Reflection on Editing Wikipedia for the First Time

I began by creating an account, which was very easy. They asked for a user name, password, and captcha verification that I was not a robot. After that, I thought about what articles I might want to review. What do I know about? First, I looked at the RSU page. It is pretty well looked-after, as you might expect. Then I looked up the Anna Sewell page, since I recently did a project on her and know quite a bit about her life. Her page is in pretty good shape, but I noticed they listed a cause of death and I know her biographers debate what she actually died of. The cause of death was uncited. I googled the causes and found one source that matched; suspiciously, the wording was EXACTLY the same as the Wiki entry… someone was copying someone… at the bottom of the second page there was a note saying the content came straight from Wikipedia. So a dead end there.

I noticed there are Article/Talk tabs on the left side of the page for each entry and Read/Edit/New Section/View History tabs on the right side. You can switch between views to see what’s going on what I’d call “on-stage” or “backstage” for each entry. “Edit” is where it gets complicated—in terms of code and content! “History” shows the history of all edits, who made them, when they were made, etc.

I pulled Sewell’s most recent biography from my shelf and checked to see if the cause of death listed on the Wiki page was there… Found it! The Wiki writers were correct, the cause of death they listed was Sewell’s official cause of death, according to doctors of her time; however, today it’s speculated that Sewell’s death may really have been caused by complications from the SLE form of Lupus. I’m not sure if I’m ready to go into all that and also Wiki policy advices writers stay away from speculation. So, I just decided to add a citation to the cause of death. Sewell’s most recent bio wasn’t mentioned in the entry’s references at all, and it really should be there, anyway.

So, actually adding the reference took a bit of time, but it was fairly easy to add after clicking Help and finding the code to copy-and-paste. Basically, on the Edit page, I changed

Sewell died on 25 April 1878 of [[hepatitis]] or [[Tuberculosis|phthisis]], five months after her book was published, living long enough to see its initial success.

to

Sewell died on 25 April 1878 of [[hepatitis]] or [[Tuberculosis|phthisis]]<ref name="test">''Dark Horse: The Life of Anna Sewell'' by Adrienne E. Gavin. p. 165. Sutton Publishing (2004). ISBN 0-7509-2838-7.</ref>, five months after her book was published, living long enough to see its initial success.

Image of Article History, including my most recent change

Image of Article as it now reads to viewers after my addition

And that’s it! My first contribution.

~Sara

RSU Writing Center Tip: Different Citation Styles -- MLA, APA, and Chicago

Looking for a quick way to shift from one citation style to another? The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) has a handy chart to help. Click this link to have a look.

For more explanation and models, see The Everyday Writer's "MLA Documentation" and "APA, Chicago, and CSE" in the back of the text in sections 48-54. You can also find that very same information in The Everyday Writer online supplement at this link.

Got questions about writing? Reply to this email, drop by the Writing Center in BH 206 during weekday walk-in hours (9 a.m. to noon), or reply to this email and request an appointment outside of walk-in hours. See our scheduling policies posted to our website at this link. Don't forget, we can help you online or over the phone, too!

Happy writing,

Sara

RSU Writing Center Tip: Citing a Work in an Anthology (MLA)

RSU Writing Center Tip: Citing a Work in an Anthology (MLA) 

To create a Work Cited entry for a text from an anthology, like The Norton Reader used in the Composition I courses, see the section "A Work in an Anthology, Work, or Collection" at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, which shares the model below:

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection. Edition number. Ed. Editor's                               Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of                               Publication.

Remember, if you cite multiple works from the same anthology, you must do things differently. First, you'll create an entry for the entire anthology. Then, you'll create mini-entries for each of the multiple works you cite from the anthology. Those mini-entries will be like the model below:

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Essay/Story." Editor's Lastname Pagerange.

Example:

Didion, Joan. "On Going Home." Peterson et al. 1-3.

For more explanation and models, see The Everyday Writer pages 383 and 386, numbers 10 and 11. You can also find that information from The Everyday Writer at The Everyday Writer Online Supplement at this link, also under numbers 10 and 11.

Got questions about writing? Reply to this email, drop by the Writing Center in BH 206 during weekday walk-in hours (9 a.m. to noon), or reply to this email and request an appointment outside of walk-in hours. See our scheduling policies posted to our website at this link.

Happy writing,

Sara