Dave Brier, Social Sciences Librarian (daveb@hawaii.edu)
Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Argument: Wikipedia is a useful tool to improve student writing and information literacy skills
Featured articles
A small bronze star icon on the top right corner of an article's page indicates that the article is featured. Featured articles are considered to be the best articles Wikipedia has to offer, as determined by Wikipedia’s editors. They are used by editors as examples for writing other articles. Before being designated, articles are reviewed for accuracy, neutrality, completeness, and style. Examples: Hurricane, Quark, RNA Interference, Barack Obama,
Neptune, and Antarctica.
Good articles
A small plus sign inside a circle on the top right corner of an article’s page indicates that the article is a good article. Good articles are considered to be of good quality, but are not yet as qualified as featured articles. Good articles are written very well, contain factually accurate and verifiable information, are broad in coverage, neutral in point of view, stable, and illustrated, where possible, by relevant images with suitable copyright licenses. Good articles do not have to be as comprehensive as featured articles, but they should not omit any major facets of the topic. Examples include History of Sheep, Rape during the Rwandan Genocide, Vector Space, Volcanic Ash,
Henry Fielding’s Early Plays, and Space Opera in Scientology
Protected articles
A padlock symbol sign on the top right corner of an article’s page indicates that the article is protected from automatic public editing. There are several types of protection. Positioning your mouse over the padlock symbol tells you the terms of protection. Examples of protected articles: Israel, Gaza Strip, Cold Fusion, Sausages, Jenna
Jameson, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Ebola Virus Disease
Grades in Talk / Discussion Page
At the top of the page, click on the “Talk” tab. The resulting page provides information about the article and grade ratings by different Wiki projects.
Warning Messages
Warning messages often appear at the top of an article (sometimes noted by an exclamation mark or in the Talk section. For example, the article on Pashley Cycles notes “This article has multiple issues.” “The article needs additional citations for verification. The article appears to contradict the article on Moulton Bicycle.

In the Wikipedia search box, type the article that appears in italics below. For example, type WP:RA in the search box for a listed of requested articles by others.
Wikipedia Education Program
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To learn about the Wikipedia Education Program, type WP:education program
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To find case studies on how professors are teaching with Wikipedia:, type File:Wikipedia education program case studies.pdf
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To find an orientation for educators using Wikipedia editing a class assignment, type wikipedia:training/For educators This orientation consists of a short introduction and four modules.
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To learn the basics about using Wikipedia for courses and as a teaching tool, in the Wikimedia Commons, type How to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool
Writing articles
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To find the criteria that makes a good student assignments in Wikipedia, type WP:student assignments
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To find an essay provides advice on improving Wikipedia articles, type Rules to edit Wikipedia:
Wikipedia:Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia
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To find advice on how to write an effective article, type WP:Writing better articles
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For a conversation on sources, type Wikipedia:identifying reliable sources or Wikipedia:potentially unreliable sources or Wikipedia:verifiability
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To find pages on how to cite sources in Wikipedia, type WP:CITE
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To help students understand the purpose and value of referencing, type Help:Referencing for beginners
Finding articles to improve or write about
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To find articles your students can improve, type Category:Articles needing attention
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To find articles that your students can expand, type Category:Articles to be expanded
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To find articles that your students can fill in, type Category:Artilces with empty sections
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To find articles that need additional citations, in Google, type “needs additional citations” [your topic] site:en.wikipedia.org (e.g., “needs additional citations” volcanoes site:en.wikipedia.org)
Finding Course Pages in Wikipedia
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To learn about building course pages, type wp:course pages
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To see examples of work by student editors, type wikipedia:ambassadors/courses/trophy case
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To find type courses in Wikipedia, type special:courses
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To find schools using Wikipedia course pages, type special:institutions
Wikipedia article: Wedding dress of Kate Middleton
Google “How Kate Middleton’s Wedding Gown Demonstrates Wikipedia’s Woman Problem”
Wikipedia article: Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia
Google: “9 tools for using Wikipedia in the Classroom”
Association for College & Research Libraries: Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education
Standard 3: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.