Friday, August 1, 2008

Wikipedia as required reading, and a challenge


We're all pretty up to speed on the perils of using Wikipedia for research: the entries could be written by anyone, expert or doofus; entries are frequently hacked, punked, and jumbled (thank you, Stephen Colbert); and because entries are open and editable, the information you cite today may not exist tomorrow.

Blah, blah, blah. We know the dangers, but we still use it, because under the right circumstances -- like getting a basic grounding on a topic you know nothing about -- it's pretty useful. Besides, most Wikipedia contributors are pretty passionate about ensuring its quality.

Still, you wouldn't use it for course work, right? Not unless you're in this professor's class. He makes some fairly decent points about how a project of this size would be unfeasible under a traditional publishing model, and the idea of having grad students contribute articles on specialized topics is a good one.

So here's your assignment: create a Wikipedia article for the James E. Walker Library.

There is an entry for MTSU, and the library is mentioned under Campus Information. If you create a library article, make sure you link to it there. Learn about creating a new Wikipedia article first.

Here is some background information on the library to get you started.
I'd like to see something by Monday. You didn't have any weekend plans, right?
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Updated 8-3-08: The beneficent Sage accepted the challenge and created a Wikipedia entry on the James E. Walker Library, but there is room for elaboration if anyone wishes to take part. What resources, services, or features of the building should be highlighted? Are there any other historical tidbits to include? Does anyone know where the original library was on campus?
The licensing has also been changed on a few of the Flickr photos to allow use in Wikipedia.

2 comments:

Sage said...

Ask you you shall receive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._Walker_Library

Unfortunately I couldn't find any free images to illustrate it. There is a Walker Library account on Flickr, but they license all their photos with a noncommercial license, so they can't be used on Wikipedia.

MTSU Librarian said...

Wow, Sage. Thanks!