Wikimedia Reviews

Wikipedia Quotes
I have always loved reading different kinds of quotes and finding ones that applied to my life. So once I found Wikipedia Quotes, I was thrilled. It contains quotes in different languages, countries, and from lots of different sources such as:

• People
• Literary Works
• Films
• TV Shows

Quotes are also categorized by theme.

When you enter the homepage there is a quote of the day. Today’s quote is from Michael Jackson.

This site also contains proverbs. The proverbs are categorized by country/region from where they came. You will find a proverb, its English translation if applicable, and what it means.

I found that I could stay on the site for hours just looking up quote after quote after quote. Not only that, but once you read a quote, often times there is a link so you can find out more about you said the quote. I thought that was a nice touch, especially when I read a really interesting quote but have no idea who the person is who quoted it. Even more, you can read the discussions on the quotes and add to the discussions as well.

I also found the search feature to be helpful. Overall, I will be returning here quite often as I am looking for quotes.

Wikimedia Commons
I also enjoyed Wikimedia Commons. There are many images, audio files, videos, etc. You can find media for just about anything imaginable and then some! When you first log on there is an image and media of the day.

One thing that did make it confusing is that there is so much information and it is so hard to keep it all organized that I felt like I was clicking through a maze. I loved looking at all the photos. There are older ones as well as newer ones. I also enjoyed looking at the art. I felt like I went back in time and was looking at photos from a museum.

There were many videos you could look at. I like how they are categorized so you can find what you are looking for. For example, if I am looking for videos on Spain, I could type in Spain in the search box or I can look under countries or societies. You can even download some of the videos onto your computer without a problem.

I also loved exploring and listening to the sound files. I am always looking for new sounds to incorporate in a second language classroom so this is a perfect place for find interesting sounds.
For a newbie who is just getting started with uploading and sharing media, this is a perfect place to begin because it tells you what to do, how to do it, it explains the best formats, the different licensing and copyright information, and other pertinent information that one would need to know.

Updated Wikipedia Profile

I just updated my Wikipedia profile and included:

1. Bold text
2. Italic text
3. Internal links
4. External links
5. Level One section header
6. Level two section header
7. Bulleted list
8. Numbered list
9. Image
10. Horizontal Line

I also included external links to some of my other online profiles.

Overall it was an easy process. The hardest part was figuring out how to upload a photo but once I finally found the correct page with the information on how to do it, it was easy. I'm new to editing Wikipedia pages but it is much easier to learn and remember than HTML.

Wikipedia

I edited my first Wikipedia article today. It was quite interesting. I didn't read any of the introduction information for first time users. I just dove right in and started editing. It was easy until I decided to edit some of the links. I noticed that a couple links were incorrect so I typed in the correct url and it automatically reverted back to what it was because it thought what I was typing in was spam or something. Oh well. The article itself was easy. After I finished, I had to figure out how to find the page that showed the before and after edit. I bet I looked for 10 minutes. Then I decided to edit my profile. I hadn't written any information about myself, just my username. I edited my settings and after 20 minutes of searching I finally figured out how to edit my profile. As I was searching, I came across a lot of information that I would love to read once I find more time. Wikipedia contains articles about how to write articles and edit them and a plethora of other useful information. Not only will I be able to use it as I edit more articles, but it will help me in my own classes as I work with wikis. I used to dismiss any information in Wikipedia thinking it could be bogus information and one should always take it with a grain of thought but I love the concept of having an online encyclopedia of everything that anybody, anywhere, anytime can contribute. I love it! It is absolutely genious! I would love to find ways to incorporate that concept in my own websites and online classes and it has made me really think about the use of wikis. I have used them in classes before but I never really gave them much thought and instead would email or im my group members drafts or important information or questions moreso that actually using it for what it really is, a collaboration tool. I will definitely learn more about wikis and wikipedia and write my own articles.