Digital humanities - wikipedia training modules = evaluating articles and sources

An important tool for evaluating a Wikipedia article is…

to look at its quality rating.

the best articles have been evaluated as…..

“Good” or “Featured” articles

“Start” or “Stub” class articles…..

aren’t considered as reliable or simply don’t provide a very string overview

The best articles share certain qualities, which can serve as a model for you to strive for in your own work:

• A clear, easy-to-understand lead section, that is, the overview at the start of the article.

• A clear structure with several headings and subheadings arranged chronologically or by themes, with images or diagrams when appropriate.

• Balanced coverage of many aspects of the subject; with more important viewpoints getting more prominence in the article.

• Neutral coverage, written without bias toward a particular point of view, and representing disagreements according to their representation in reliable sources.

• Reliable sources are used throughout the article. For example, references to NASA rather than relying on an amateur's blog for information about Mars.

Here's some signs that the article may not be so great:

• Warning banners. Often these make a statement about the article's reliability, though sometimes it's simply a suggestion for improvement. Make a note and read accordingly.

• Are there language problems in the lead? For example, a very short lead might indicate that the article was written through staggered contributions, and could use a rewrite to tie it together.

• Are there value statements, such as "the best" or "the most important"? Those are flags that it's written to persuade, or at least, not properly referenced.

• Are there references to unnamed sources of information, such as "some people say," or "many believe"? Can you answer the question, "Who said that?"

• Are there very few references or citations? Are the citations from good, reliable publishers, or are they from questionable websites or publishers with a clear bias?

• Are some sections longer than others, despite being equally (or less) important? Are relevant sections missing completely?

why cite?

adding sources means that your work can be fact-checked by the editors

Editors (yourself included) can challenge unreferenced statements by

adding a {{fact}} tag in WikiCode, which adds a [citation needed] tag to the statement.

when should you cite?

you should be citing at least once per paragraph you contribute to any Wikipedia, but any quotations, hard to prove facts (such as statistics) and controversial claims must be cited.

Basically, whenever you add information to an article, be sure to include references.

poor sources:

• blog posts and social media

• press releases and promotional material

• official websites

• self-published materials

close paraphrasing

Copying words, structure, or phrases from the original source — even when cited to that source — violates Wikipedia’s copyright policies and is a form of plagiarism

copyright

Everything on Wikipedia is free to use. That means anything you put on Wikipedia has to be free to share, too. Copyrighted materials, including lengthy passages from books, illustrations, and photographs, don't belong on Wikipedia

how to: add a citation with WikiCode

let's look at how to add a References section to the article using WikiCode.

You can access WikiCode through the "Edit source" option on the page.

Then, follow these instructions:

1. Check that the bottom of the page has a "Notes" or "References" section. If not, type: ==Notes==

2. Check that the Notes section either has the text {{reflist}} or<references />. If not, type: {{reflist}}. This determines where your references will appear on the page.

3. Now click after the text you would like to create a reference for.

4. Now type in the <ref> tag before your reference and type </ref> after your reference. Wiki software will automatically add your inline reference number.

how to: add a citation with VisualEditor

Click "edit" above the section or article you want to edit. Within VisualEditor's toolbar, you'll find the "Cite" button. You can simply paste a URL, and the VisualEditor will try to sort out all of the fields you need.

to re-use an existing reference:

place your cursor in the body of the text where you want to add the new reference for that citation. Then open the "Cite" menu and find the "Re-use" item 

to edit an existing reference: 

use the "edit" button to open VisualEditor. Click on the bracketed number for the source you want to edit. You will see an icon for the type of reference (book, web, news, etc.) and an "Edit" button to the right. Clicking on the "Edit" button will open a dialog where you can do exactly that

what happens of you come back and see that someone has made an edit to your page?

You can see how an article has evolved over time by clicking the "View history" link at the top of every article. When you open the "View History" page, you'll see a list of recent changes to the article, with some comments about what other editors have done.