LibGuides: UGS 303: Survive and Thrive at UT: LGBTQ UT/Prof. Moore: Get Started with Wikipedia

Activity 1: Create your Wikipedia Account

Create your Account
Tips for creating a username:
1. Do not include any personal, identifiable information (name, address, birthdate)
2. Do not duplicate an existing social media or other online username tied to your identity
3. Be as anonymous as possible! Editors’ usernames are public and visible. Anyone who visits a Wikipedia page that you edit will see your username.

Need help coming up with a username?

Try a random username generator: https://jimpix.co.uk/words/username-generator.asp

Make note of your password. You'll need it this semester.

Things to keep in mind:

Adding an email is optional. It is not shown publicly. Only your username is.
You cannot create a WIkipedia account on a device with a VPN enabled.

Activity 2: Create your Sandbox and Use the Visual Editor

The Sandbox is your space to learn to edit, take notes, and draft new articles or edits. Anyone can see it so keep that in mind when editing it. We will use it during our session to practice using the visual editor, and later you will use it to draft your article.

1. Create/find your sandbox by logging in and selecting Sandbox from the menu.

2. Using the Visual Editor, type a few sentences into your sandbox. Then try different formatting options, including

bolding
create headings and subheadings
adding a link to a Wikipedia page
adding a link to a non-Wikipedia page
Publishng the changes you make and practice adding a note to explain what you changed.

Tips to Keep in Mind:

make sure you are in Visual Editor (you can toggle between visual and source editors using the pencil icon - see the video)
make sure you use "publish changes" and not "submit ..." at this point. You'll use submit at the end of the Wikipedia project when your group is ready to submit your article.

For captoins, choose the arrow pointing up and right to open the video in Panopto.

Activity 3: Add Citations

Use "Cite" to add these citations to your Sandbox:

Citation one

Austin celebrates Pride two years after gay marriage is legalized

by Wesley Story

Published in the Daily Texan, June 26, 2017

https://thedailytexan.com/2017/06/26/austin-celebrates-pride-two-years-after-gay-marriage-is-legalized/

Citation two

Morgan, Richard. “Somewhere Under the Rainbow.” Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 48, no. 35, 10 May 2002, p. A8. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6738370&site=ehost-live.

Tips to Keep in Mind:

The easiest thing to do when citing sources is to format them outside of Wikipedia (using NoodleTools is a great way to do this) and then copy and paste them in using Manual>Basic.
You will cite some of your sources multiple times. You can easily do that without creating the citation each time by reusing the citation.

5 Pillars of Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia.
Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view.
Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute.
Wikipedia's editors should treat each other with respect and civility.
Wikipedia has no firm rules.

Things to Keep in Mind

Link to another WIkipedia article from yours if possible to keep your article from being an "orphan."
Neutral means you are not making an argument or expressing an opinion. All facts must be cited and any opinions included must be cited and attributed to someone.
Facts must be verifiable (cite them).
Sources must be credible and topics must meet Wikipeida's standard of notability.
Be extra careful when writing about living people. Do no harm. See Wikipedia's policy here.

Activity 4: Using Sources and Writing in a Neutral Tone

We're going to do this one together using this KUTX feature of p1nkstar - https://kutx.org/features/p1nkstar/