From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Wikimedia account
I have an account on Wikimedia at: [1].
[edit] About me and my editing
I'm 39-years old, originally from the U.S., and currently living in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. Ironically, although I was active in martial arts in the U.S., since moving to Japan I haven't done more than a little judo, instead spending more of my free time studying the Japanese language. I've been editing Wikipedia with an account since January, 2006. Although I at first edited martial arts-related articles, I now mainly work on military history or Japan-related articles. Since Wikipedia isn't supposed to be a social networking site, I won't say much more than that about me or my personal interests. If you'd like to, however, talk to me about anything such as martial arts or another subject, my email is enabled in the link at left.
If you're curious to see how many times in a recent month that a particular article in Wikipedia was viewed, use this tool: Wikipedia article traffic statistics. I tried it on the list of featured articles below and was surprised by the results, including just how many times each article was viewed and which article in particular was viewed the most.
Anyway, I usually work on World War II (WWII) Pacific campaign articles for two reasons: (1) I'm interested in United States and Japanese military history, and (2) I believe that the Pacific campaign doesn't get as much attention as it should in comparison with the European campaigns of WWII. I also work on military accident, friendly fire, and military controversy articles. The articles in the "to do" list are articles that I plan on trying to take to Featured Article (FA)-level status, if they aren't there already. I don't mean to imply any ownership over these articles.
[edit] Advice on preparing a history article for FA
Some tips that I've discovered in choosing, editing, and submitting history articles for FA:
- Choose a non-controversial subject. If the article you want to work on is under the ``protection`` of one or more POV-pushers, you're just going to immensely frustrate yourself trying to work through the wall of interference that those other editors will throw up as you try to improve the article. The best is if you can find an article that has been left alone for some time (check the history). Of course, choose a subject that's interesting to you. If you choose to improve an article that has several sub-articles (like a military campaign that includes several sub-battles), take the sub-articles to FA first. Then, the "parent" article will have basically written itself from the completed sub-articles.
- Acquire your references first. Having the right references is the most important part of writing the article. Search the Web or the local library and find all the references you'll need for the article. I suggest at least three. Books are better than websites because they're often more credible and websites come and go. Try your local public or university library or you can buy used books online very cheaply. Add your list of references to the article first, so that other, helpful editors can also jump-in to assist if they want to and have access to the references you list (this has happened to me). The more references you can acquire and use, the better. What one historian misses may be recorded by another historian. Try to get references that give the point of view from all sides of the event.
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- You may need to order an out-of-print book from a bookseller in another country. Once, the cheapest price that I could find for an out-of-print book that I needed for an article from online US used booksellers was US$165. I then found the book at an online Australian used bookseller for US$20 so, even with the increased postage it was much, much cheaper.
- Article outline. I would suggest the following basic outline for a history article: Background, Incident (or Battle, Action, Event, etc), Aftermath and/or Significance, and Notes and References. The "Incident" section can be further broken up into "Prelude" and other subsections by time or event if necessary to keep the section from being too long. Just like with a speech, the article should have a "graceful ending." The last sentence should bring the article to a definite close. One way to do this is to use a pithy quote from an historian or reporter about the event that was covered in the article.
- Cite (inline) liberally. You can't have too many footnotes, but you can have too little. Cite every assertion and have at least one citation at the end of every paragraph so that it doesn't look like you have any "dangling," uncited text. Also, spread your citations out among your references so that it doesn't look like you're using one or two sources for everything. Lately I've started combining all the citations for a paragraph in a single footnote at the end of the paragrah and that seems to be working out fine so far.
- Illlustrate. Find pictures and maps with ok copyright status (or create supporting maps or images yourself), upload them to Wikimedia Commons, and add a Commons link from the article to the Commons gallery where you list all of the images related to the article. This way editors in the other Wikipedia language editions can access the images you upload and use them for the articles on the same subject that they're writing in their language (yes, I've seen this done with images I uploaded to the Commons). Adjust the flow of the text of the article to support images you add that emphasize particular events. In this way you can make your article more of a multi-media presentation instead of just a written report on something. I've sometimes made the decision on whether to create a new article on a subject based solely on if there were enough images available to adequately illustrate the article. Take some time and do several searches on the Internet to find images. You'll be surprised at the unlikely places you'll find relevant images for the article you're editing.
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- Something that I've discovered recently is how images should be placed in an article. If the person or object in the picture is facing or pointing towards the right, then the picture should be on the left side of the text. If facing or pointing to the left, then it should be on the right side. Doing this somehow makes the article look more complete and have greater impact.
- Is the creation of your own illustration for an article engaging in original research? It can be if you don't do it correctly. If you create your own illustration, be it a map, drawing, or other type of graphic, you should add a footnote to the image caption sourcing where you obtained your information from to create the illustration. Of course, the same information should also be on the image file page.
