Inside Wikipedia

How It Works and How You Can Be an Editor

Inside Wikipedia
Paul A Thomas
RRP:
NZ$ 85.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 73.09
Hardback
h229 x 163mm - 186pg
15 Sep 2022 US
9781538163214
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
Wikipedia is one of the most visited websites on the Internet, regularly bringing in millions of readers a day. But how exactly does a huge site like this work? What are its strengths? What are its weaknesses? Who edits the site? And perhaps most importantly how can you, the reader, help make the site better? In this book, Paul A. Thomas-a seasoned Wikipedia contributor who has accrued almost 60,000 edits since he started editing in 2007-breaks down the history of the free encyclopedia and explains the process of becoming an editor. Chapters include: The History of Wikipedia The Wiki-Ethos: What to Know Before You Edit Getting Started: Making Your First Edits Growing as an Editor: To Wikitext and Beyond Concrete Ways to Make Wikipedia a Better Resource Becoming a Critical Editor: Countering Bias A Short Glossary of Wiki-Slang After reading Inside Wikipedia, you will be ready to contribute to the largest, most comprehensive knowledge base the world has ever seen. What will you write about?
Readers with a hankering to be a top-notch Wikipedia editor should find a copy of this how-to guide, grab it, and keep it close. It explains the intriguing history of Wikipedia, clarifies the unique ethos that makes Wikipedia so special, and provides detailed, technical instructions for writing entries, submitting them, and participating in Wikipedia' s lively community of editors. Roughly half the text offers step-by-step instructions on editing Wikipedia articles, and this is the heart of this guide. Questions about entry layout, the user-option toolbar, the history tab, the visual editor, Wikitext, behind-the-scenes code, hyperlinks, peer review, locking articles, WikiProjects, and Taskforces are all answered with practical, nitty-gritty guidance and advice. Examples include the technical instructions for signing messages and how to load an article and lock in changes (and add an edit summary). This title is enthusiastically recommended for Wikipedia devotees. Even those with no interest in being a Wikipedia editor will find engaging and enlightening information about Wikipedia' s history, its pros and cons, and its utility as an adjunct to traditional encyclopedias. -- "Booklist" As Thomas notes, most of us use Wikipedia and know that anyone can contribute to it, but most don' t know who edits it and how and why they do this work. Thomas explains all in plainly written chapters on the history of the resource, what to know before editing, getting started, and growing as an editor in "Concrete Ways to Make Wikipedia a Better Resource. " Crucially, there' s a closing chapter on countering bias in the work. Particularly helpful to librarians will be the section for editors who want to work with libraries and museums, as it is a mini lesson for librarians on what these patrons expect. -- "Library Journal" In Inside Wikipedia, Paul Thomas brings an experienced Wikipedian' s knowledge in newcomer-friendly prose to explain how to join the community of contributors. His discussion of ' critical editing' in the context of Wikipedia' s biases is a particularly welcome addition to the corpus of publications about Wikipedia. --LiAnna Davis, Chief Programs Officer, Wiki Education Expert and accessible. Thomas brings his decade-plus experience of collaborating on Wikipedia to print with this new book. Thomas takes the reader inside the online encyclopedia, revealing its history and culture, and showing the reader not only how to contribute but how to be a good contributor---in short, how to become a Wikipedian. --Joseph Reagle, Northeastern University, Author of Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia This book should be titled Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Wikipedia (*But Were Afraid to Ask) - as it provides a very comprehensive, yet super accessible summary of what Wikipedia is, how it works, and how one can contribute. If you' re not editing Wikipedia yet, it is a must-read. If you do, get the book anyway, and spread the good word!--Dariusz Jemielniak, Professor and Chair of MINDS (Management in Networked and Digital Societies) Department at Kozminski University, Warsaw, Poland, author of Common Knowledge? An Ethnography of Wikipedia and Collaborative Society, and Faculty Associate at Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University
Paul A. Thomas is a library specialist at the University of Kansas and a PhD candidate at the Emporia State University School of Library and Information Management. He has been an avid Wikipedia editor since 2007, having created 260 articles, made over 60,000 edits, and promoted over 296 articles to "good" or "featured article" status. From 2017 to 2020, he also served as a Wikipedia Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, helping to improve articles on Ancient Roman and Latin literature. He lives in Overland Park, KS.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781538163214
Published: 15 Sep 2022
Published In: United States
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Format: Hardback
Height: 229mm
Width: 163mm
Spine: 17mm
Weight: 395g
Pages: 186

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information

Details of the product above will be automatically included with your enquiry.