Wikipedia is a useful tertiary resource; great for getting general idea of how/what to write and coming up with ideas. However, as a person who edited their first Wikipedia post, I’ve gained a new sort of appreciation for the people who edit it as well as increased blood pressure. The interface is difficult to work with and not very intuitive. I literally had to google ‘how to edit Wikipedia’ – only to be directed to a page on Wikipedia on how to edit Wikipedia articles. Meta, yes. Helpful, no.
There was a lot of research that had to be done for the editing of the Wikipedia page. My topic was Carnivorous plants, more specifically, the page on Sundews – the plants that look like a feather duster with water droplets on the end. It was a relatively empty page when I first started writing but I had to read article after article of scientific papers in order to collect enough information with enough references and peer reviewed journals to back up my claims. It was very tedious trying to gather up all the information needed as well as linking up the references to my claims in the references section. The citations were a real pain in the butt to accomplish.
But aside from all my bellyaching about editing Wikipedia, it was still a good experience. Not an experience I would like to repeat as I don’t have the time nor effort to continue editing Wikipedia pages – money doesn’t grow on trees and student debt isn’t fun – but it still taught me something. I learned some new stuff about sundews and how any idiot with a computer and internet access could edit a Wikipedia article. That thought alone is terrifying.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 