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Human Origins Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon, October 17, 2014[edit]

Come join us in an exciting Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon event! We will be gathering to edit Wikipedia content related to the subject of Human Origins and the Smithsonian's research and initiatives in this field. The event will begin with a private, before-hours tour of the Smithsonian's Hall of Human Origins. We will then do a brief tutorial on how to edit and create content on Wikipedia for new editors, before diving into the editing! Lunch will be graciously provided by Wikimedia DC.

Space is restricted to 20 attendees, so sign up today! And follow our event on Twitter with the hashtag #WikiHumanOrigins!

Photos[edit]

When[edit]

Friday, October 17th, 2014
8:45am - 3:00pm
Note: This event begins before the museum is open to the public. You MUST RSVP by October 14th, and you must arrive on time so we can give you a visitor's badge and escort you to the private tour!

Who[edit]

Anybody with an interest in Human Origins, editing Wikipedia, or both! We will be doing a tutorial about how to edit Wikipedia if you are a new editor, and we will have resources and Human Origins experts if you are new to the subject.

What to bring[edit]

  • A laptop
  • An interest in Human Origins!

Where[edit]

National Museum of Natural History
10th & Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC
We will be meeting promptly in the lobby at the 10th and Constitution entrance promptly at 8:45am for a private tour of the Hall of Human Origins prior to the editing.
Time Activity Location
8:45am Meet up, distribute visitor badges Lobby at 10th and Constitution entrance of NMNH
9:00 - 10:00am Exclusive tour of the Hall David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins (1st floor)
10:00 - 10:30am New editor tutorial Carolyn L. Rose Seminar Room
10:30 - 12:00pm Edit-a-thon! Rose Room
12:00 - 12:30pm Lunch, courtesy of Wikimedia DC Rose Room
12:30 - 3:00pm More edit-a-thon! Rose Room

QUESTIONS? Contact Catherine Denial at denialc (@) si.edu

RSVP[edit]

Due to spatial constraints, this event is limited to 20 attendees; all sign-ups after that will be placed on a waitlist. Sign up soon to guarantee your spot! And if you can no longer attend, please let us know so we can give your spot to someone on the waitlist.

Attendees[edit]

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Handaxes at Olorgesailie, Kenya
  1. Ian E. (talk)
  2. jim (talk)
  3. Harej (talk)
  4. Sandra J. (talk)
  5. Neil Q. (talk)
  6. Audrey C. (talk)
  7. Ben G. (talk)
  8. econterms (talk) (unless this is really too late to sign up)
  9. Sarasays
  10. Ann Vroom

Waitlist[edit]

Want to join us? Contact denialc (@) si.edu with your first and last name, and your Wikipedia username (Don't have a username? Create your account here!)

You MUST RSVP by October 14th so we have time to make badges to give you access to the private tour and to the seminar room.

List of articles we will be working on[edit]

New Articles[edit]

Articles that Require Expansion/Editing[edit]

Suggested edits: Include new section about Olorgesailie Drilling Project, as well as update existing sections for accuracy and detail. History of excavation at the site, the various prehistoric environmental conditions, information about the fauna (including updating the bit where it says that the animals were likely butchered, which aside from one known butchery site, is not accurate), are all examples of sections that need more information.

Suggested Edits: Expand article to include more about the 50-plus-year history of excavation at Liang Bua. Change "discovery" date to "first excavated" date, as people living in the area knew that the cave existed before the 1950s. Correct inaccurate information about the dig closing; the article referenced says that he was getting ready to leave for the season, not forever.

Suggested Edits: Include more information about contents of the hall, reviews of the hall, and the companion book, What Does It Mean To Be Human by Rick Potts and Christopher Sloan.

Suggested Edit: Expand "Evolutionary History" section to include information about Varanus komodensis found at Liang Bua.

Suggested edits: Edit Theropithecus#Phylogeny_and_fossils to include information about Theropithecus at Olorgesailie.

Suggested edits: Include more information about bronze statues and facial reconstructions of early hominins, as well as information about his book, Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins.

Suggested edits: Include more information about climate change during human evolution. In Use of Tools section, include more information about control of fire, and reformat several items erroneously in quotation marks (Oldowan Stone Tools was likely meant to link to another page, and "Homo" and "Paranthropus" should be italicized.

Suggested edits: Include more information about Shanidar III, which is displayed in the Hall of Human Origins. Also include information about Shanidar V through X. Also, in the "See All" section, 'hominina' isn't widely or commonly used in the scientific community.

Suggested edits: "Incremental dating" is not a term used in paleoanthropology, and many of the techniques listed in the Incremental Dating page are not used in paleoanthropology. Replace this link with more specific types of dating used in the field: Paleomagnetic dating, etc.

Suggested edits: Include more information in his biography about his involvement with March of Progress, one of the most well-known illustrations of human evolution.

Suggested edits: Include information about how climate change affected humans in prehistory.

Suggested edits: Include information about Smithsonian's Grand Challenges initiatives, especially concerning its involvement with the Anthropocene. Also include the recent Smithsonian Official Climate Change Statement.

Suggested edits: Include a human evolution perspective on the Anthropocene, as well as the Smithsonian's Anthropocene initiatives.

Suggested edit: Update with new information about early members of genus Homo published in the following Science paper:

Evolution of early Homo: An integrated biological perspective

Suggested edit: Update for factual accuracy.

3D Images[edit]

The Smithsonian has a vibrant 3D imaging program, with many significant artifacts and fossils related to human evolution in our collection. We would love to see links to these images available on their respective Wikipedia pages, as we see on the Liang Bua page.

Human Origins 3D Collection

Research resources[edit]

Resources Specific to Human Origins Topics[edit]

Smithsonian databases and websites[edit]

Results / Outcomes[edit]

Articles created[edit]

Articles improved[edit]

See Talk[edit]

...for this Project Page, to make any suggestions on the development and progress of this meetup.

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