Imagine a world inwhich every singleperson on theplanet is givenfree access to thesum of all humanknowledge.Jimmy Wales

Welcome toWikipedia

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After reading Welcome to Wikipedia,you will be able to:

» Understand how Wikipedia works

» Create a Wikipedia user account

» Understand Wikipedia's userinterface

» List the different ways you cancontribute to Wikipedia

» Communicate with other usersthrough your My talk page

» Explain how an article evolveson Wikipedia

» Describe the attributes of aquality article

» Create a new article

Hi! My name is Sara. I useWikipedia whenever Ineed to learn more abouta topic. But lately I havebeen wondering, whowrites these articles?Why do articles changesometimes? I have readthat anyone can editWikipedia. Can I do thattoo? How?

Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia in the world.It is created and maintained by more than 80,000contributors from around the world. Every monthWikipedia receives more than 450 million uniquevisitors. Wikipedia features more than 23 millionarticles in 280 languages. It is free to use, free toedit, and free of advertisements.(Data from August 2012)

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How does Wikipedia work?

But who decides whatgets published? An editor-in-chief, somewhere?

Everything on Wikipedia has been written bypeople like you. In fact, Wikipedia would notbe the world's largest online encyclopediawithout people continuously contributinginformation, images, and data. Wikipediagrows by nearly 9,700 articles per day andmore than 12 million contributions permonth.(Data from August 2012)

Many contributors (Wikipedians) share anaspiration to provide free knowledge toeveryone. That is the reason why people allover the world volunteer their time to protectand improve the quality of Wikipediaarticles. By allowing everyone to access,download, and reuse content, Wikipediaprovides many options for sharingknowledge.

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Wikipedians create so many new articles andedit existing articles so often that it would bealmost impossible to have a team large enoughto review and validate every single changemade to the encyclopedia. Instead, Wikipediarelies on input from contributors around theworld to create the world's largest repository ofencyclopedic content.

Most people who participate in makingWikipedia better find that it is both anentertaining and rewarding exercise. While thesocial aspect of working toward a goal is fun,most active users are driven by their passion todistribute free knowledge to the world.

Helping everyone acrossthe world get access tofree content makes a lot ofsense to me. Tell me more.Where can I start?

Try it!Who can edit existingarticles in Wikipedia?Select the correct answer.

Only experienced editors

Wikipedia's Editor-in-chief

Anyone who has accessto the Internet

Answers to this question andother quizzes can be found onthe back of this reference guide.

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Creating a user account is a good first step whenyou begin contributing to Wikipedia. An accountallows you to create new articles (pages), uploadimages, and rename pages. You also get access tospecial features such as My watchlist. A watchlistlets you follow the articles that you are editing andbookmark other interesting pages. To add an articleto your watchlist, click the star icon at the top ofthe article.

More importantly, since all your edits are assignedto your account username, you have an identity onWikipedia. This helps you interact with others whoedit the same articles and helps you become atrusted member of the community. As you getaccustomed to Wikipedia, you will find that youhave more to say in discussions and you might helpothers solve problems.

You can edit Wikipedia without having an account.However, without an account, your edits areassigned to your computer's Internet protocol (IP)address. The Wikipedia community tends to distrustedits from an IP address, especially if it is traced toa school or company network where unregisteredusers may make edits based on their biasedinterests. Editing articles where it might be hard toremain impartial is considered a conflict of intereston Wikipedia. For example, if a student edits anarticle about her school, she may have a biasedperspective on the school's national importance.

It is easy to create a Wikipedia account and you arenot required to provide any personal information:

1. Click account, located at the top rightside of the page.

2. Choose your Username.

3. Select your Password.

4. Click Create account.

That was quick! Nowthat I have anaccount, I cancontribute to creatingquality articles.

Try it!Create a WikipediaUser account.

Create a watchlistof your favoriteWikipedia articlesby clicking the starat the top of thearticle page. Studyhow changes to thearticle are trackedon your watchlist.

Create a Wikipedia account

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Wikipedia userinterface

Help provides assistanceto learn more about howWikipedia works.

Talk appears at the top ofeach article. A Talk page isa place for you and othercontributors to plan articlestructure, discuss andbuild consensus on articlecontent, and ask for helpfrom one another.

Recent changes showsyou the edits made to allWikipedia articles inchronological order. Thisallows you to monitorarticles for mistakesand vandalism.

Wikipedia exists in over280 languages.

