Transcript Revision of a co-authored wiki page

Writing for the Internet, collaborative writing
Skills: revising a wiki document
IT concepts: none
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoncommercialShare Alike 3.0 License.
Where does this topic fit?
• Internet concepts
– Applications
– Technology
– Implications
• Internet skills
– Application development
– Content creation (text)
Growth of Wikipedia article on the
heavy metal umlaut
The article began with a single, anonymous sentence
on April 15, 2003:
The "heavy metal umlaut" over the ö in the names
of Motörhead, and the Blue Öyster Cult has led to
the term "spandex and umlaut circuit" being used to
describe the heavy metal band touring scene.
By October 8, 2009 it had been edited over 1,500 times
by 932 people and is over 2,500 words long.
The table of contents contains 7 sections and 3
subsections.
The umlaut
Edits from April 2003 to October 2009
Year
2003 (April 15)
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009 (October 8)
Total
Edits
35
254
311
308
258
225
121
1,512
Editing activity appears to be slowing.
Editing frequency (through Oct. 2009)
Edits
Freq.
51 50 17 15 13 12 10
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
3
1
4
6
9 12 34 158 695
One person made 51 changes, but 695 made only one.
1
Jon Udell’s video of the article evolution
Jon Udell made a time lapse screencast that
shows the changes over time:
• Original version (some x-rated footage)
• Edited version (x-rated material blocked)
Watch the video. While watching, keep track of the
kinds of edits it illustrates.
Some ways to improve a wiki document
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Fix a typo or spelling error – get over “stage fright”
Fix a grammatical error
Fix a factual error
Add a detail, reference, link or image
Rewrite an awkward or ambiguous sentence
Add a clarifying example
Change the appearance or format of the document
Revise a concept
Draft a new sub topic
Reorganize or rearrange the document
Every edit should improve a collaborative document.
Improvements Udell showed
Correcting a factual error
12:26
6/26/2004
12:32
6/26/2004
Debating change in the discussion area
> The n-umlaut/n-diaeresis character does not occur in any known language
It does occur in a small Central American Amerindian language, Jacaltec.
Added. Wikipedia, where no detail is too obscure! :-D - David Gerard 12:34, 26
Jun 2004
I condensed the text of the Spinal Tap story a little (removing only
the bit about Guatemala) and moved it to the caption. It has since
been moved back. My thinking is this: A caption should tell
something about the picture and tie the picture to the article.
ke4roh 21:16, 26 Jun 2004
I've left it out but readded Guatemala, so people will have some
idea where the heck Jacaltec is from - David Gerard 21:49, 26
Jun 2004
(The comments are edited for focus).
This is what it says today
October 8
2009
The sentence remained in the body, not the picture caption, and
another language was added.
Note another correction – the word diaeresis was removed after
considerable discussion.
Improving appearance or format
12:32
6/26/2004
14:13
6/26/2004
Revising a concept
April 1
2004
What does the umlaut signify? A Nazi/Hitler theme is
suggested.
What does the umlaut signify?
April 2
2004
The Nazi/Hitler reference has been deleted.
What does the umlaut signify?
October 8
2009
Foreign branding and a Teutonic quality
Correcting vandalism on June 26 2004
Time
Author
Action
21:51
23:20
23:20
23:22
Dj28
Mirv
Dj28
the article is clean
Add one dirty sentence
Delete the dirty sentence
Add several dirty sentences
23:23
23:24
23:24
Mirv
Dj28
Mirv
Delete the dirty sentences
Add more dirty sentences
Delete the dirty sentences
The obscenity edit war lasted less than two minutes.
Reorganizing and adding structure
The page started in April, 2003 with a
single sentence from an anonymous
contributor.
Today it is organized in seven major
sections.
Adding links and references
Over 100 internal and external links have been
added, including:
• 18 references
• Links to 37 heavy metal bands
• Links to 16 bands with special characters in
their names other than the umlaut