Editing a Wikipedia Stub

I'll have to be honest, when I first learned that we would be editing a Wikipedia stub article for one of our assignments, I was completely confused. Normally I have had some experience or exposure to things I am assigned at University, but this time I really had no idea what a stub was. I had always known that Wikipedia was a reference site of which anyone could edit at anytime, but what I didn't realize was that there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of potential helpful Wikipedia articles out there just waiting for the right person to come along and edit them- and here we have a stub.

Looking at all the stub possibilities was most definitely intimidating. Not only was there an A-Z subject option but Aa, Ab, Ac, etc. How was I going to narrow these down? Where should I begin? What topic area will provide me with the most relevant sources? Do I have any previous knowledge about any of these stubs? I clicked through a couple possibilities in hopes of discovering something related to my major (Clothing and Textiles) or more specifically my minor of Interior Design. Alas, I landed upon InStyle magazine, something that I am very familiar with and was relatively shocked to discover that there was so few points on the subject in its Wikipedia article. I was pleasantly surprised that such a famous magazine, with so many interesting things to speak of it, was available to me.

Editing the InStyle stub gave me an odd sense of importance ("MY words are going to be on Wikipedia?!") It was a much different feeling than the usual knowledge that likely only the professor, TA's or other classmates would be reading my work. But this only pushed me to make the article as relevant and accurate as possible. However, since literally anyone can edit an article at anytime it is a bit nerve racking; as we have learned in class, referencing a peer-reviewed scholarly source is almost always significantly more reliable. With Wikipedia we don't really have any idea as to who even wrote the article.  I feel as though the trick to making a good Wikipedia article is to find the most pertinent information that people would most want to know and present it in a straightforward yet interesting way. I, personally, struggled with the 300-600 word limit as there was so much more I could have said about InStyle magazine- this is where skills of being concise go to work in hopes that as much useful information is given in such a short amount of text.

Since I have never created a blog, aside from this one, or edited articles on Wikipedia, I was a bit worried when it came to using the specific codes that are necessary-especially for the reference list. But with the help of the Wikipedia article (ironic?) Referencing for beginners, I quickly got the hang of it and was soon referencing my new and improved stub. This assignment definitely brought me the most pride of the final product and I now have a lot of appreciation for those "Gardeners" who frequently contribute correct information to the large number of articles on Wikipedia.org. 

 Figure 1

Figure 2

A link to my Wikipedia entry

Fellow Ales 204 classmate, Samantha Stevens, wrote a blog entry about her own experience with editing a Wikipedia article, expanding on the Recycling Cotton stub. Since both of us share the same major and minor, I could relate to her when she made the point that it is a bit difficult for us to find scientific information about the majority of aspects in our field of study. However, both of us found this assignment to be extremely eye-opening and helpful-but also cautioning since we learned first hand just how simple it is for anyone to update information on Wikipedia.

 

References:
Figure 1: Di Battista, M. (2012). March 2012 cover of InStyle (image). Retrieved from http://www.popsugar.com/Jennifer-Aniston-InStyle-Cover-Pictures-2012-21664027
Figure 2: Forenza, S. (2011). Wikipedia logo (image). Retrieved from http://www.stefanoforenza.com/wikipedia-italia-closes-up/

Making a professional Facebook page...

This week I created something that I had never really considered doing before- I made a professional Facebook page. I had always been aware that future employers could potentially look me up on Facebook to try and get a better understanding of who I was and what my life consisted of, but always figured I would just set my profile to "private" rather than try to sort out possibly "incriminating" photos or posts that an employer would deem unprofessional. But a private Facebook page does not give very much insight into who I am- rather it does the complete opposite and might even cause one to wonder what it is I'm trying to hide! That is when I realized creating an alternate page, primarily for use in the professional world, could be the perfect thing for a potential employer to come across and consider hiring me for a position.

