Thing 15: Evaluating Information
Wikipedia's #1Lib1Ref ran from 15 January to 3 February 2018, calls on librarians to help improve the reliability of articles by providing a secondary citation. Here's a nice little synopsis of the campaign, which runs annually:
Although the campaign is over for this year I was inspired to get involved. I found an article that needed a citation using Citation Hunt. It's a handy tool that returns examples where a citation is needed, and if you're not feeling a subject you can spin the wheel again (click next). I'll admit to having to go through a fair few Nexts. While it would be possible for any self-respecting librarian to source citations to support assertions on articles covering the Citron 2CV, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. or Mathematics' Taylor Series, these areas just felt a little outside my comfort zone for my first #1Lib1Ref effort.
I chose a straightforward sentence in the Gilbert and Sullivan article. I used Google Books to search for a reference and found one in one of the publications already listed as a source on the Wikipedia article. The book passed the CRAAP test, as an academic text on the subject which was published in 2012 by Columbia University Press. I was also conscious of the benefit of using a citation that was openly accessible online so I added another citation. This one to a website I found listed on the University of Pennsylvania website. While the web design looked a bit dated, it had been updated in December 2017, was established at Boise State University, was non-commercial, featured primary source material and listed its contributors. So it fared pretty well in a CRAAP test. I used the visual editor to add the references and it really does the work for you. For the publication I added the ISBN and the URL for the website and Wikipedia did the rest beautifully for me. Here's the note I submitted for my contribution, I left out the #1Lib1Ref as the campaign was over but, in hindsight I wish I had included it:
23:00, 3 April 2018 (diff | hist) . . (+436) . . m Gilbert and Sullivan (I provided a citation for "Some of the plot elements of Ruddigore were introduced by Gilbert in his earlier one-act opera, Ages Ago (1869), including the tale of the wicked ancestor and the device of the ghostly ancestors stepping out of their portraits." I cited the plot synopsis on http://gsarchive.net/gilbert/plays/ages_ago/plot.html and "Family portraits from various historical periods come to life, step out of their frames, and argue in Gilbert's Ages Ago" (Williams, p. 283)) (Tag: Visual edit)
To illustrate how committed experienced Wikipedia editors are, my reference was edited in less than an hour from p. 283 to pp. 282-284! Pretty impressive.
Although the campaign is over for this year I was inspired to get involved. I found an article that needed a citation using Citation Hunt. It's a handy tool that returns examples where a citation is needed, and if you're not feeling a subject you can spin the wheel again (click next). I'll admit to having to go through a fair few Nexts. While it would be possible for any self-respecting librarian to source citations to support assertions on articles covering the Citron 2CV, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. or Mathematics' Taylor Series, these areas just felt a little outside my comfort zone for my first #1Lib1Ref effort.
I chose a straightforward sentence in the Gilbert and Sullivan article. I used Google Books to search for a reference and found one in one of the publications already listed as a source on the Wikipedia article. The book passed the CRAAP test, as an academic text on the subject which was published in 2012 by Columbia University Press. I was also conscious of the benefit of using a citation that was openly accessible online so I added another citation. This one to a website I found listed on the University of Pennsylvania website. While the web design looked a bit dated, it had been updated in December 2017, was established at Boise State University, was non-commercial, featured primary source material and listed its contributors. So it fared pretty well in a CRAAP test. I used the visual editor to add the references and it really does the work for you. For the publication I added the ISBN and the URL for the website and Wikipedia did the rest beautifully for me. Here's the note I submitted for my contribution, I left out the #1Lib1Ref as the campaign was over but, in hindsight I wish I had included it:
23:00, 3 April 2018 (diff | hist) . . (+436) . . m Gilbert and Sullivan (I provided a citation for "Some of the plot elements of Ruddigore were introduced by Gilbert in his earlier one-act opera, Ages Ago (1869), including the tale of the wicked ancestor and the device of the ghostly ancestors stepping out of their portraits." I cited the plot synopsis on http://gsarchive.net/gilbert/plays/ages_ago/plot.html and "Family portraits from various historical periods come to life, step out of their frames, and argue in Gilbert's Ages Ago" (Williams, p. 283)) (Tag: Visual edit)
To illustrate how committed experienced Wikipedia editors are, my reference was edited in less than an hour from p. 283 to pp. 282-284! Pretty impressive.
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