Watershed Equipment Research.

The equipment that I have chosen to highlight is Wikipedia. As we all know, when researching a topic , one of the first hits that comes up on any search is the Wikipedia page, making a great opportunity to highlight your watershed or your subject of interest.  My watershed, the Monocacy, did not have a specific page for it, but there is a page for the Monocacy River, that can be updated from my research so far.   My first attempt at an edit, inserting the size of the watershed, was accepted.

Many of us remember when Wikipedia started and anyone could edit the data and often did, since then the requirements for positing information have become much more rigorous.  While you can start a new Wiki page for your watershed, I safe and opted to edit a relevant page, the Monocacy River.

The process:

In order to edit  or create a page it is recommended that you first create an account, similar to any program, with a user name and password.

How you format your submission counts.  Wikipedia wants to be an online encyclopedia, requiring entries to be factual, well documented, and noteworthy. 

 For new pages, Wikipedia has an article wizard that helps format your submission. When using the wizard template or creating on your own, it is recommended that you start with a drat document in the area called “the sand box. “ This allows your work to be reviewed before it is posted on the page, and allows you to submit it for review, creating a dialog between you and other editors, to ensure that your work does not get deleted due to formatting or content requirements.

If you submit a draft, you will get comments back on how to fix it , or it will be posted as a live view on the website.   If you post directly to the web, or “live” your post may be removed if  deemed inappropriate, and there are limited times you can repost  items before you get blocked out.

Wikipedia has a page called the tea house, which is an open forum for writers, and editors to discuss development of pages or issues with posting. So far it has been a very welcoming platform.

The Rule of submittal  include, do not violate copy write laws, use your own words, subject should be notable, (have significant coverage that are independent of the subject), neutral in tone, avoids puffery, can be verified,  and meets style guidelines. (Wikipedia, 2016)

Based on my success on my initial post, it was accepted, I intend to continue updating the page with the relevant information that  have collected for the watershed or that I uncover in future  investigations for the class.

 Reference

Wikipedia, (2016), Wikipedia: Tutorial/Editing, Accessed from https://en.wikipedia.org/wuju/wikipedia:tutorial/editing