ability to follow instructions. The Wikipedia mantra is BE BOLD. For me at least, just making an account took a great deal of courage. The next logical step in your Wikipedia indoctrination is to energize your home page. It will serve as an excellent place to learn some of the basic wiki-codes without dorking up an article. Editing skills will require some experimentation and self teaching. The easiest way to start is to visit others and “steal” some ideas. By that - I mean click the edit tab and see their html codes which you can copy and paste into yours. CAREFUL --- don’t edit their page…. COPY not cut!!!!! You can then adjust it to reflect your own personal style. Feel free to be creative. Try to provide some insight into who you are while still maintaining your Anonymity. Personally I like the community’s use of user boxes to provide some insight into your way of thinking.  --JimmyButler (talk) 01:50, 27 August 2008 (UTC)



Spitzenkorper
I personally believe that this article needs more work for the spitzenkorper section because I do not fully understand what it is maybe some media or a better explanation would work. I left this comment on your page because I thought you may be one of the main editors for the article but it is hard to tell, so please inform me if this comment needs to be placed elsewhere.--AwesomeOpossuminthelake (talk) 19:39, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

User Page
User Page looks fine. You are off to a good start. --JimmyButler (talk) 16:11, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Adoption
Hello. Thank you for the note on my page. Of course, I am interested in assisting anyone who wants to get an article to the Good article or Featured article state. Indeed - why stop at Good? The ultimate challenge is the FA, so I encourage you to shoot for the FA bronze star. Your article will appear on the main page of Wikipedia where thousands of people may read it. Right now, it looks like a wide range of numbers of people read this article. That sharp jump is probably because college classes or AP biology started. Of course, when the quality of the article increases, so will its readers as well as its value to the readers.

So, short answer: yes I would be happy to help you with your endeavor. The majority of articles I've worked on are history or similar articles. The closest I've come to biology are the articles relating to the Everglades. However, writing the articles themselves right now is more important than their topic. When it starts to reach a very advanced stage, I may suggest you contact editors who have successfully passed FAs in biology topics.

But right now you have to find your sources. In many biology topics, particularly those that refer to cell parts, there may be hundreds of sources: books, journal articles, videos, and others that may serve as good references. Let's make it simple for you, however. Start with books that are seen in biology as the most comprehensive sources - ones that college professors would use as a go-to book. It might be your AP Biology textbook, but more than likely it will be books that your textbook itself uses as references. What these sources regularly address will be what you will address in the article. I imagine (and please keep in mind that biology articles are not my strength) that you would cover the construction, function, problems with, and history of discovery of the membrane, but use the books as your guide.

Be familiar with your local public library. If there's a college or university near you, go check out their library. You can use their books in the library, and you can ask if there's a deal with non-students about checking materials out.

Everyone has their own schedule on how they construct an article. After you write one (or a few), you'll realize what works best for you. This is what works well for me:


 * 1) Finding available sources
 * 2) Reading everything I can find
 * 3) Reconstructing the article bit by bit in a sandbox
 * 4) Writing the bulk of the material
 * 5) Finding non-copyrighted images
 * 6) Getting a copy writer to look through my grammar, syntax, and prose.
 * 7) Asking for a Peer review from other editors, especially those who write biology articles.
 * 8) Reading other Good articles in biology and science, and those on the Good articles nomination list to see what will pass and what might not. Consider reviewing some articles yourself for GA. They don't have to be biology, just areas you might be interested in.
 * 9) Reading articles on the Featured articles list. And watching the Featured article candidates process. Especially watch those that are not successful. Setting your standards for FA anyways will ensure your article will pass GA.

Here's your sandbox. You can start writing whenever you want to.

I've sent you a message here, because you're relatively new and I wanted to make sure you saw my reply. However, usually I'll reply to you on my talk page if you send me a message on my talk page. Best of luck, and I look forward to working with you. --Moni3 (talk) 13:40, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

Topic Selection
I like your choice. Clearly an article in desperate need of expansion. There should be no shortage of resources. It should be off the radar of controversy; unlike the Introduction to Evolution nightmare that I experienced. The sequence described by your mentor mirrors the schedule and dead lines I'm purposing as the year progresses. In fact, your next challenge will be to convince me you have adequate reference material. My expectation will be 50 related sources which you can access; preferable via the internet. We are not there yet; but when the time comes I will share with you the school's access codes to many of the scientific journals of which you will no doubt incorporate into your work here. From my end --- its a research project; hence you will research! Best of luck and congratulations on seeking out and obtaining competent assistance - I see we are both in good hands! My confidence level is rising.--JimmyButler (talk) 01:02, 9 September 2008 (UTC)


 * If you need access to journal articles e-mail me here and I'll see if I can get you copies of them. Tim Vickers (talk) 01:44, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Amazing Transistion
Truly impressive transformation. Hopefully it will be reviewed before the semester ends and you will have time to address any concerns that arise. Either way; I'm very proud of your efforts. It reflects highly on the AP program - demonstrating what a "mere" 10th grader is capable of doing. That said - be prepared for the worst - GA is best seen as a tool for improving an article - not a judgment of your intellect. I do enough of that in class - without worrying about self-esteem issues in this forum! Good Luck--JimmyButler (talk) 02:15, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

GA
COngrats on GA, I will be right behind you. Eulemur2008 (talk) 01:30, 30 December 2008 (UTC)