For a few hours we will have access to the cinema museum and its collection, and for those that need it a hands on introduction to editing Wikipedia. The Chaplin Association have given us special permission to access rare artefacts and printed material.
Where?: 2 Dugard Way (off Renfrew Road) London SE11 4TH
When?:Saturday, 7 March 2014, 11am-4pm
Point of contact: Fabian Tompsett (fabian.tompsettwikimedia.org.uk) for Wikimedia UK.
Cost: Free
How do I sign up?: Well, we are using a template from the Education Program, so you just have to "enroll"! However this only works if you already have a Wikipedia account: You can open an account simply by clicking on the link in the top right hand corner marked "create account". Have a think about what username you would like. (You can always get some guidance at Wikipedia:Username policy.)
What to bring: It would be good to bring a laptop – if this is a problem please email the point of contact above. It might be an idea also to bring a camera as it will be possible to upload photographs to Wikimedia Commons
How to prepare: As with so many things in life, the more you put in, the more you get out. If you just fancy turning up and seeing how it goes, that's fine. However there are one or two things you might like to do before hand:
The venue is not wheelchair accessible
Hearing loop available if booked 1 working day in advance
For newcomers
Help:Getting started: A very good place to get a grounding in how Wikipedia works from the new editors point of view.
Cheat Sheet:It can be handy to print out the cheat sheet (right) which summarises key elements of Wikimarkup code, which for most purposes is quite straight forward.
Instructional videos: If you are the sort of person who learns best from videos, why not try out some of the instructional videos.
The venue is not wheelchair accessible
Hearing loop available if booked 1 working day in advance
Taking another step forward
For those of us who are ready to take another step forward, there are a number of possibilities:
Reliable sources: Do some web-research and put links to suitable reliable sources on the talk page (see cheatsheet for how to embed links, see Help:Using talk pages). If you are not sure what constitutes a reliable source check: Help:Find sources. If there are any sources, such as hard copy books or Academic sources not freely available, please add them to the talk page. We will have some books available from the library at the museum, and given a bit of notice it might be possible to dig out other material.
Selecting other pages: After you have enrolled, you can suggest pages to work on lower down on this page: just type in the name of the page, and click "Add Article". This means that other people can have a look at your suggestion before hand. If you get the chance you can also add banner (see below) to the relevant articles talk page.