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Location: Spring 2009 IR Theory course wiki Home
Discussion: Format
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ffernau |
Format
Jan 21 2009, 8:17 PM EST
Does anyone have any thoughts on how the structure of the wiki should work? Should each weeks topic consist of one large wiki page? One large page and a number of comment threads? One page with a series of sub pages (class discussion, historical information, theoretical implications, whatever)? What are people's thoughts?
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IneffableArtiste |
1. RE: Format
Jan 21 2009, 10:34 PM EST
I think as the weeks go by and people become more involved we may need the sub pages. Especially to organize arguments that otherwise would disrupt the conversation.
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ffernau |
2. RE: Format
Jan 22 2009, 12:24 AM EST
True, WetPaint seems to lack the "discussion" feature that Wikipedia has, so in order to avoid edit-wars we'd have to either use these (kind of awkward) threads to flesh out controversial points or bloat the main page.
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ayseren |
3. RE: Format
Jan 23 2009, 7:17 PM EST
we should decide which one we are going to use for discussion...shouldn't we start posting already?maybe we could just post our thoughts on the main thread for this week's site.. Do you find this valuable? |
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IneffableArtiste |
4. RE: Format
Jan 23 2009, 9:39 PM EST
Yeah, maybe people would be comfortable putting in excerpts from their post class journal paragraphs an we can talk about the stuff we didn't have time for in class.
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ffernau |
5. RE: Format
Jan 24 2009, 1:36 PM EST
My concern with the threads is that they sort of make this more a blog than a wiki. The virtue of a wiki is partly its ability to create a network of information. For example, I could take Steph's post on Alcibiades and make it part of a subpage of the Thucydides page, then tag with with things like "demagogue" "realist" or "plato" so that he comes up when we search for these things later on, say, when we read about Mearsheimer.I'm going to create a series of sub pages for Thucydides that we can flesh out or not as we please. If they turn out to not be worthwhile, we can either delete them (assuming Prof. Jackson has that ability, a writer's account doesn't seem to) or just ignore them. Do you find this valuable? |
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ffernau |
6. RE: Format
Jan 24 2009, 1:40 PM EST
Of course I should note that the other concern is creating too many sub pages, when just one or two would have been enough. This forces a user to constantly reload new pages and leaves you with a bunch of short not terribly informative pages.
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IneffableArtiste |
7. RE: Format
Jan 24 2009, 2:13 PM EST
Yeah, I have never been on a wiki or seen one ... but that sounds cool. Perhaps we should just make the sub pages general at first until people actually post stuff. History and Consequences or Theory and Politics. When people know what they'd like to add, we can tailor the sub pages. But yeah, no more than maybe 3 or 4 to start with. The tags will definitely be useful though. Especially when people start writing essays. You can click the tag for demagogue and get an instant reminder of everything we've seen relate to that.
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NordSee |
8. RE: Format
Jan 25 2009, 3:59 PM EST
I am very confused over how to use this website. Everything seems so spread around.
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ffernau |
9. RE: Format
Jan 25 2009, 8:10 PM EST
Think of it like using Wikipedia, but with that handy navigation bar on the upper left side to help you find your place.
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NordSee |
10. RE: Format
Jan 25 2009, 10:17 PM EST
Hmm. So can we make editions on one single post rather than having millions of threads going underneath it? What I'm trying to say is if the topic is Thucydides, why can't we all just have only one link that combines Melian Dialogue with the rest of the topics, like in real Wikipedia? It looks so disorganized to me still.
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ayseren |
11. RE: Format
Jan 25 2009, 11:20 PM EST
I am similarly confused about the setup and organization of this so-called wiki..Are we supposed to edit the text on the links you created (Melian Dialogue, Class Discussion etc.) or post an answer, which would make it more of a blog...I think that would make it clear for everyone and we could send out an email on how this wiki works for people who have not any prior experience with it. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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ffernau |
12. RE: Format
Jan 26 2009, 10:51 AM EST
@NordSee - Yes, we certainly could. I created several pages just because that's how I thought of doing it, but there's certainly no reason we couldn't do one big page with a series of subheadings. There's even a subheading tool in the easyedit toolbar. It seems like whoever has the kickstart has been starting the wiki pages so we'll have to see what Lauren and Kaitlin choose to do.@avseren - Ideally the class will collaboratively edit the text of pages we create. I think the threads are more useful for discussions like this one about the format of the wiki. They also seem to be useful for adding bits of information that wouldn't quite fit on the main page, like PTJ's comment on reading Hayward Alker. On the other hand I feel like Steph's bit about Alcibiades would fit better on a main page- I'm just not sure where yet. Some helpful resources Wikipedia on wikis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Wetpaint's help page: http://www.wetpaintcentral.com/page/Help?t=anon Do you find this valuable? |
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NordSee |
