This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cla68 (talk | contribs) at 23:15, 3 September 2007 (travel note). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 23:15, 3 September 2007 by Cla68 (talk | contribs) (travel note)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Note: I'll be on the road until 21 Sep which may delay my response to any questions or issues brought to my attention. Cla68 23:15, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
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| 15 January 2025 |
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Articles
I usually work on World War II (WWII) Pacific campaign articles for two reasons: (1) I'm interested in United States and Japanese military history and both intersected in the Pacific in WWII, and (2) I believe that the Pacific campaign doesn't get as much attention as it should in comparison with the European campaigns of WWII. I also work on military accident, friendly fire, and military controversy articles. The articles in the "to do" list are articles that I plan on trying to take to FA-level status, it they aren't there already. I don't mean to imply any ownership over these articles.
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Advice on preparing a history article for FA
Some tips that I've discovered in choosing, editing, and submitting history articles for FA:
- Choose a non-controversial subject. If the article you want to work on is under the ``protection`` of one or more POV-pushers, you're just going to immensely frustrate yourself trying to work through the wall of interference that those other editors will throw up as you try to improve the article. The best is if you can find an article that has been left alone for some time (check the history). Of course, choose a subject that's interesting to you. If you choose to improve an article that has several sub-articles (like a military campaign that includes several sub-battles), take the sub-articles to FA first. Then, the "parent" article will have basically written itself from the completed sub-articles.
- Acquire your references first. Having the right references is the most important part of writing the article. Search the Web or the local library and find all the references you'll need for the article. I suggest at least three. Books are better than websites because they're often more credible and websites come and go. Try your local public or university library or you can buy used books online very cheaply. Add your list of references to the article first, so that other, helpful editors can also jump-in to assist if they want to and have access to the references you list (this has happened to me). The more references you can acquire and use, the better. What one historian misses may be recorded by another historian. Try to get references that give the point of view from all sides of the event.
- Cite (inline) liberally. You can't have too many footnotes, but you can have too little. Cite every assertion and have at least one citation at the end of every paragraph so that it doesn't look like you have any "dangling," uncited text. Also, spread your citations out among your references so that it doesn't look like you're using one or two sources for everything.
- Illlustrate. Find pictures and maps with ok copyright status (or create supporting maps or images yourself), upload them to Wikimedia Commons, and add a Commons link from the article to the Commons gallery where you list all of the images related to the article. This way editors in the other Misplaced Pages language editions can access the images you upload and use them for the articles on the same subject that they're writing in their language (yes, I've seen this done with images I uploaded to the Commons). Adjust the flow of the text of the article to support images you add that emphasize particular events. In this way you can make your article more of a multi-media presentation instead of just a written report on something. I've sometimes made the decision on whether to create a new article on a subject based solely on if there were enough images available to adequately illustrate the article. Take some time and do several searches on the Internet to find images. You'll be surprised at the unlikely places you'll find relevant images for the article you're editing.
- Something that I've discovered recently is how images should be placed in an article. If the person or object in the picture is facing or pointing towards the right, then the picture should be on the left side of the text. If facing or pointing to the left, then it should be on the right side. Doing this somehow makes the article look more complete and have greater impact.
- Step back periodically. If you're stumped or your writing isn't flowing well, take a break and do something else with your free time for a day or so. An idea for the article may occur to you when your mind is on something else. Happens to me all the time. An encyclopedic-style article can be written in a concise and neutral manner, yet still produce some dramatic tension for the reader if written well.
- Write neutrally. I know that this is one of the basic tenets of Misplaced Pages, but, it still bears repeating. If someone can read your article and not be able to tell which side you're taking on the battle, event, or issue, then you've succeeded in writing it neutrally.
- Don't forget the "human element" After all is said and done, the story you are telling, if about an historic event, involves your fellow human beings involved in a very dramatic situation. Try to have at least one item in the article that expresses this human element, whether it be a quote from a participant, an image clearly showing a person, not just a landscape or an object, or the mention of one individual's or group's thoughts, exploits, or experience. Since this is an encyclopedic entry, the human element example needs to be brief and not too POV (for example, overly extolling the "heroism" aspect of any individual's participation in the event. Heroism is very subjective in its interpretation by different cultures.) for one particular side or it will be counterproductive. An easy way to do this is to include images of the respective commanders or leaders of the forces involved (if the article is about a battle).
- Submit for peer review. The motivated and helpful peer review editors, either with the military history project, or the general peer review forum, will point-out any flaws or issues with your article that you might have missed. Resolve the issues that they hightlight in their review.
- Don't fight with the FA reviewers. After you nominate your article as an FA candidate, assume that the comments or criticism that comes from the FA candidate reviewers are being made in good faith. Respond constructively and try to correct whatever they point-out, even if you don't agree with it. If they ask or object to something that you feel isn't reasonable, still try to work with them to resolve their concern in a constructive and calm manner.
- Further advice... Further good advice on preparing an article for FA nomination is here: on the Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Military history page.
Special thanks to Kirill Lokshin, Wwoods, Grant65, Looper5920, Nick Dowling and others for invaluable advice, assistance, and guidance.
Soapbox
From Everyking to another editor that I'll leave nameless because it could apply to others:
| “ | Do you know any means of dispute resolution other than... bullying people and trying to control the project forever?.. It's basically all you do, all the time. Why don't you go edit some? You know, articles. Give us a reason to want you around. Your article editing is very, very little compared to the enormous amount of "contributions" (to use the term loosely) to arbitration and policy issues. It's wildly out of proportion. | ” |
My point is that, although maintenance of Misplaced Pages and enforcement and development of policy is very important, and many of the editors and admins do a superlative job at keeping the project running and organized, our main function here is to write and improve articles. Period. Each of us should be picking one or two or three subjects that we're interested in and improving articles within those subjects to Featured Article (FA) level quality or as close to it as we can. If you can't get an article to FA-level quality for uncontrollable reasons, then get it to A-level quality. If that's impossible, then get it to GA or B-level quality. The point is, we should be improving articles to the highest point possible. I'm not saying that every editor who doesn't do this is here only to push his/her particular POV or play power games with other editors. But, some of them are. Of course, I also recognize that some administrative positions within the project such as project coordinators or arbitrators are very time consuming and may restrict those participants from doing much article editing.
Anyway, if you've come to my user page to learn something about me then please learn this, I hope the reason that you're here participating in this project is to edit articles with the goal of making them as "complete" as possible, and the criteria I use for "complete" is the FA criteria. I've outlined above some advice on how to take an article to FA or near-FA level in quality. Please don't hesitate to ask me for any assistance. I look forward to working with you and enjoying your contributions to the project.
By the way, please spend some of your time, I would suggest 10-15%, assisting with article cleanup, peer reviews, A-class reviews, GA reviews, and FA reviews (both articles and lists) to assist other editors in taking their articles to FA.
Welcome and appreciated compliments from fellow editors
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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
For helping me with the copyedit of Aleksandr Vasilevsky, this RAK Star for you! :) Grafikm 18:52, 22 July 2006 (UTC) |
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The Working Man's Barnstar
I hereby award this barnstar for your efforts in tirelessly researching references for the Japanese war crimes article. Keep up the good work! John Smith's 16:56, 30 July 2006 (UTC) |
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The Featured Article Medal
What??? 5 FAs and still not having this one? That's a major oversight! -- Grafikm 00:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC) |
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Pacific Theatre, 1941-45 Barnstar | |
| For sustained, solid research and editing, in adding references to many Pacific War articles. Grant65 | Talk 06:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC) |
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The Epic Barnstar | |
| For the constant stream of FA's. Keep it up! James086 13:09, 7 December 2006 (UTC) |
By the order of the coordinators of the Military history WikiProject, you are hereby awarded the WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves in recognition of your many valuable contributions to military history articles, and, in particular, your leading role in the creation of numerous featured articles on the topic of the Pacific Theater of World War II. For the coordinators, Kirill Lokshin 01:39, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
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The Good Article Medal of Merit | |
| I have awarded you this medal for your work in helping to reduce the backlog during the Good Article Candidates Backlog Elmination Drive. You reviewed five or more articles during the drive, which helped to contribute to the large decrease in the backlog. If you have the time, please continue to review articles to help make sure the backlog does not jump back up to what it was. Good job and happy editing! Nehrams2020 06:16, 15 June 2007 (UTC) |
Miscellaneous
Places I've lived:
- I've lived in or visited most of the states in the U.S.
