Well, that is indeed nice to hear. On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 8:02 AM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Improving Wikipedia: educational opportunity and professional > responsibility." > > http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19269059 > Trends Ecol Evol. 2009 Mar 5 > Callis KL, Christ LR, Resasco J, Armitage DW, Ash JD, Caughlin TT, > Clemmensen SF, Copeland SM, Fullman TJ, Lynch RL, Olson C, Pruner RA, > Vieira-Neto EH, West-Singh R, Bruna EM; Graduate Seminar in Plant-Animal > Interactions, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of > Florida > > 'As part of a graduate seminar on plant–animal interactions, we set out to > assess the quality and content of Wikipedia entries with an ecological > focus. To do so, we critiqued entries on five major categories of > plant–animal interactions: frugivory, herbivory, pollination, granivory and > seed dispersal. We found that the entries were generally limited in both > breadth and depth, included only cursory lists of citations and occasionally > devoted attention to topics that were at best marginally relevant (one > memorable example was the discussion of ‘fruitarians’ – people who > consciously adopt a strictly frugivorous diet – in the entry on frugivory).' > > 'We found the process straightforward and efficient, particularly once we > learned the protocol for proposing and implementing changes. Editing was > also simplified by adhering to Wikipedia’s clearly established framework for > page organization, reference management and the inclusion of tables and > pictures...We were occasionally frustrated by interactions with an > intransigent author who rapidly and repeatedly reverted our revisions – > something that might be common when editing entries on controversial topics. > However, we nonetheless found the experience to be rewarding, similar in > scope and time commitment to writing a more traditional term paper (Figure > 1) and extremely valuable as an exercise in critical thinking and > communication skills.' > > 'Although we recognize that the time, professional incentives and public > recognition for doing so are limited, we believe that improvements to this > now ubiquitous reference source are particularly important given the > increasingly public debates on ecological and evolutionary topics. The > revision of Wikipedia entries can easily be incorporated into undergraduate > and graduate courses, the service activities of student organizations, > laboratory meetings, extension programs and the annual meetings of > professional societies.' > > -- > gwern > _______________________________________________ > WikiEN-l mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l > > -- Whether you can or can't, any way you are correct. - Henry Ford _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
