Writing for the Internet, collaborative writing Skills: revising a wiki document IT concepts: none This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- Share Alike 3.0 License.

Where does this topic fit? Internet concepts –Applications –Technology –Implications Internet skills –Application development –Content creation (text)

Growth of Wikipedia article on the heavy metal umlaut heavy metal umlaut The umlaut The article began with a single, anonymous sentence on April 15, 2003: The "heavy metal umlaut" over the ö in the names of Motörhead, and the Blue Öyster Cult has led to the term "spandex and umlaut circuit" being used to describe the heavy metal band touring scene. By October 8, 2009 it had been edited over 1,500 times by 932 people and is over 2,500 words long. The table of contents contains 7 sections and 3 subsections.

Edits from April 2003 to October 2009 YearEdits 2003 (April 15) (October 8)121 Total1,512 Editing activity appears to be slowing.

Editing frequency (through Oct. 2009) Edits Freq One person made 51 changes, but 695 made only one.

Jon Udell’s video of the article evolution Original version (some x-rated footage)Original version Edited version (x-rated material blocked)Edited version Jon Udell made a time lapse screencast that shows the changes over time: Watch the video. While watching, keep track of the kinds of edits it illustrates.

Some ways to improve a wiki document Fix a typo or spelling error – get over “stage fright” Fix a grammatical error Fix a factual error Add a detail, reference, link or image Rewrite an awkward or ambiguous sentence Add a clarifying example Change the appearance or format of the document Revise a concept Draft a new sub topic Reorganize or rearrange the document Every edit should improve a collaborative document.

Improvements Udell showed

Correcting a factual error 12:26 6/26/ :32 6/26/2004

Debating change in the discussion area I condensed the text of the Spinal Tap story a little (removing only the bit about Guatemala) and moved it to the caption. It has since been moved back. My thinking is this: A caption should tell something about the picture and tie the picture to the article. ke4roh 21:16, 26 Jun 2004 I've left it out but readded Guatemala, so people will have some idea where the heck Jacaltec is from - David Gerard 21:49, 26 Jun 2004 (The comments are edited for focus). > The n-umlaut/n-diaeresis character does not occur in any known language It does occur in a small Central American Amerindian language, Jacaltec. Added. Wikipedia, where no detail is too obscure! :-D - David Gerard 12:34, 26 Jun 2004

This is what it says today October The sentence remained in the body, not the picture caption, and another language was added. Note another correction – the word diaeresis was removed after considerable discussion.

Improving appearance or format 12:32 6/26/ :13 6/26/2004

Revising a concept What does the umlaut signify? A Nazi/Hitler theme is suggested. April

The Nazi/Hitler reference has been deleted. April What does the umlaut signify?

October Foreign branding and a Teutonic quality

Correcting vandalism on June The obscenity edit war lasted less than two minutes. TimeAuthorAction 21:51the article is clean 23:20Dj28Add one dirty sentence 23:20MirvDelete the dirty sentence 23:22Dj28Add several dirty sentences 23:23MirvDelete the dirty sentences 23:24Dj28Add more dirty sentences 23:24MirvDelete the dirty sentences

Reorganizing and adding structure The page started in April, 2003 with a single sentence from an anonymous contributor. Today it is organized in seven major sections.

Adding links and references 18 references Links to 37 heavy metal bands Links to 16 bands with special characters in their names other than the umlaut Over 100 internal and external links have been added, including: