Proposal talk:Wikimedia Internship
Hello!
Being a compsci nerd with interest in sociology and collaborative projects I think your idea has something in it, but being sometimes somewhat marketroidoidic: what do we get? I would want reports on how ways to collaborate affects the development of articles, foremost: the quality increases and the number of articles increases. The "ultimate" questions to be answered should be: how do we optimize wikipedia regarded as an encyclopedia, and how do we optimize the editor/reader satisfication? Rursus 09:30, 20 August 2009 (UTC)
Good
Concurring with Rursus, I believe your proposal has something in it, and urge you to go ahead and develop it further. To be specific, I understand your proposal as having to do with: a)participation of academia in Wikipedia, b)improving the quality of articles, c)Improving public perception of Wikipedia... others? -- Thamus joyfulnoise 19:50, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
- (copied from other talk page[1] because I thought it was relevant here) I agree. Many universities have compulsory modules on Academic research, often in the first year (UK). The students learn how to cite, reference and provide an accurate overview of competing arguments. Universities should be approached and encouraged to "adopt" a selection of articles that are relevant to course subjects. Students would select an article (or selection) and improve it. The edit history could be submitted as coursework, so students work could be assessed on their contribution. Students wouldn't be cuting and pasting from Wikipedia to produce an essay but be improving citations and references. --Alchemist Jack 16:20, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
Impact?
Some proposals will have massive impact on end-users, including non-editors. Some will have minimal impact. What will be the impact of this proposal on our end-users? -- Philippe 00:19, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
Great idea
I think that incorporating an internship opportunity for recent graduates/pre-professionals would be a great idea. As a recent graduate (who would love this internship myself haha), I know a lot of people who love the wikimedia projects, who believe in its ability to inform millions of people around the world, and who have a lot of ideas for how it can evolve and grow.
You mention cognitive sciences - I think that creating an internship that is designed to address the notion of information internalization and understanding from a cog. sci. standpoint would be really helpful to Wikimedia, the intern, and the general public because it would make the connection between the website and the reader a stronger one. One of the best ways to make any wiki project successful is to improve the readability and clarity of the articles, and makes sure that people are getting what they want out of a given page every time.
Additionally, I think that an intern could focus on methods for encouraging wiki construction and editing from the general/specialized public. There are a lot of people I know out there who have a lot of experience and knowledge, but who wouldn't even think of editing a wikipedia page just because they're ignorant of its power as a learning tool. It would be valuable to have someone that can devise methods of educating people about wikipedia, perhaps drawing from their experiences in the social sciences or their knowledge of the mind.
Again, I think this would be a great opportunity to snag some great minds before they go off to other careers. I know I'd be the first in line for such a position, and I think a lot of other people would be as well.
-choldgraf