Group projects have a bad reputation for all the times when one group member has to do all the work and the group is not working together but this fails to acknowledge the added benefits of group work. Overall, the Wikipedia project has been a bit overwhelming for me and I can’t begin to fathom what it would be like if I was solely tasked to edit a Wikipedia article. With that being said, my group is proving to be immensely helpful as we are all trying to piece this project together.
Currently, my group has approached the labor-management by trying to divide the work among each other. We each are pulling information and reliable sources for one of the sections in our article’s table of contents as a way to help us understand how much material we are dealing with and how to better format our subgenres. We are in the process of collecting data and sources and our next step is to assign each member to a specific section or subsection. As of now, I believe that my individual contributions have been pivotal to my group’s project as I helped to draft and write the proposal and I also came up with quite a few sources for one of the sections.
Overall, while this project is still in the introductory phase, I know that it will have great value to me as a learner and a person. Part of editing an S- class Wikipedia article is almost synonymous with being a spy as one must uncover and search the web for reliable sources to help support the article. Finding sources that previous editors haven’t used and sources that adhere to Wikipedia’s standards is a difficult task but also a fun one. Generally speaking, the Wikipedia project is a lesson in stepping out of one’s comfort zone and trying to figure out the structure and workings of something you are unfamiliar with.
Going forward, a part of the project that I’m looking forward to is actually editing my group’s article because I think it’s going to be an interesting challenge to report facts without inserting my own opinions and biases. This is one of the constraints of Wikipedia that will be the hardest for me to abide by but I also see it as teaching me a skill that will need in the future. Additionally, finding sources has also been enjoyable as it allowed me to understand the case Shaw v. Reno further and connect it with history of the past and present. Having a topic that I’m passionate about also helps to make this entire process something that I look forward to doing as I am not only learning about Wikipedia and how it works but gaining insightful knowledge on a Supreme Court case.