1. Wikipedia:The editing imperative Adrianne Wadewitz, English Department, Indiana University, March 2010

2. Why edit Wikipedia?1) High visibility2) Source of information for a growing number ofpeople and institutions3) Define what it means to read4) Share scholarly information and skills5) Develop teaching opportunities6) Inspire others to read and write7) Preserve and communicate cultural heritage 3. Visibility One of the ten most-accessedwebsites in the world Most accessed reference websitein the world Search engines: in first 10 resultsin 80% of cases Free Available in over 270 languages,giving it a worldwide reach 4. Visibility Mary Wollstonecraft article translated into numerouslanguages, including Chinese Jane Austen article received 172,773 page views inFebruary 2010, typical for a month 1,746th most popular article (out of 3,218,926 ) Mary Wollstonecrafts Thoughts on the Education ofDaughters Main page: 17,000 page views in one day Normally receives about 20 page views per day 5. Visibility Through GFDL and CC-by-SA 3.0 licensing,Wikipedias articles are mirrored and forkedacross thousands of webpages. Ex: amazon.com uses summaries fromWikipedias articles to describe some of its books. 6. Source of information 61% of US journalists use Wikipedia as a source Wikipedia has been cited in US court decisions,such as those by the 7th circuit The BBC transcludes Wikipedia articles aboutanimals to its Wildlife Finder pages US patent appliers increasingly cite Wikipedia Over 50% of undergraduates use Wikipedia as afirst resource for research 7. Define what it means to read A large percentage of English-speaking readersin the world are looking at Wikipedia every day. Shape their experience of what it means to read and analyze literature by providing clearly organized, well-written articles based on solid scholarship so that they can understand the kinds of questions we ask in this discipline. 8. Enable scholarship Help create annotated bibliographies withscholars all over the world in short amounts oftime Write summaries of your specialty for scholars inothers periods or genres Help create a description of every book publishedin the 18th century accessible to any scholar Easy contact with like-minded scholars 9. Research and writing Share your researchand writing skillswith those willing tolearn Copyedit sciencearticles foraccessibility to thegeneral public Old book bindings at the Merton College library, Tom Murphy VII 10. Teaching on Wikipedia Assist self-selecting students, ready to learn, who teach others Hi; I considered your comments [on the American Beautyarticle] carefully, and despite initially disagreeing, I eventuallysaw the wisdom of your suggested cuts.Only in a couple of spotsdid I retain tidbits you suggested I cull, but given the informationIve removed today I think I can justify them if you still disagree.It was only when I started editing this morning that I realisedhow bloody thorough your review had been, and how muchthought you put into the suggested cuts. So I really must thankyou again for taking the time to look at the article. As an aside ... Ihope you realise this is all your fault (indirectly, at least). Severalyears ago you convinced Erik about the necessity of includingthemes and interpretations in our film articles; he convinced me,and I guess I overcompensated for fear that someone wouldcriticise the article for not being a thorough enough treatment.So, thanks for that. :-) All the best User:Steve to User:Awadewit on 15 February 2010 11. Classroom teaching Develop new assignments, which: Have actual readers commenting on student work Encourage revision Force students to delve into the minutiae of research Make copyediting and grammar vivid Show the real-life ramifications of plagiarism 12. Inspire others Nikita Zotov teaches young Peter I, painting by Klavdy Lebedev (1913) 13. Cultural heritage Preserve and communicate our cultural heritage Core and vital lists Deletion and inclusion debatesGoethe, one of Wikipedias vital authors Goethe, Joseph Karl Stieler, 1828 14. fun!While you may teach and inspire others, do not discount the possibility that you yourself may learn and be inspired! It is, indeed, wonderful to be in the company of a group of people who want to share knowledge with the world. 15. Bibliography Alexa. Wikipedia. 16 March 2010. Web. Bates, Don. National Survey Finds Majority of Journalists Now Depend on Social Media for StoryResearch. Press release. Cision. 20 January 2010. Web. Cohen, Noam. Courts Turn to Wikipedia, but Selectively. The New York Times (29 January2007). Web. Head, Alison J. and Michael B. Eisenberg. How todays college students use Wikipedia forcourse-related research. First Monday 15.3 (1 March 2010). Web. Jane Austen. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 16 March 2010.Web. Laurent, M.R. and T. J. Vickers. Seeking Health Information Online: Does Wikipedia Matter?Journal of the American Medical Information Association 16.4 (2009): 471-9. Web. Tancer, Bill. Look Whos Using Wikipedia. Time (1 March 2007). Web. Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. WikimediaFoundation, Inc. 16 March 2010. Web. White, Michael. Wikipedia Citations in Patents Up 59 Percent. The Patent Librarians NotebookBlog. 7 January 2010. Web. Wikipedia:Statistics. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 16 March2010. Web. User talk:Awadewit. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15February 2010. Web. 16. Acknowledgements Tim Vickers Bill Wedemeyer Frank Schulenburg