The Wikipedia Main Page.

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Who wrote this article? Ireally like it! I am not sureI can write an article asgood as this one.

Try it!Click View history for anyarticle and study the page.Notice how each edit istime stamped andattributed to a specificuser or IP address.Observe how somecontributors explain theiredits. Explaining an edit isa good practice because ithelps others understandwhy you made the edit.

Sara's friend, Josh, juststarted editing and findsthat he needs informationabout Wikipedia policiesand guidelines, communitystandards, and generalhelp for editors. Where canhe find assistance?

Select the correct answer.

Recent changes

Help

Search

View history allows youto view and compare pastversions of the page.

Search takes you to the article thatmatches your query. If the articledoes not exist, it displays the articlesin which the word(s) appears.

Create account, at the top rightof the page, gives you access toall features of Wikipedia andhelps build your online profile.

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How can I contribute?Did you know that there are many different roles you can play on Wikipedia?Writing is just one of the many options. Here are some of the roles and whatthey do:

I just corrected anhistorical fact aboutLahore, a city in Pakistan,and guess what? My editswent live as soon as Isaved the page.How exciting!

WikiGnome: Makesminor edits, forexample, spellingcorrections. Suggestsarticle improvementsby leaving messagesfor the authors byclicking the articleTalk page.

Copyeditor: Improves thelanguage and grammar inan article.

Maintainer: Monitorsarticles for biased editsand corrects them. Amaintainer watches out forchanges made bycontributors with apersonal agenda orpolitical/philosophical pointof view, and ensures thatfactual accuracy ismaintained in the articles.

Illustrator:Uploads images,photographs,maps, and visualaides relevant tothe article.

Author: Addsinformation to articlesfrom books, websites,newspapers, and othercredible sources. Anauthor also initiates thecreation of new articles.

Mediator:Moderates discussionon controversial topics,helps resolve disputes,and provides guidanceon contributor behavior.

Formatter: Structures or"wikifies" articles, usingwiki markup, so they areeasier to read.

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Try it!Sara likes to take picturesof the places she visits. Ifshe contributes herpictures to Wikipedia,which role is she in:

Illustrator

Author

Mediator

Formatter

User page and My talk pageThere are thousands of contributors who edit Wikipedia each day. Some editsare not verifiable or are made with a biased perspective. That is why someWikipedians monitor almost all edits using Recent changes (under Interactionin the left menu bar). This feature provides an overview of all edits made in aparticular language version of Wikipedia. Because some Wikipedians monitorhuge numbers of edits they may sometimes delete an edit that is accurate butnot well-written. To prevent that from happening to you, it is important that youwrite factual information and reference reliable sources.

Add information about yourself and your interests to your User page.Maintaining your User page is a good way to build trust and provide authenticityto your edits. Every account has a User page and a My talk page. You can findthe links for the User page and the My talk page at the top right of your screen.Your User page is accessed by clicking on your username, which appears nextto the bust icon. Click Edit to write about yourself. Then click Save page at thebottom of the screen when you are finished writing.

What just happened? Theedit I made to the article isgone. Did someone take itout? Why would someonedo that?

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On your User page you can write about yourself, your special knowledge, andyour interest in particular articles. This is also a place where you can mentionyour affiliations or if you have a potential conflict of interest. For example, itmight be hard for you to remain neutral if you edit an article about theorganization where you work. However, you can use your in-depth knowledgeof your organization to list verifiable sources of information. That way, when youread information about your organization that is inaccurate or outdated, youcould leave a message on the article's Talk page citing the discrepancy andleading article authors to your User page. The authors can then evaluate yoursources and use them to update the article on Wikipedia.

My talk is a place where other contributors can leave messages for you andyou can respond. Many contributors leave welcome greetings to new users.Others might use the space to start a conversation to get to know you or betterunderstand your edits.

Every article also has a Talk page. This page is used by Wikipedians to plan howthey will collaborate on the content and resolve conflicts. If someone wonderswhy you have made an edit, or would like to recommend another article to you,they will use the article's Talk page. The article's Talk page is also a good placeto ask for helpwith the article. Try it!

Click your username and then click Edit, in order to edityour User page.

Explore the various options in the editing toolbar…

(Bold), (Italics), and (Link).

Click Advanced to see the format tools.

Wiki markup quick reference is available at the back of thisreference guide.

