So for this week’s assignment, we had to work on editing a Wikipedia page for the first time ever. I vaguely skimmed the “how to edit” section when I first created my page so I was somewhat similar to the idea but because I never have done it, I was a bit overwhelmed by the “source” edit. I ended up mostly just sticking to the text edit section page since it was easier for a newbie like me to navigate.
I ended up deciding to edit a page about my hometown, Ulster Park. Located in New York, I miss it the nature all the time so it was nice to look at old pictures while I did one of the most important aspects of this assignment, researching and making sure my facts were correct. Even though I only changed the population and added a tidbit about a Nature Reserve located in the area, it is of upmost importance to make sure I get my facts straight.
While the population isn’t blue, I can assure you that I did add that, as it wasn’t added before.
I also added my citations. They said they saved but when I go back into the Ulster Park Wikipedia Page, they don’t show up. I don’t know if they have to be viewed by a moderator but that is confirming where I got my information from since citation is EXTREMELY important!!
It was honestly super exciting and fun to get the chance to try something like this. I know a lot of work goes into these pages and as someone who visits mostly fan page Wiki’s, being able to get the information easily and at my fingertips by volunteers no less, is something I do not take for granted. The fact that people do this as either a full time hobby outside of their day job or just in general full time makes me appreciate the little things more and being able to add into that community, even as a beginner, puts a lot into the perspective of how much time goes into making sure everyday people have information.
I definitely think that I would do this again and I would like to look more into the source text editing, as well as learning how the programming works because honestly looking at all the little details of the source coding was making my head spin, which is why I went for the easier and less daunting option to stare at. I really enjoy the research process and getting to learn new things myself that I may have not known about. To be completely honest, when I lived in Ulster Park, I had never even really ventured too much out onto the hiking trails that I wrote about. Of course, I did go out and fish with my dad, and hike some other trails in the town over, but I never explored a whole bunch which I should have.
Enough nostalgia for today though…
This was fun, a great experience and I’m glad to have the opportunity to learn how to do something simple and I’m looking forward to learning more about the process so I can continue my editing adventures!~
Link to my hometown’s Wikipedia page I edited: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Park,_New_York