- Step back periodically. If you're stumped or your writing isn't flowing well, take a break and do something else with your free time for a day or so. An idea for the article may occur to you when your mind is on something else. Happens to me all the time. An encyclopedic-style article can be written in a concise and neutral manner, yet still produce some dramatic tension for the reader if written well.
- Write neutrally. I know that this is one of the basic tenets of Wikipedia, but, it still bears repeating. If someone can read your article and not be able to tell which side you're taking on the battle, event, or issue, then you've succeeded in writing it neutrally.
- Don't forget the "human element" After all is said and done, the story you are telling, if about an historic event, involves your fellow human beings involved in a very dramatic situation. Try to have at least one item in the article that expresses this human element, whether it be a quote from a participant, an image clearly showing a person, not just a landscape or an object, or the mention of one individual's or group's thoughts, exploits, or experience. Since this is an encyclopedic entry, the human element example needs to be brief and not too POV (for example, overly extolling the "heroism" aspect of any individual's participation in the event) for one particular side or it will be counterproductive. An easy way to do this is to include images of the respective commanders or leaders of the forces involved (if the article is about a battle). The best seems to be a brief quote from a participant or even better if you have a quote from participants on both sides of the event.
- Submit for peer review, then Good Article or A-Class review. The motivated and helpful peer, Good Article, and A-class review editors, either with the military history project, WP:BIO, or the general peer review and Good Article forums, will point-out any flaws or issues with your article that you might have missed. Resolve the issues that they highlight in their review.
- Don't fight with the FA reviewers. After you nominate your article as an FA candidate, assume that the comments or criticism that comes from the FA candidate reviewers are being made in good faith. Respond constructively and try to correct whatever they point-out, even if you don't agree with it. If they ask or object to something that you feel isn't reasonable, still try to work with them to resolve their concern in a constructive and calm manner.
- Further advice... Giano has written a good essay on the FA process here. Yannismarou has also written some good advice on the process as well as a tutorial. Some further insightful commentary on the FAC process is contained here, here, and here. Finally, Tony has written an extensive writing guide here.
Special thanks to Kirill Lokshin, Wwoods, Grant65, Looper5920, Nick Dowling and others for invaluable advice, assistance, and guidance.
[edit] Welcome and appreciated compliments from fellow editors
For your massive contributions to Wikipedia's coverage of the Pacific Theater of World War II, I hereby bestow upon you the
Military history WikiProject Distinguished Service Award.
Kirill Lokshin 22:47, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
This
motivated barnstar is given to Cla68 for his tireless contirbutions to Wikipedia's coverage of the Pacific Theater of World War II and US Navy and Marine Corps history. Presented by
Looper5920 18 November 2006
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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar |
| For helping me with the copyedit of Aleksandr Vasilevsky, this RAK Star for you! :) Grafikm (AutoGRAF) 18:52, 22 July 2006 (UTC) |
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The Working Man's Barnstar |
| I hereby award this barnstar for your efforts in tirelessly researching references for the Japanese war crimes article. Keep up the good work! John Smith's 16:56, 30 July 2006 (UTC) |
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The Featured Article Medal |
| What??? 5 FAs and still not having this one? That's a major oversight! -- Grafikm (AutoGRAF) 00:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC) |
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Pacific Theatre, 1941-45 Barnstar |
For sustained, solid research and editing, in adding references to many
Pacific War articles. Grant65 | Talk 06:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC) |
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The Epic Barnstar |
| For the constant stream of FA's. Keep it up! James086Talk | Contribs 13:09, 7 December 2006 (UTC) |
By the order of the coordinators of the Military history WikiProject, you are hereby awarded the WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves in recognition of your many valuable contributions to military history articles, and, in particular, your leading role in the creation of numerous featured articles on the topic of the Pacific Theater of World War II. For the coordinators, Kirill Lokshin 01:39, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
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The Good Article Medal of Merit |
| I have awarded you this medal for your work in helping to reduce the backlog during the Good Article Candidates Backlog Elmination Drive. You reviewed five or more articles during the drive, which helped to contribute to the large decrease in the backlog. If you have the time, please continue to review articles to help make sure the backlog does not jump back up to what it was. Good job and happy editing! Nehrams2020 06:16, 15 June 2007 (UTC) |
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The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar |
| In recognition of your courageous acts and concerned words. Risker 02:30, 4 December 2007 (UTC) |
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The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar |
I, Dragon695, hereby present you the Defender of the Wiki Barnstar in recognition of your taking on the thankless task of seeing that our policies are applied in a fair and equitable manner, regardless of whether the person is a sinner or a saint. Let the inspiring words of Sir Winston Churchill help to guide your way:
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...never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. |
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—Sir Winston Churchill, Harrow School (October 29, 1941)
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Dragon695 (talk) 01:23, 17 May 2008 (UTC) |
In response to concerns over my actions concerning the Gary Weiss article, I opened an RfC on myself. The RfC is here.
[edit] Userboxes
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This user lives in Japan.
この利用者は日本に住んでいます。 |
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