[GPSCC-chat] Occupy Wiki Workshop (revised)
Spencer Graves
spencer.graves at prodsyse.com
Sat Dec 24 18:19:36 PST 2011
Hello, All:
I'm planning to lead a series of "Wiki Workshops" at the Peace
Center devoted to both the mechanics of how to edit a Wiki page and the
rigorous habit of thought that is needed to write good text for "THE
Wikipedia"? This can be a high leverage activity. The Wikipedia
article on the Stop Online Piracy Act received a million views between
Nov. 24 and Dec. 24. Contributing to Wikipedia can also help you
develop a critical, analytical habit of thought and expression, because
such is needed to write good text for Wikipedia (because without it,
edits you make are more likely to be undone by someone else). This
habit of thought and expression may also make you more effective in
other things you try to do.
I'm about to schedule Monday, January 9 for the first session.
Depending on the response, I plan to schedule others, e.g., once per
month or per week, depending on the level of interest.
I have three questions regarding this that I'd like to ask you all:
1. Might the Green Party like to co-host something like
this with Occupy San José?
2. Might you be interested in participating in such?
3. Might you be interested in participating virtually,
i.e., via the Internet from wherever you happen to be at the appointed
time?
Thanks,
Spencer
TITLE: Occupy Wiki Workshop
SHORT DESCRIPTION: The Wikipedia article on the "Stop Online Piracy
Act" received over 1,000,000 views in the month between Nov. 24 and Dec.
24. Clearly, work to improve the content of such a page can have a
large impact. Accordingly, the Education and Research Committee of
Occupy San José would like to recruit people with or without experience
editing Wikis to meet regularly in working / education sessions to
increase the impact of the participants while also improving their
skills. We will change and add to a Wiki devoted to Occupy San Jose
(http://occupy.pbworks.com/?_ci=15332.o6tKe2-2) as well as "THE
Wikipedia" and perhaps others. We will discuss the interests and
desires of participants, select things to change and add, share
knowledge about how to make changes and additions and how to do research
so your edits will more likely be accepted and read. [Contributing to
Wikipedia can help you develop a critical, analytical habit of thought
and expression, because such is needed to write good text for Wikipedia
(because without it, edits you make are more likely to be undone by
someone else). This habit of thought and expression may also make you
more effective in other things you try to do.]
FACILITATORS: Henry Gage and Spencer Graves
On 12/23/2011 11:29 AM, Ana Maria Candela wrote:
> Hi Spencer,
>
> We should do this at the peace center, which has a projector we can
> use. To schedule the workshop, I need a title, a short description
> and a rough idea of how long it will be. Then we need to pick a date
> and reserve it on the SJPJC calendar. Here is what is available at
> SJPJC for January that would work for us:
>
> Monday, January 9 - 7pm
> Saturday, January 14 - all day
> Monday, January 16 - 7pm
> Saturday, January 21 - all day
> Monday, January 23 - 7pm
> Monday, January 30 - 7pm
>
> Once everything is in order, I can schedule everything.
>
> Thanks for doing this!
> Ana
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Spencer Graves
> <spencer.graves at prodsyse.com <mailto:spencer.graves at prodsyse.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi, Ana, et al.:
>
>
> What's the next step?
>
>
> I think we should mention both the Occupy Wiki and "The"
> Wikipedia to attract an audience. I agree we should encourage
> people to do things with the Occupy Wiki as well as "The"
> Wikipedia. The latter has an article on "Occupy San Jose", but
> the most recent event recorded there is dated Oct. 21. A lot has
> happened since then, and people can make changes there that are
> less likely to be challenged than my attempts to edit the SOPA
> article.
>
>
> I want to call it a "Workshop" for two reasons: First, I
> won't feel a need to do a lot of preparation. Second, people
> should expect to come and "work" in the "shop". (It doesn't all
> have to be serious: There are various Wikijoke pages.)
>
>
> Spencer
>
>
> On 12/23/2011 10:33 AM, Ana Maria Candela wrote:
>> Hi Spencer,
>>
>> I think this is a great idea. I think we should begin by
>> training people to use the OSJ Wiki that Henry developed. So
>> much comes through on the google group that needs to be on that
>> wiki, it would be nice to start sending people there to document
>> our resources.
>>
>> Best,
>> ana
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 9:50 PM, Spencer Graves
>> <spencer.graves at prodsyse.com
>> <mailto:spencer.graves at prodsyse.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi, Ana, Henry, Pablo, David:
>>
>>
>> WIKI POWER
>>
>>
>> I tried recently to edit the Wikipedia entry on the Stop
>> Online Piracy Act, especially adding a section on the "Media
>> Conflict of Interest". My additions were removed 18 minutes
>> later, complaining I did not have a valid source.
>>
>>
>> That article has been receiving between 100,000 and
>> 150,000 views per day, which means that any editing effort
>> can have very high leverage. I learned that, because earlier
>> today, I was officially invited to participate in a
>> discussion about whether to split the article. I think the
>> consensus is to try to shorten the article by not including
>> as many lengthy quotes.
>>
>>
>> OCCUPY WIKI WORKSHOP?
>>
>>
>> What do you think about trying to organize a Wiki
>> Workshop at the Peace Center? I'd be willing to facilitate
>> something like this as a recurring event. What is our status
>> with the Peace Center?
>>
>>
>> The basic idea is to help people become Wikipedians by
>> learning both the mechanics of the Wiki markup language and
>> (more importantly) the rigorous habit of thought that is
>> required to make good contributions that people want to read
>> and quote.
>>
>>
>> I've made probably a few thousand edits over the past 6
>> years. Most of these were for a corporate wiki internal to
>> where I used to work. However, I've made a few hundred edits
>> to "the" Wikipedia, and I think I understand their standard
>> and how they think.
>>
>>
>> I'm thinking of structuring the Workshops so they start
>> with a discussion of what the attendees want to do, either
>> with the Occupy Wiki that Henry initiated or "the" Wikipedia.
>> After recording the desires of the attendees, we could then
>> spend a few minutes answering the easiest questions. For the
>> more difficult questions, we could recruit volunteers to
>> prepare brief presentation(s) at later session(s) -- or
>> handle those questions via email. Then there should be time
>> for brief presentations people prepared for question(s)
>> raised in previous session(s).
>>
>>
>> If we can use the Peace Center's computer projector,
>> that might be best. I could take notes in an email, which I
>> could then send to interested parties at the end of the
>> meeting. If we can't get the projector, then I could bring a
>> portable easel. I have a backup notebook computer I could
>> bring, also, which could be used by attendees who do not
>> bring a notebook.
>>
>>
>> Best Wishes,
>> Spencer
>>
>
--
Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
President and Chief Technology Officer
Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
751 Emerson Ct.
San José, CA 95126
ph: 408-655-4567
web:www.structuremonitoring.com
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