A page like one I created this week gives someone an opportunity to find out what kind of an employee I would be like at the workplace, not what I do on the weekends or on vacation. It gives people a chance to express a resume-like summary of themselves in a digital format, which I think is much more present-day friendly as well as extremely efficient. For those who may be nervous or not perform their best in an in-person interview, a professional Facebook page grants them the option of sort of "boasting" about their own qualities and accomplishments with the help of appropriate photos and summaries. On another level, it can let the employer see what kind of Facebook pages are "liked" and whether or not the person is technically savvy. It opens up a broad range of options that can be very beneficiary to anybody looking to get ahead in the workforce. Especially since when people think of "Facebook" they usually do not think of it helping them go further in their career, those who consider it on a different level will be pleasantly surprised at the results it provides them.

The page can also be kept and regularly updated as I continue to grow in the Interior Design world and could blossom into a sort of reference for potential clients. Perhaps one day my professional page could develop into one like the talented Interior Designer, Candice Olson, who has nearly 40 thousand "likes" on her page which demonstrates a number of images of her recent work: 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Divine-Design-with-Candice-Olson/316108916551

Look for my fellow Ales 204 classmate Shannon Fox's blog where she gives some interesting perspective into what it is like to be on the employer side of things:

http://foxshannon.blogspot.com/

 

A screen grab of my new and professional Facebook page

An introduction to my blog...

     Hello readers, welcome to my new blog! My name is Laura McSporran and I am a twenty year old who is currently studying at the University of Alberta within the Human Ecology program. My major is Clothing and Textiles with a minor in Interior Design, which is where my main ambition lies. This is my second year in at the University of Alberta and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to be educated at such an esteemed University. My brother is currently partaking in his second year in Law School at the U of A and acts as a major source of inspiration for me. I always thought it would be a huge life experience to study somewhere else and am interested in pursuing this one day, perhaps in California where I have a few personal connections.

     It is clear that communication will be of vast importance in relation to my future career. In my opinion, the most important aspect of Interior Design, and doing it well, is to thoroughly get to know the client and understand what their wants and needs are, while also suggesting new ideas that they may have never even considered. It will be crucial to "brand" myself to potential clients through the use of social media, like a website depicting my style of design, a visual portfolio and ways to contact myself for a consultation. In a consultation I would ask a broad range of questions to fully allow both the client and myself to reach a greater understanding of what the goal at hand would be. Everyone has different visual tastes and one color may even appear different from one person for another, so it would be my job to ensure that the client is fully aware of and satisfied with the details that would be going into their home. I have been told that attention to detail is what sets a good interior designer from a great one, and will definitely keep that in mind as I step closer and closer to entering the "real world". Another important aspect of communication in Interior Design will be to establish connections with people such as architects, installers and product reps in order to develop reliable relationships to bring about trust and efficiency in my career as well as theirs. Connections are everything in this business!

     Aside from school, I have an extreme love for animals, particularly my own of course. I have both a dog, Max and a horse, Dusty in my life whom I can't imagine being without. I've had Max since I was nine years old and Dusty since age thirteen so it is difficult for me to even remember a time where they weren't a major focal point in my life. Like many of us, I have dreams of traveling-- especially over seas-- and would love to visit places such as Australia, Greece and New York City. Unfortunately for my heart, I am also an avid and devoted Edmonton Oilers fan. While others may be jumping ship to more convenient teams, I will forever stay true to my team despite the heartache we have been going through for the passed five years. One day, we will be successful again...one day.

I am constantly looking for inspiration when it comes to interior design and have found this blog to be both an educational and fun read:

http://blog.2modern.com/

I also just recently found someone who seems to be in the exact same spot as me in regards to our desired future career. Her name is Samantha and she is also in Ales 204 this semester. Nice to meet you, or at least your blog! :)

http://ales204hecolstudent.blogspot.com/

And to put an image to a name, here is a picture of Max and I just before Christmas last year!

Have a great day,

Laura Brittany

(From my personal photo album)