Wikipedia is an open access online encyclopedia that anyone can read and edit. This is why teachers don’t like students using it as a citation! However, it is an excellent starting point in research and can help you gain an appreciable understanding of a subject relatively quickly. I have personally used it countless times throughout my time as a student in order to begin my research on topics that I am unfamiliar with.
Despite using it so frequently, I had never edited, nor thought about editing a Wikipedia page before because I thought it would be too complicated, but it turns out that it is quite simple. Once I created my account (which was easy) I could already begin editing. However, finding a page to edit was not easy because Wikipedia has so many pages already, and many of them are already filled with a lot of information already thanks to the many Wikipedia contributors. This was really the only challenging part though, and after a few hours of searching, I found a page in need of information – Carolinian Forests. I did some research and then wrote most of the “Carolinian Canada” section and sub-sections which discusses the climate and uniqueness of the region, and how it is under threat due to habitat loss and fragmentation caused by deforestation and urban development.
This part was not too difficult, but the editing view that Wikipedia sets as the default, “source editing”, is very confusing and non-intuitive (Figure 1). As a result, I switched the editing view to “visual editing” which is very similar to editing a word document (Figure 2). After I did this, editing was a breeze!
Overall, becoming a Wikipedian was a relatively simple and fun experience once I found the page I wanted to edit. I might even go as far as saying that it was kind of rewarding knowing that I contributed something to the community which I have benefited from so many times before!
UPDATE (04/15/2020)
For the final exam in #BIOL4095, one of our tasks was to go back to Wikipedia and complete the training modules and exercises through Wikipedia Edu and its associated dashboard. Registering was easy and the modules and exercises were easy to find and access. They walk you through the process of becoming a Wikipedian step-by-step and make sure you do things the right way. Although I did not significantly struggle figuring out how to edit on my own, these modules would have been extremely useful to have completed beforehand and surprisingly taught me many things I did not know previously.
For instance, they provide you with tips on how to find and choose a good article to edit which is the one part I struggled with initially. The Evaluation exercise I also found very useful as it taught me how to identify what Wikipedia considers reliable sources, which is a major component of a good Wikipedia article, alongside organization, neutrality, balance, and it being easy for any audience to understand, etc. These enabled me to critique and evaluate the Carolinian forest article I had already worked on previously which helped me determine areas which needed to be improved.
The lead paragraph, for example, had a few statements which were not backed up by a source and were slightly confusing. I was able to locate reliable sources and greatly improve the paragraph. I also added free-to-use images as well as links to other Wikipedia articles and websites to the article I edited which improved it. Additionally, I removed words that could have been interpreted as bias and also learned how to add and how to re-use a reference that was already cited. Finally, I added a second paragraph to the conservation section which included academic journal articles which is something I felt was missing from the page.
Overall, this assignment was very different than any other I had ever done, but the process of becoming a Wikipedian was rewarding because I was able to improve the article to a level I am quite proud of and I know it will help people who need to get a quick understanding of Carolinian forests. I think all the work and research Wikipedians do behind the scenes is important to the field of science as it can expand public awareness or understanding of a topic because the material is presented in a much more digestible way than most journal articles.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 