On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 2:39 PM, David Goodman <dgoodmanny(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I usually suggest to new-comers that they first spend
some time
improving and updating articles in their field of interest to get
It depends what you mean by "newcomer". I think it's easy to make
the
mistake of assuming a single entry point: "There is some guy, and he has a
burning desire to write an article for Wikipedia, and will jump through as
many hurdles as necessary to make it happen". Whereas there are all sorts of
ways people get involved, like following a surprising redlink, or talking to
a friend, or reading about it, or whatever.
The challenge is to get as much value out of each potential "newcomer" as
possible: if someone has the inclination to write three articles before
losing interest, we want them to write three articles. If someone could be a
massive Wikipedia nerd if only someone would show them ropes, then...you get
the idea.
Steve