- a total of six years spread between Aomori Prefecture, Tokyo, and and my current residence in Kanagawa Prefecture. I've traveled around Tohoku and visited Kyoto and Okinawa.
- one year living in Pyeongtaek. I've visited Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, Pohang, Gangwon-do, and, of course, Seoul.
Places I've visited (stayed more than 24-hours):
- Singapore.
- Cancún and Ensenada.
- Vancouver, British Columbia and Ottawa.
- Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria.
- Melbourne, Victoria.
Some of my favorite places and why:
- United States:
- Sedona, Arizona- In spite of the hordes of tourists is still a gorgeous place, especially at sunset
- Los Angeles, California- A really great city once you learn your way around. If you're willing and able to speak some Spanish you can be exposed to entirely different and wonderful "world."
- French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny, New Orleans, Louisiana- In spite of the tourists, still has a real feeling to much of it. Faubourg Marigny is the place to go to experience close to the same "vibe" without the tourists
- Japan:
- Oirase River- numerous waterfalls in a beautiful setting
- Sukayu- perhaps the largest conyoku onsen in Japan. Has to be experienced to be believed.
- Hakkoda- Great summer hiking, deep powder snowboarding, and several classic, old-style onsen in the surrounding area.
- Sendai- A lovely town with friendly people and lots of things to do in and around the city
- Kitaazumi District, Nagano- my favorite ski resort area
- Shibuya, Tokyo- In spite of its reputation as a "young" (teen-ager) hang-out, I think it provides the best mix of shops, restaurants, izekaya, bars, and nightclubs in Tokyo without being as hectic as Roppongi or as seedy as Shinjuku (although I like those places also)
- Yokohama- Has just about everything that Tokyo has but with a more low-key atmosphere
- South Korea:
- Seoul- This city is really developing into a nice place, with a lot better selection of stores, restaurants, etc., opening up. Great subway system also and the taxis are still really cheap.
- Sinjang-dong, Pyeongtaek- A crass, exploitative, money-trap? Perhaps, but still a great place to meet some very colorful and interesting personalities.
- Singapore:
- Hawker centres- Some of the best Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian food and drink in the world for just a few dollars.
- Bavaria (Germany):
- Beer gardens- Wheat beer, jagdwurst, and schweinhaxen with friends or people you've just met.
- Melbourne, Australia
- Just a really nice city with numerous bike paths, plentiful and well-maintained parks, low crime, accessible and inexpensive public transportation, fine arts, and great and varied restaurants and pubs.
RfC
In response to concerns over my actions concerning the Gary Weiss article, I opened an RfC on myself. The RfC is here. CLA 03:02, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
Userboxes
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This user is a Good article reviewer. |
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This user is a contact for the Military history WikiProject. |
 | This user lives in Japan. この利用者は日本に住んでいます。 |
 | This user participates in WikiProject Japan. |
 | This user is a member of the United States military history task force of WikiProject Military history. |
 | This user is a member of the Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific military history task force. |
 | This user is a member of the Japanese military history task force of WikiProject Military history. |
 | This user is a member of the Maritime warfare task force of WikiProject Military history. |
 | This user is a member of the Military aviation task force of WikiProject Military history. |
| This user is a member of the Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific military history task force. |
 | This user is a member of the World War II task force of WikiProject Military history. |