Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2011-04-11/WikiProject report

This week, we turned our attention to WikiProject Japan. Started by Nihonjoe in March 2006, the project has 323 members and is home to 84 pieces of Featured material, 78 Good and A-class articles, an enormous list of DYKs, and 31 task forces. Our initial interview with WikiProject Japan was scheduled for March 14, but the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami prompted us to postpone the report. We followed-up with some of our interviewees from March 15 through March 23 to update our readers on the situation following the disaster. Our interview included Nihonjoe (日本穣), Cla68, Frank (Urashima Tarō), Hoary, Oda Mari, bamse and Torsodog.

Nihonjoe is an admin and bureaucrat who used to live in Japan and says he can read Japanese better than he can speak it. He started the project "because it didn't exist and I thought it would be a useful way to help coordinate work on Japan-related articles." His work helped prepare the article on Japan for Featured status. Cla68 is from the US and began living off-and-on in Japan since 1994, spending a total of about 10 years in Japan. Married into a Japanese family, Cla68's Japanese is improving, "but I would still put myself at a beginner's level." Frank is from Italy but has lived in Japan since 1982 and would prefer to be a citizen of the world. He reads and writes Japanese, writes almost exclusively about Japan, and decided that joining the project "seemed the thing to do." Hoary is an admin who lives in Japan and speaks and writes the language, "but very unsatisfactorily." Oda Mari is a native Japanese speaker, living in Japan: "I'm here to use my knowledge of the country and my language skill to help English speaking editors and provide correct information on Japan." Bamse used to live in Japan and is interested in Japanese art, architecture, and history. He is currently working on improving coverage of the National Treasures of Japan. "WikiProject Japan has been a very helpful and friendly place for translation and other questions, so I eventually joined it." Torsodog lives in Chicago but has contributed to a number of Japanese articles and the project's portal. He is particularly interested in Japanese baseball.

'''Have you contributed to any of the project's DYKs, Featured, or good articles? Are you currently working on a FA or GA nomination? Do you have any tips for Wikipedians trying to improve articles about Japan to FA or GA status?'''
 * Cla68: I was the primary editor on 23 of the project's Featured articles, co-editor on three other FAs, primary editor on one good article, and heavily involved with one Featured topic.
 * Hoary: A grand total of one GA is primarily my work. Surely I must have fiddled with FAs and others over the years, though I don't remember having made a major contribution to any. I've never submitted anything to DYK, because I've never mustered the stamina to read about all the hoops one has to go through. I'm working on an article that might eventually become a GA or above, but that would be a long time off and anyway it is irrelevant to Japan. Somebody wanting to write good articles should be willing to spend a lot of time in a very good library.
 * Nihonjoe: I've contributed to some of the FA/A/GA articles, as well as a number of the DYKs (you can see my fairly complete list of articles to which I've contributed for more details on which ones, keeping in mind that I haven't marked how they are assessed for the most part).
 * bamse: I contributed one GA and one or two DYKs. I've been mostly busy with a number (10 or so) of Featured lists as part of a series of Lists of National Treasures of Japan. Once finished, I would like to bring a (probably history related) article up to GA level.
 * Frank: I am not interested in and I do not believe in the usefulness of assessing articles. I actually consider assessing counterproductive: Wikipedia's peer-review system doesn't work. How would you like spending a month writing an article and then be rewarded with a single letter, usually a C, no comments, by someone who probably isn't familiar with the subject and will never come back? I need the comments, not the letter. I contributed about 30 DYKs.

'''Have you ever translated information to or from the Japanese Wikipedia? Does the project collaborate with WikiProject Intertranswiki?'''
 * Cla68: I sometimes check the Japanese Wikipedia for information, like birth dates, but I've never translated an article into the English Wikipedia.
 * Hoary: If one encounters a good article that appears to be scrupulously sourced, and checks and confirms that the footnotes do all say what they're presented as saying, then why not translate (complete with footnotes)? But such articles are extraordinarily rare in ja:WP. On very rare occasions I have (with native-speaking help) translated material that I wrote into Japanese for ja:WP. I have never wanted to translate material from it, because the material in ja:WP on subjects that interest me is seldom itself interesting and virtually never sourced in any way. I don't know whether to be horrified or amused when I see Expand Japanese ("Please expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia") stuck on a talk page; but I hope that nobody acts on the request. I'd never rely on ja:WP for anything, even a birth date. However, some assertion within a ja:WP article may make it easier to look for the information in a more reliable source.
 * Frank: I agree with Hoary. We should never translate articles from another language.
 * Nihonjoe:Yes, though I make sure I have some sources to go with it as I'd rather not go to the work of translating it if it's just going to be deleted. I actually hadn't heard of WikiProject Intertranswiki until you mentioned it.
 * bamse: Yes, but because of the lack of sources in ja:WP articles, I mainly translated undisputed articles about mountains, lakes, etc. A while ago I had a look at some Wikiproject concerned with translating articles from other Wikipedias (not sure whether it was "Intertranswiki"). However I never figured out how to use its advanced template syntax (for marking status of translation, etc.) and gave up on it.

