My knowledge and experience with Wikipedia was limited. Recently, I learned more about Wikipedia and how to make edits as well as engage with the community. I want to walk you step-by-step of my experience.
I first started by looking up a topic I was interested in. I chose to search my high school since it is registered as a historical building. I read the article to see if there was anything I could add or change. I found that the article did not mention when our auditorium was built (which is the reason why it is registered as a historical building). So, I decided to search for a credible source. If you want to make edits on Wikipedia, having a credible source is extremely important. I highly advise you to pay attention to where you are gathering information from. I chose to go with an article from the Mesabi Tribune. Not only is it a news article that is current, but it is also local. I tried to pay attention to dates and make sure I was gathering the most current facts. After I confirmed my dates, I went into the “talk” tab of Wikipedia and typed what I was changing and why. The talk tab allowed me to engage with those who are interested in making changes or discussing information within the article.
To my surprise, there was more information and suggestions in there than I thought there would be since I am from a small town. I then waited a few days to see if anyone was opposed or wanted to share their thoughts but I did not get a response. I then went to the Hibbing High School Wikipedia page and proceeded to make the edit. When making an edit, I started by typing out what I wanted to add. Then I confirmed it by adding the citation. It also made me go through a captcha process. Which I think is a good thing that way robots cannot mess with the information on Wikipedia.
Overall this certainly changed my view on Wikipedia and how I use it. I was a little nervous at first but once I made my first edit I was excited! I didn’t realize how easy it was to add or change information on the platform. One thing I would mostly be alert about would be when I’m getting my information from Wikipedia. My concern would be I am reading an article that someone decided to edit recently, but the information was wrong or not cited properly. Since it was freshly edited, some fact checkers may not have had time to look it over or change it. Which brings me to my next point, I think it is important gathering information from Wikipedia, that you are only using information that has credible sources listed next to it. Or even taking the information from the bottom of the page in the references tab. Other than that, Wikipedia is a great source to learn from and a fun tool to use! This is something I could see myself doing more often.
Source: https://www.mesabitribune.com/news/community/high-school-auditorium-the-gem-of-hibbing/article_624c564e-744b-5412-a49c-f5c781d312ab.html
Wikipedia Article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibbing_High_School
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