Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Las Positas College/LIBR 1 Working with Sources (Fall 2017)

Introduction to using sources as supporting documentation in a college-level research project. Teaches the skills needed to successfully find, evaluate, use, cite, and document information using the library and open web sources. Focus on identifying appropriate sources and proper use of sources. Students will learn to distinguish between source types, how to avoid plagiarism, and how to use sources in their research projects.

Week 1
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the &quot;Get Help&quot; button on this page.

To get started, please review the following handouts:


 * Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia


 * Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.)
 * It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
 * When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.

Week 2
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.


 * Review (if needed) the &quot;Evaluating Articles and Sources&quot; training (linked below).
 * Create a section in your sandbox titled &quot;Article evaluation&quot; where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
 * Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Shalor (Wiki Ed) (talk) 14:25, 20 December 2017 (UTC).

Week 3
Contribute to Wikipedia by adding to an existing article or adding to the new Umoja Learning Community article. You can:


 * Add 1-2 sentences (make sure to cite your source) to the article you evaluated, correct a bad citation link, or add a needed citation from a reliable source.
 * Choose a sentence or two (make sure to cite sources) you would like to add to a new article on the Umoja Learning Community and work with others to create the article.  Review the Wikipedia: Your First Article page for information on how to do this. Then work with the group to search for the page &quot;Umoja Learning Community&quot; and then create the page, decide on headings/organization, create an introduction sentence, and information with references, and so on!

Review the below training, as needed.