Job Discussion Forums

thelmadatter · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:12 pm Post subject: wow

Wow! Glad to start a debate. Yes... my assignments are only to write and improve articles for Wikipedia, not use it as a research site. For the articles they write, students must use at least 5 different sources, none of them can be an encyclopedia (be it Spanish language Wikipedia, Britannica etc) though I make an exception for specialty encyclopedias like the Enciclopedia del Estado de Mexico.

While more advanced students would have the most options for writing ... Im working on setting up a project for intermediate level students. For example, many articles contain something called "infoboxes" (see the article for Toluca, for example). If the teacher sets up a template for the code, even beginner students can fill in the information. Very short articles, called "stubs" can be written by intermediate students. WikiProject Mexico has the goal of having an article (be it a stub or longer) for every city, town and village in the country. I have created a template for this kind of article and will test it out this semester. Students can also contribute photographs of places in their home countries, which requires more reading and following directions than writing.

As for Wikipedia's reliability... many of my students are more skeptical of what they read in Wikipedia after writing for it. Students have observed that they can be inaccurate when they write and one of the first things we do before we write anything is critique an article about Mexico (I like the "Music of Mexico" article for this... despite the thousands of edits, students always diss it)

But the real advantage of having them write is its authenticity... they are writing for a real, and foreign audience... so they have to consider how they want to represent the information to "real" people rather than just to a teacher for a grade. They also have to interact with other Wikipedians as part of the grade, so they get feedback not only from me, but from the "real world" as well. Regulars on Wikipedia are pretty demanding folks. One students complained that they were "snobs" ha ha ha ha

Like everything else, Wikipedia has it pros and cons..

wildchild · Joined: 14 Nov 2005 Posts: 519 Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010

thelmadatter · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:41 pm Post subject: former versions

All changes made on any Wikipedia page is saved in the database. This is principally done to revert vandalism but also serves the "pesky" dissenting opinion purpose. Not to mention that the entire encyclopedia with all previous versions can be downloaded by anyone. That is how the guy who invented the program to trace changes by unidentified users was able to search the entire Wikipedia and then match the found IP addresses with the company/organization that has it.

WP will never be perfect but then neither is the New York Times....

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject:

Dear Stephen,
Either someone made these entries really quickly or you must have overlooked them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry_in_Tibet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Polyandry

Regards,
John

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

No John, I'm referring to the article on polyamory, which links the varying subtypes including polygamy, but makes no mention of polyandry. Mind you it also misses out on incest, bestiality and necrophilia as well, so it is well and truly incomplete.

johnslat · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 1:14 am Post subject: beating a dead dog

Dear Stephen
WHAT!!!???? No mention of bestiality and necrophilia? Yikes - this is a job for johnslat. Fortunately, I've made notes and taken pictures, so my contribution to Wikipedia will have been exhaustively researched and documented. It gives me a warm glow, knowing that my harmless pastimes will contribute to
mankind's store of knowledge.
Actually, I learned a new word - I hadn't even been aware the there was such a concept as "polyamory."
Live and learn.
Regards,
John

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

johnslat · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:13 am Post subject: My card

And don't forget to give one to your dog (or cat), any corpses handy, and members of your immediate family.
Regards,
John

nogreasyhippies · Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Posts: 25

cspitzig · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 56

What is the connection between polyamory and incest, bestiality or necrophilia? Just that those three are also non-traditional ways of thinking about sex?

You may consider polyamory to be a euphemism, but, I know people who practice it. THEY certainly don't consider it a euphemism. Basically, it seems to be what they called "open relationships" in previous decades, though maybe a more inclusive word.

johnslat · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 3:07 am Post subject: Big Love

I don't seem to see the relationship, either.

polyamory: the state or practice of having more than one open romantic relationship at a time

Main Entry: polyamory
Part of Speech: n
Definition: participation in multiple and simultaneous loving or sexual relationships

Sounds more like every bachelor's (and not a few married guys') idea of bliss.

cspitzig · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 56

I think most people who want a polyamorous relationships want a specific form--where only THEY get to have relationships with others. The people who I've known who've called their relationship polyamorous have had a relationship that was open on both sides. Of course, open doesn't mean free to have sex with/date anyone--like with any other factor in a relationship, they consider their partners feelings.

It seems like polygamy would be a subset of polyamory, though I've never heard of a polygamist referring to themselves as polyamorous.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

johnslat · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 1:52 pm Post subject: Don't mention it

Dear Stephen,
What confused me was that in your post which made the first mention of polyandry's not being listed in Wikipedia,

"Just making a cursory look it does seem to have a male bias; no mention whatsoever of polyandry!"

there was no mention made of the term "polyamory" or that it was that category you had researched, looking for a listing for polyandry.
It appears to me that Wilipedia's having listings for polyandry (as cited in one of my posts above), incest,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest

bestiality, zoophilia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestiality

http://nostalgia.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestiality

and necrophilia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrophilia

would seem to undercut your statement that

"The dissemination of knowledge should not be limited by petty prejudice."

Regards,
John