'''The project has a lengthy list of unreferenced biographies of living persons. Why does WikiProject Japan take such an active role in BLPs? Should other projects undertake similar efforts to provide relief for the editors at WikiProject Unreferenced Biographies of Living Persons?'
 * Cla68: Lately, after years of issues and abuses, some Wikipedians have stepped up and made an effort to verify or source the unreferenced information that exists in many BLPs. I'm happy to see WP:Japan involved in helping with that effort.
 * Nihonjoe: I think it's important to have sources for all the articles here on Wikipedia. Given that the concerted effort to source articles only began a couple or so years ago, however, there is still a lot of work to be done in this area.

'''The Japan Portal is a Featured portal. Share with us some of the planning and effort that went into this portal.'''
 * Nihonjoe: User:Torsodog is the main one to ask about this. My main contribution was working on the "On this day..." section. There are still a few days which need adding, too.
 * Torsodog: My work on Portal:Japan started relatively early in my Wikipedia career--sometime in mid-2008. Portal work is probably something that a user shouldn't tackle until they are very familiar with everything Wikipedia, but for some reason I was feeling up for it. Looking back on it, I'm not sure how I got through it. Getting the portal to Featured status is by far my most difficult Wikipedia endeavor, and I've been a contributor in almost all possible featured categories at some point. When I first encountered the portal, it was one page and rather low on content. The first thing I did was find a Featured portal that I would like to model the Japan portal after. I chose Portal:Africa. After that, I got to work. Building the portal was a lot of trial and error. It is without a doubt the most technical writing I've ever done on the site. I learned a lot at the time, but don't ask me to make another portal anytime soon. I have long forgetten all of the behind-the-scenes skills and tricks needed to needed to make them tick. Slowly, the layout finally became functional and I populated it with all of the great work our project has produced over the years. In order to do this, you have to make many, many, many subpages. I'm talking subpages to organize the subpages. Once that was done, I created a slick graphic and called it a day. I haven't been able to keep it updated as much as I'd like, but when creating a portal, you try to make it as self-sufficient as possible. I think I succeeded in that.

Were you or anyone you know directly impacted by the earthquake and tsunami?
 * Hoary: No, I was not. I'm rather alarmed not to hear anything from one old friend who's a fair bit closer to the disaster area than I am, but I've no other good reason to think that he might have suffered. I'm in Tokyo, and on the ground floor. My employer strongly discourages me from coming to work, but past experience of the results of minor tremors makes me think that the content of my office will be complete chaos. Supplies of some foodstuffs are short, and I think that people have started to stockpile, although discreetly. We have a relative billeted with us because she normally depends on commuting on one train line that has stopped because of subsidence; also water was cut off there until earlier today. All of this is of course utterly trivial compared with the horrendous suffering of people living further north, the efforts of the rescue staff, and the bravery of the people who are trying hard to minimize leaks of radioactive material.
 * Nihonjoe: I wasn't directly affected, but I have friends with family in the area (which they haven't heard from yet), and I know a couple people who live somewhere near there.
 * Cla68: I experienced the earthquake in Kanagawa Prefecture. There was no damage to my workplace or my home and no one I know in my area was injured.  I have friends in Aomori Prefecture and Sendai.  They were uninjured in the quake and aftermath, but are now fairly isolated and dealing with power, gas, and food shortages.  One of their hometowns is Kuji, Iwate, which I understand was very heavily damaged This column closely mirrors my experience and feeling about the earthquake, except that I was at work instead of at home.  Just like [The Japan Times columnist] Dillon, as soon as the earthquake was over, I wondered who and where had gotten it worse.  Flipping on the TV I saw the water swirling around and appearing to recede off of a coastal city in northeast Japan and knew that a tsunami was on its way.  I'm proud of the way the Japanese people have handled most aspects of the crisis since then, including my own family.

