on 9/1/03 8:38 PM, Merritt L. Perkins at mlperkins3@juno.com wrote:
I have been thinking of trying to write some Encyclopedia articles but I would like to discuss them with several other people while I am preparing them for publication. . Suppose I choose to write about Rose of Sharon. I could look in the Wikipedia and not find it under that heading. Perhaps it is described somewhere and I didn't find it. I could take close-up pictures of the flowers with my digital camera and describe it from what I know and what I can see. Should I include pictures of the whole plant, the seeds, or the roots? I could look in encyclopedias and books for more information. I could prepare a rough draft. After reading the instructions for submitting articles I would like to discuss it with other people and get their comments and suggestions. Someone told me that Rose of Sharon was mentioned in the Bible. Somebody may know where. Should I include that and quote the Bible passage? An historian may be able to tell what part it played in history like the thistle in Scotland and the War of the Roses in England. A botanist may be able to correct and add to my description. People in other parts of the world may tell me that it is common there. Is it the national flower of some country or does it appear on a flag? Should we include the name in some other languages? If someone else is writing an article on the same subject I might choose to let him take my article and use parts of it in his article. After I get tired of editing it I could submit it to be included in the Encyclopedia. Then the readers would have their opportunity to make changes.
Please do that. Jump in; the water's fine.
I didn't find articles about Jesse Ramsden who made precision navigation instruments or Count Rumsford who left Massachusetts and went to England and founded the Royal Institution. There are several other subjects that I might write about but I would like to have other people participate. How can I do this?
Another good idea
This matter may have been discussed in e-mail but I have more than 450 e-mail on my computer so it is hard to figure out what conclusions have been reached.
How to write an article is discussed at length on Wikipedia.
Merritt L. Perkins
Fred