Oh, someone just left a note on mytalk page. The message explainsthat my edits were revertedbecause I had not cited a source.Since the fact is mentioned on thegovernment website, I will makethe edit again. This time I willinclude the source in thereferences section below thearticle itself. That should work.

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Life of an articleAlthough the articles in Wikipedia should be detailed and wellwritten, no one is expected to write a comprehensive article injust one draft. Articles typically start small and then maturethrough extensive collaboration, often following a pattern likethis:

Most successful articles start small and consist of asummary of the topic (overview), a statement that tells whythe topic is noteworthy ("the first...", "the biggest...", "thecapital of...", etc.), and a source outside Wikipediaconfirming the existence and importance of the topic (acredible publication or website). This basic article is calleda stub. If any of the three items are missing, thecommunity may assume the topic is not important anddelete the article.

As other users add text and images to an article, itmatures from a topical overview to a more detailed articlethat captures various perspectives such as historical (forexample "in 1923, new factors..."), or global (for example"in Europe, this was viewed as..."). More activecontributors might nominate their article for a Wikipediapeer review process. The Wikipedia peer review processinvolves close scrutiny of the article's quality from a broadgroup of Wikipedians. The process is applied to articlesthat have undergone extensive work. The review processinvolves addressing comments, questions, andsuggestions from the peer reviewers. Based on thefeedback, the writers plan an improvement strategy usingthe article's Talk page.

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Finally, an article reaches a level where it is so well-written,sourced, and comprehensive, that only experts can add muchvalue to it. These articles might be designated as good articles.A few articles could be recognized by the community as beingof the highest quality. These are designated as featuredarticles. Featured articles are displayed on the Wikipedia mainpage. It takes time and effort to write articles at this level.Collaborating to create a featured article is gratifying and alsoenhances your status in the Wikipedia community. Just as allother articles, a featured article continues to be edited.

Try it!What does the Wikipediapeer review processinvolve? Select thecorrect answer.

Review of article quality bya group of Wikipedians

Review of article quality bya group of experts

Review of article quality bythe Wikimedia Foundation

I dream about contributing toan article that appears on themain page of a website withmillions of readers.

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What makes a quality article?A quality Wikipedia article is the result of a well defined structure, encyclopediccontent, and an active community:

Try it!The body of an articlehas no headers. Selectthe correct answer.

True

False

What aspects should aquality encyclopedicarticle have? Select thecorrect answers.

Verifiable sources

Neutral point of view

How-to instructions

Summary, body,footnotes

Structure: Providing a clear articlestructure helps readers find informationand assists editors in keeping all aspectsof a topic well organized. One way to learnabout structure is to study featuredarticles, Wikipedia's finest articles. Youcan access all featured articles by going tothe Wikipedia main page. At the bottom ofToday's featured article, click Morefeatured articles. Then scroll down toContents and select the subject thatinterests you.

Most quality articles have thefollowing structure:

Lead section that summarizesthe key points covered in the

article. Note that the leadsection is without a header.

The body of the article followsthe lead section and includes

specific headers andsubheaders. A geographic location,for example, might have thefollowing headers: history,geography, climate, economy, civicadministration, demographics, andculture.

Appendices and footnotesappear after the body of the

article. These may includebibliographies, links to otherWikipedia articles, notes andreferences, relevant publications,and websites.

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Content: Many Wikipedians consider content the mostimportant factor in judging an article's quality. To ensureconsistent quality, the Wikipedia community created thesefour guidelines.

Provide Sources: Writers are encouraged toprovide sources for further information. Every fact

should be verifiable by a reliable source.

Neutral Point of View: Articles must be writtenfairly, without bias, and present previously

published notable views.

No Promotional Content: Promotional material,how-to instructions, resumes, and sales catalogs

do not belong in Wikipedia.

No Original Research: It is not appropriate toinclude your own new ideas on a subject

(Wikipedia calls this original research), or yourpersonal opinions about a subject.

Community: All contributions to Wikipedia are freelylicensed to the public. That means that no editor owns anyarticle. All contributions can and will be heavily edited bymany different users. In other words, everybody can join inthe decision making process. The community also usesTalk pages to agree on the content structure for the article.For times when consensus is hard to reach, check out thevarious options available by going to the pageWikipedia:Dispute Resolution. Some writers and editorshave years of experience with Wikipedia and theirexperience can be a valuable resource for resolvingconflicts.

I cannot find an articleabout this subject.Should I wait forsomeone else to startthe article?