'''Has activity at the project changed since the disaster? What articles, new and old, are in the greatest need of updated information?'''
 * Hoary: I haven't had the time or the stomach to look, frankly. People looking at my own list of contributions may be surprised to see me posting "citation needed" flags and so forth at a time like this, but that is a diversion that doesn't require concentration. If anyone would like to update articles, I'd not only caution the usual "WP:RS" but also point out that a lot of normally reliable newspapers are hurriedly adding material in blog or bloglike style, material that isn't checked as carefully as regular news stories are. Expect and try to anticipate the results of (well-intentioned) incorrect translations, misinterpretations and wrong spelling.
 * Nihonjoe: I don't know if activity has changed a lot, though focus has been on earthquake related articles. I think any directly related would need the most updated information. These are some of the articles related to the disaster which need varying degrees of assistance: 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami, Fujinuma Dam, Sendai Airport, Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant, Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, Fukushima I nuclear accidents, Timeline of the Fukushima nuclear accidents, Tōhoku Expressway, Humanitarian response to the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami, Minamisanriku, Miyagi, Shinchi Station (severely damaged), Futaba, Fukushima (90% destroyed), Minamisōma, Fukushima (apparently completely destroyed), Miyako, Iwate, Ōfunato, Iwate (mostly destroyed), Rikuzentakata, Iwate (mostly destroyed), Yamada, Iwate (almost completely submerged by the tsunami), Higashimatsushima, Miyagi, Kesennuma, Miyagi, Kurihara, Miyagi, Sendai (severely damaged), and Ichihara, Chiba (several fires caused by earthquake). There are also a few peripherally-related articles which need varying degrees of help: Shinmoedake, Earthquake Early Warning (Japan), Cosmo Oil Company, Jōban Line (affected by the tsunami), and Tōhoku Shinkansen. Yes, that's a lot of articles, so any help is appreciated.
 * Cla68: Help with keeping the articles Nihonjoe lists above updated would be appreciated. I've observed that Japanese media sources appear to often have the most accurate and timely information related to the event, so anyone who has access to Japanese media is especially welcome to help out.
 * Oda Mari: I've been trying to find RS at Japanese sites in English as [the] Western media are sometimes inaccurate on the quake-related news.

What can our readers do to help the people of Japan?
 * Hoary: Much of what follows may be obvious, but nevertheless, I too would guess that some things could have been designed better and that some people with responsibilities have been incompetent. But please refrain from finger-pointing until the facts are in. Unfortunately there's a history of email and other "charity" scams. Treat any email that makes an urgent request for funds with great skepticism; at least check that the website it points you to really is for the charity that it claims it's for and that it belongs to a reputable charity (Wikipedia may be of help in assessing the charity.) Better to wait until large adverts appear in newspapers, and act on them. But then give, a lot, because the number who are homeless makes it clear that short- and medium-term relief is going to cost a fortune. When things have settled down a bit and you start to meet Japanese people who've lived through this, remember that their experiences of it may be very different: if one Japanese person refers to earthquakes and tsunami with some gallows humor, the next Japanese person may have seen family members die.
 * Nihonjoe: I think the biggest way to help would be donating to the American Red Cross as they are directly involved in efforts to assist in Japan.
 * Cla68: The Japanese Red Cross appears to be well-organized and has already begun a very visible and active effort to assist in the quake and tsunami-hit areas. I've seen interviews with Japanese Red Cross administrative and medical personnel on TV over the last few days.  So, donations to the Red Cross probably would have a direct effect.
 * Oda Mari: Donating to the Red Cross is the best. If possible, donate directly at the Japanese Red Cross. Let me say, "Thank you America for Operation Tomodachi!".

'''What are the project's most pressing needs? How can a new member help today?'''
 * Frank: In my view, the most important thing one can do is to find quality sources and use copious citations.
 * Cla68: This is my advice to any editor: choose a topic that you find fascinating, chose an article within that topic, find as many sources as you can on the topic, and start writing. If the article is on a Japan-related topic, please feel free to ask for source or translation help at the project's talk page.  If you're a Japanese speaker or otherwise have helpful knowledge about Japan, please put the project's talk page on your watchlist and jump in and help answer questions or concerns raised by other editors.
 * Nihonjoe: I'll echo what the others have posted: just jump in and help where you find a topic which interests you in some way. Watch the talk page of the project and see if there is anything you can do to help someone else (questions get posted fairly regularly).

Anything else you'd like to add?
 * Hoary: A major problem for the would-be contributor is that the Japanese-language internet is so feeble. Certainly no newspaper leaves a significant amount of material on the web. (There's nothing remotely like guardian.co.uk.) Typically a search in Google for a likely-sounding subject brings up little more than impressionistic blog entries, unsourced and dubious material by anonymous people purporting to be experts, and the like. So somebody wanting to add material may well have to use dead-tree sources for it.
 * Cla68: I'll second this. Japanese print media don't seem to put a lot of their content online. Japanese weekly tabloids (which, in my opinion, are more reliable as sources of information than many of their western counterparts) are especially focused on print rather than Internet. So, if you are a reader of Japanese print media and see some good information, please add it to the appropriate article before throwing your newspaper away. Otherwise, some of these articles may never go anywhere.

Next week, we'll check out the WikiProject WikiProject. Until then, refer to the resources in our archive.