Lecture 26: Wiki Work

During today's lecture you'll have MC and Erin in class, ready to answer any questions you might have about the intricacies of creating a Wikipedia article.


As a reminder:

Write a Good Article
Our goal is to produce a Good Article that will be of service to the general Wikipedia community. We need to have a sense of what more needs to be done, and an overall plan for the article. I suggest looking at examples and guidelines (e.g. Manual of Style or the Guide for nominating good articles), as well as reminding yourself of the criteria for a Good Article. I suggest finding an example of a Good Article related to your stub, and follow its structure including its section headings.
Remember:
This Wikipedia article forms part of the e-portfolio which means when you write your blog post ABOUT the writing of your article:

1. Include at least one image
2. Include at least one external link (somewhere out in the WWW – probably to your article)
3. Include at least one reference to a fellow student’s blog post (you must link to the post, i.e. internal link)
4. Be on topic (i.e. related to our class work).
5. Each blog post should be at least two paragraphs but no more than four.

Suggestions and hints

• You will be writing an encyclopedic article that is neutral and verifiable by established facts. You will not be collecting data, analyzing it, or writing about your experiences. You will not be writing an essay with personal opinions or judgments.
• One of the exciting aspects of Wikipedia is its dynamic and communal nature. You are free (and encouraged) to use Wikiepdia's Peer Review to provide feedback on your article before submitting the final copy. It is likely that you will receive messages from editors. Be polite in replying, and don't hesitate to ask them to explain something.
• Avoid simply copying text from a reference. Isolated quotations are okay, but most of time, it is better to use a summary or paraphrase of the quotation that flows better with the rest of your article. See Wikipedia policies on copying and quoting sources.
• Here is a useful Wikipedia page giving general advice for writing good articles.
• Have a read of this Wikipedia Cheatsheet that tells you all the wiki code you need to insert images or bold text etc.: http://webtrends.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=webtrends&cdn=compute&tm=15&f=20&su=p284.12.336.ip_p504.1.336.ip_&tt=7&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia%3ACheatsheet

Note: When you register with Wikipedia, it is a good idea to use EITHER your twitter alias or your real name (if you choose) so that the professor and the TAs can track your contributions.

Note on Quality of E-Portfolio and Wikipedia Article Content:

Rating	Characteristics
4	Exceptional. The blog entry is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The entry demonstrates awareness of its own limitations or implications, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic and demonstrates interaction and engagement with lecture content. Appropriate references are included to support arguments. Submitted on time. Wiki: Length: For the purposes of this assignment, a reasonable article will contain 300-600 words, which correspond to 1.5-3 pages of standard double-space text. Content: Neutral and verifiable Uses quotations Uses twitter alias or real name for revision history/marking purposes
3	Satisfactory. The blog entry is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The entry reflects moderate engagement with the topic and lecture content. Some references are included. Wiki: Length: follows the recommended standard Content: Neutral and verifiable Uses quotations or paraphrases where appropriate Uses twitter alias or real name for revision history/marking purposes
2	Underdeveloped. The blog entry is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The entry reflects passing engagement with the topic and lectures. Few references are included. Wiki article most copies with a few paraphrases little to no referencing/citations length is insufficient Not a recognisable name/twitter alias
1	Limited. The blog entry is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic or lectures. Insufficient references to support content. Wiki simply copies text from elsewhere, no references, incorrect length
0	No Credit. The blog entry is missing or consists of one or two disconnected sentences. No referencing. Submitted after the deadline. Wiki - does not follow any of the recommendations for content or length

Note: Class Assignments and Referencing

Just a reminder to all #ALES204 students:

In all your e-portfolio posts you are required to include an image - remember that the image MUST be cited appropriately using APA style

In all your other assignments (such as the Science Article Assignment) you will refer to academic peer-reviewed work which must be cited within your own essay/argument AND you will need to include a list of references. All of this must follow APA style.

Lecture 23: Finding and Citing Scholarly Sources

Today's Lecture:

Lecture 23

View more presentations from Jessica Laccetti.

NOTE: Two databases that I mention in the lecture are:
Science Direct
Textile Technology Index

both are accessible via the University Library link to "databases".