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Create a new articleThere are many topics that do not have an article on Wikipedia.If you think a topic is missing from Wikipedia, search variationsof the topic name. For example, try different spellings. Alsocheck if the subject is mentioned in closely related topics. Anisland, for example, may be mentioned in an article about itscountry. If the topic is not mentioned in Wikipedia, maybe it istoo obscure to write about, such as a garage band or anunknown person with a blog. However, if you feel that the topicshould genuinely be included in Wikipedia, consider creating thearticle yourself.

Search the article title. If the article does not exist, you will seethe article title in a red hyperlink. Click the hyperlink to startediting a new article.

Your new article will get a good start if you remember toprovide the following three elements:

1. Summary of the topic

2. Reason why the topic is notable

3. Reference to a credible source about the topic

My very first Wikipedia articleis now online! It will be excitingto see how the communitycomes together to expand thisarticle.

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When you start your article you will need a place to work.Create your own workspace or "sandbox" where you can edityour article until it has the three elements.

To use your sandbox, click My sandbox at the top right.

You can use this page to draft your article. Do not forget to clickSave page when you are done editing. When you are ready, findanother Wikipedia editor who might be interested in the topic.One way to find an editor is to look at the View history tab of anarticle on a similar topic and see who has contributed to thatarticle. Leave a message on that editor's Talk page with arequest to review your article. When you are ready, use theMove button, available from the pulldown menu next to theSearch box, to move your sandbox page into the encyclopedia.In the "new title" pulldown, select "(Article)," then put the articletitle in place of the name of your sandbox page, explain whatyou are doing in the "Reason" box, and click Move page.

Now, that you have created a new article, do not stop here. Linkyour article to other articles where your topic is mentioned.

Try it!What are the three elementsto incorporate in your newarticle? Select the correctanswer.

A summary, its notability,and a source

A summary, a picture, and alink to another article

A name, its notability, anda source

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Before my trip to Morocconext month, I will useWikipedia's Create a bookfeature. I will collect articlesthat I need and print apersonal travel guide.Wikipedia has many morefeatures than I first thought.

A Wikipedian

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Well, time sure flies! I justclicked Mycontributions at the topof the page to discoverthat I have more than 100edits. I have so much funconnecting with otherWikipedians, writingquality articles, andspreading knowledgethat can be accessed forfree!

Now that you have read Welcome toWikipedia, you are able to:

» Understand how Wikipedia works

» Create a Wikipedia user account

» Understand Wikipedia's userinterface

» List the different ways you cancontribute to Wikipedia

» Communicate with other usersthrough your My talk page

» Explain how an article evolveson Wikipedia

» Describe the attributes of aquality article

» Create a new article

This educational content is brought to you bythe Wikimedia Bookshelf project. To downloadan electronic copy of Welcome to Wikipediaand other Bookshelf materials, visit:http://bookshelf.wikimedia.org

This location also houses source files that allowyou to translate, customize, and reuseBookshelf materials.

Try it! answer keyHow does Wikipedia work?Who can edit articles for Wikipedia?

Anyone who has access to the Internet

Wikipedia user interfaceSara's friend, Josh, just started editing and finds that he needs help withWikipedia policies and guidelines, community standards, and general help foreditors. Where can he find assistance?

Help

How can I contributeSara likes to take pictures of the places she visits. Sara can contribute toWikipedia as an:

Illustrator

Life of an articleWhat does the Wikipedia peer review process involve?

Review of article quality by a group of Wikipedians

What makes a quality article1. The body of an article has no headers.

False

2. What aspects should a quality encyclopedic article have?

Verifiable sources

Neutral point of view

Summary, body, footnotes

Create a new articleWhat are the three elements to incorporate in your new article?

A summary, its notability, and a source

Are you one of the millions of people who use Wikipedia eachday?

Every day, people all over the world use Wikipedia to help withschool projects, business plans, personal research, and planningtravel. They use it to spark new ideas and to brainstormconcepts. They use it to explore distant lands, ancient cultures,fine art, civic leaders, and recent events.

Welcome to Wikipedia is a reference guide for anyone whowants to take the next step and help gather and share the sum ofall human knowledge.

Follow Sara as she makes her first edits on Wikipedia. In theprocess, you will learn key concepts, guidelines, information, andtools to get you to start contributing to Wikipedia.

More materials: http://bookshelf.wikimedia.org

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