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<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Carol
writes:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text">Also, get people in the habit by just encouraging
minor edits to start, even just grammar or spelling or wikilinks. Frequently
when I watch a movie I search for background in the Wikipedia article. Sometimes
I make minor corrections. I'm sure others use it for similar
purposes. <BR><BR>Maybe appeal to the "straighten this mess out"
motivation many women feel (in fact that's how I describe part of my motivation
on my user page). Little habits can become big ones.<BR><BR>Maybe a banner
every couple hours (or during high traffic times) that say something like:
"Hello, visitor! See a spelling or grammar mistake in an article? Feel free to
jump in and correct it. Making editing wikipedia a habit!" Or something
snappier. And a certain percentage of those will be women who otherwise
would not think of editing.<BR></DIV></SPAN>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial>My
response:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I've noticed a fair amount
of regular female editors do, or at least started out doing, exactly this sort
of wikignome stuff. It parallels a similar abundance of women in such positions,
particularly in book and magazine publishing—especially the former, where a lot
of the editors who do the real work of editing (i.e., the stuff that authors
deeply appreciate and thank them for profusely when accepting awards. Or
should), as opposed to acquiring editors who often get photographed for gossip
columns leaving lunches at trendy, pricy restaurants), are
women.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial>One can speculate as to why
this is so, but that's for another time and forum. I think Carol has a point and
a great idea that we should try to work with.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN data-jsid="text"><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Daniel
Case</FONT></DIV></SPAN></BODY></HTML>