During today's lecture you will be asked to find an RSS feed. For the purposes of this class, feel free to practise by using the feed from our class blog: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Ales204CommunicationTheoryPractiseWinter2012



Homework:

•Add a comment to today’s post with the name of a website that you will reference (with an RSS feed) and explain why it is of interest to you

•Note the website information in APA style

•Don’t forget to include your name or twitter alias for participation


Although I didn't mention this in the lecture, you probably will find this very useful to know. You can now set up your preferences in Google Scholar to allow you to import references directly into your RefWorks account.



Here's how to do it:

•Make sure cookies are enabled to allow setting of preferences in Google Scholar
•From the Google Scholar search screen click on Scholar Preferences.
•At the bottom of the screen, in the Bibliography Manager area, select RefWorks in the drop-down menu
•Save your preference
•Search results will now display an “Export to RefWorks link” 

Here is a google doc that librarian Diane Clarke made for us with some tips on how to cite some tricky sources.



Remember, APA style is the format you will use in your e-portfolios when you include images (and of course when you references sources in any of your other assignments for ALES204). You will also use this citation method if you include any images in your assignments (such as your science article assignment).

E-Portfolio Term Project - Reminder

A few students have asked for the links to the e-portfolio and the e-portfolio rubric.


Here they are again:

The E-Portfolio Assignment: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QuA2S2tuOMJT_KZVtGFwbpnT5xMHZAtjzb-LT2U7J3c/edit?authkey=CMX7040E

The E-Portfolio Assignment Rubric:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1agxOkoNAUgpS8ZWVxe5VuoXbEEFpyMULe3K4oMG1pA0/edit

NOTE: There is NO post due at the end of the E-Portfolio week!!! See the syllabus for due dates for specific posts. This is an opportunity to work on the post of your choice AND/OR spruce up your blog template, colour scheme, twitter feed etc...

APA Style Reminder

As everyone knows, for the e-portfolio it is very important to cite all the images you include - even if you took the images yourself! Your reader won't necessarily know that and it's important to get into the habit of crediting work in an academic context.

We will have more in depth lectures on APA style but it is very simple and an excellent resource is the OWL Lab at Purdue which you can find here.

You will need to use APA style for all sorts of referencing but here is a bit about how to reference images (as figures!):

Drawings and photographs can be used to communicate very specific information about a subject. Thanks to software, both are now highly manipulable. For the sake of readability and simplicity, line drawings should be used, and photographs should have the highest possible contrast between the background and focal point. Cropping, cutting out extraneous detail, can be very beneficial for a photograph. Use software like GraphicConverter or Photoshop to convert color photographs to black and white before printing on a laser printer. Otherwise most printers will produce an image with poor contrast.

Photograph

Preparing Figures

In preparing figures, communication and readability must be the ultimate criteria. Avoid the temptation to use the special effects available in most advanced software packages. While three-dimensional effects, shading, and layered text may look interesting to the author, overuse, inconsistent use, and misuse may distort the data, and distract or even annoy readers. Design properly done is inconspicuous, almost invisible, because it supports communication. Design improperly, or amateurishly, done draws the reader’s attention from the data, and makes him or her question the author’s credibility.
The APA has determined specifications for the size of figures and the fonts used in them. Figures of one column must be between 2 and 3.25 inches wide (5 to 8.45 cm). Two-column figures must be between 4.25 and 6.875 inches wide (10.6 to 17.5 cm). The height of figures should not exceed the top and bottom margins. The text in a figure should be in a san serif font (such as Helvetica, Ariel, or Futura). The font size must be between eight and fourteen point. Use circles and squares to distinguish curves on a line graph (at the same font size as the other labels). (See examples above.)

Captions and Legends

For figures, make sure to include the figure number and a title with a legend and caption. These elements appear below the visual display. For the figure number, type Figure X. Then type the title of the figure in upper and lowercase letters. Follow the title with a legend that explains the symbols in the figure and a caption that explains the figure:

Figure 1. How to create figures in APA style. This figure illustrates effective elements in APA style figures. 

Captions serve as a brief, but complete, explanation and as a title. For example, “Figure 4. Population” is insufficient, whereas “Figure 4. Population of Grand Rapids, MI by race (1980)” is better. If the figure has a title in the image, crop it.