Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2021-08-29/WikiProject report
WikiProject report
WikiProject Days of the Year Interview
Hello again! From the sowing and reaping of crops, to planning birthdays, anniversaries and other events, the days of the year are an essential part of all our lives. Here we interview a dedicated group of Wikipedia editors, chronologists and augurs at WikiProject Days of the Year.
- What motivated you to become a member of WikiProject Days of the Year?
- Willbb234: I first encountered the project when incorrectly adding entries to Days of the Year (DOY/DOTY) articles, around two years ago. Each new entry should be accompanied with a source, which almost all DOTY articles lack. After discovering this, I felt motivated to help out in the effort to improve DOTY articles. I enjoyed my work on January 3, and felt particular pride in seeing an article fill up with citations.
- Toddst1: I was probably following some goofball that was adding things like "2019: Brenda & Eddie's first date" to pages. After looking at a few DOY pages, I quickly discovered that they had been filled with a fair amount of garbage, incorrect info and sometimes Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons (BLP) issues. Somehow the project had convinced themselves that these pages were literally exempt from WP:V. That's what got me to dig in. I started this discussion and after some significant initial objections, we fixed that and the project has really embraced cleaning up these articles, preventing new misinformation and raising the bar on quality.
- Suonii180: The WikiProject was brought to my attention by another member after I edited some of the days of the year articles.
- Why have a WikiProject on days of the year? What do you see as the main benefits and uses of the WikiProject?
- Willbb234: DOTY articles are some of the most visited on Wikipedia. When each new day starts, the corresponding article will see an influx of readers and editors alike. It's therefore important to keep these articles in shape, especially when so many new editors often add unsourced entries which require a dedicated team of editors to address. The main role of the project is to add citations to the tens of thousands of entries, and I believe this can assist editors in adding citations to dates on articles, and readers on being able to verify when something occurred.
- Toddst1: I think folks find them entertaining, being able to quickly find what else happened on their kid's birthday or whatever.
- Suonii180: The main page has links to days of the year articles so the WikiProject is useful in making sure that all of the information on each article is accurate and sourced as there can be a high number of people viewing and editing the pages.
- By nature, your WikiProject has a very well defined scope, which means multiple editors are often working with each other in close proximity. How does your project manage differences of opinion and conflict?
- Willbb234: The project is blessed to have a relatively small number of articles, and quite clear guidelines on the layout of said articles. I have found conflict rare, but it will usually be sorted out as the guidelines can easily be applied to different articles. In other WikiProjects, where guidelines don't apply to all of the articles in that scope, it is often harder to clearly understand the rules and different interpretations often occur, leading to differences in opinions.
- Toddst1: There are tons of folks who happen by and add an item or two, adding a lot of value. We've developed very clear guidelines – at least they are to most folks – and project members politely making editors aware of them makes a big difference. Our shared purpose, small scope and guidelines really prevent a lot of conflict. There's still a lot of work to do cleaning these up and from what I've seen, we've been able to move beyond most petty squabbles. Oddly enough, some of the biggest conflicts that pop up these days are with folks who have been editing for years, many of whom have advanced privileges, that pop by for an edit or two and discover that their edit doesn't conform to the guidelines.
- Suonii180: Luckily due to the narrow scope of the project, not many problems have occurred and due to all of the articles having the same layouts, it's easier to decide guidelines and resolve issues for them.
- Have you encountered any particular pages, events or other things that really stick in your mind or have surprised, educated or entertained you whilst editing pages related to days of the year?
- Willbb234: I always find it interesting when I come across a date of birth or death of a person who I previously knew about, or someone who seems interesting. I often end up reading their biographies when I should be helping DOTY articles. Another interesting detail is reading sources and finding the surprising ways in which historians have been able to determine the date of a particular event when the date is not explicitly stated. I would note that events and dates of birth and death are added by a wide range of editors, meaning the pages are often very diverse in the different subjects included. This means I often come across articles which I never knew about. You could think of it as opening a random page of an encyclopaedia.
- Toddst1: Pretty much every wikilink on these pages leads to something interesting I didn't know about.
- Suonii180: I've always loved history so the most interesting part for me is finding out about historical events and people from different time periods and cultures that I previously hadn't heard of or knew very little about. The most surprising thing I've found is the difficulty in finding reliable sources for some of the more well known people or events listed on the pages.
- I'm sure we all have an idea what days are most well fleshed out; are there any days of the year that you feel are particularly neglected?
- Willbb234: A list of complete articles can be found at WP:DAYS. As you'll notice, it's a very small number, which shows that there are hundreds which still need work. Mistakes always creep into articles, but in general, DOTY articles are kept in decent shape even if they lack citations. I have worked on January 3 and plan on working on another DOTY article at some other time. I feel as if we can one day 'complete' this project, but until that point there will always be articles that are neglected. Due to the small number of editors participating in the project, I find it hard to believe that we can achieve something as large as this soon, but it is my belief that we have and continue to make a great impact in this small corner of Wikipedia.
- Toddst1: Like Willbb234 said, the articles that are not on this list could use help.
- Suonii180: As mentioned above, there is still a significant amount of articles that still need to be brought up to citation standard. While progression has been slow, the articles are continuing to improve steadily.
- How can an editor contribute to your WikiProject?
- Willbb234: Contributing is as simple as adding a citation, or adding a new event, along with a supporting citation, to any article that takes an editor's fancy (see List of days of the year). We have created all the articles we need to, it's just a question of improving the existing article. The editors at WP:DAYS are happy to help.
- Toddst1: Adopt a date (your birthday?) and ensure each entry has a direct, reliable source supporting it. It's easier than you think:
Just open the entry's wikilink in a new browser tab. If there isn't a reliable source to support that entry in the linked article or the source doesn't support the info, remove it from the DOY article and add a{{CN}}tag to the info in the linked article (or remove it if it's a WP:BLP or date-of-birth (WP:DOB) issue). If not, copy the citation and add it to the DOY article.
If you're looking for a quick impact, start with the more recent birthdates of actors or musicians on a DOY page. Most folks are surprised how many of those linked articles don't have reliable sources for birth dates. - Suonii180: The project encourages people to focus on a significant day to them such as their birthday and try to bring it up to citation standard. However small edits like adding a reference or removing incorrect information are helpful and much appreciated.
- Is there anything else you'd like to add?
- Willbb234: Thanks for the interview!
- Toddst1: I've been truly impressed with the dedication and veracity of the project members . It's a pleasure to work with them.
- Suonii180: It's been great working with the WikiProject and thank you for organising this interview.
That's it for this month; please feel free to suggest a WikiProject for an interview (or interview a WikiProject yourself!) here.
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