Wikipedia:Editor review/Clarkbhm

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[edit] User:Clarkbhm

Clarkbhm (talk contribs) Hi all. I feel like I've been in the nether regions of wikipedia, doing my work but not knowing how well I'm doing. I'd appreciate the chance to get some feedback on my work. ClarkBHM 15:22, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Reviews

Comments

Questions

  1. Of your articles or contributions to Wikipedia, are there any about which you are particularly pleased, and why?
    I've become involved with the Protected Areas Wikiproject, specifically the List of National Wildlife Refuges page. I've been working on writing articles for the hundreds of refuges across the nation; not just short little stubs but detailed articles on each one. I've done sixteen so far. I find that writing about the refuges also allows me to dabble a bit in other areas such as endangered species, a lake that the refuge might be near, or even the army base converted to a refuge.
  2. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and how will you deal with it in the future?
    A little bit. One user insisted on having certain originally researched information concerning the high school in Hoover, Alabama. I had a good idea that his numbers were off, but the most recent information I had was 2004. After a minor edit war with him on one side and a few other users on my side, this guy felt I was wiki-stalking him. I explained to him that I was not trying to stalk him and that we were both trying to work out the situation. I think he calmed down after that and we were able to come to an agreement on the issue. Why do I bring this up? People want to feel validated and not threatened. By simply talking with people through the issues, most of the time you can avoid problems.
    I have found that this isn't always the case in more contentious issues. Somewhere along the way, I had picked up that elementary schools were generally considered non-notable and as such should be deleted as opposed to high schools which were more notable. I thus submitted an elementary school to be deleted along with several other schools in its school district, one of which was empty and two others with a minimal two-three short sentences. I was quickly chastised for the nomination; people were taking this personally and attacking me personally for it! Even when I tried to calmly explain the reason for my nomination to one who had chastised me, I got blown off with I'm not even slightly interested. As you can imagine, this hurt my feelings. I felt that there was a hysterical reaction in that I had nominated some schools for deletion. Apparantly there has been an ongoing debate about the merits of deleting schools and I'd stumbled into it. What did I do? I conceded. Wikipedia is about consensus, isn't it? I didn't agree with the decision, but its hard to argue against eleven people of a different mindset. The best part is that I let it go. Life moves on.... A few weeks later, I received a barnstar award for my contributions. C'est la vie! ClarkBHM 16:19, 15 May 2006 (UTC)