Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/Cornell University/Online Communities (Fall 2013)/Monome

Contribution to the Article

Before we started our project, Monome's Wikipedia page was a very general overview of the controller. Before exploring sources deeply, we went into the project planning on adding information on Aleph (the newest release in the Monome family), adding greater detail on the nature of open-source programming, and building the list of notable Monome users. As we began edits, however, it was clear that there were important holes in the article. Keith had suggested that we stick to pre-existing sources for more information instead of adding a bunch of new sources. Digging into these pre-existing sources made it clear that key information was missing (like the physical details of the controller and descriptions of peripheral devices). This inspired a general bulking up of the article and eventually segmentation/re-organization, using only the sources previously cited on the page. It wasn't until we began adding information on entirely new concepts to the article that we explored sources beyond those pre-exising. Besides exploring pre-existing sources, we turned to the Monome's fan forum for edit ideas. The forum has thousands of active members and was a great resource for the Impact section of the article especially. Although we technically couldn't source the forum (it is a subset of the company's site), we were able to access lots of external links that could be sourced.

Evolution of the Article

The article evolved from a very general overview of the Monome and a brief "Notable Users" list to an organized overview of many aspects of the controller. While the article is still not completed by any means, it's evolved significantly from its state a couple weeks ago. As stated above, we started with smaller detail edits, adding missing information to pre-existing ideas. As we added more and more details, it became clear that the article needed to be segmented for easier digestion and navigation. When segmenting the article, we referenced a couple other pages on sythesizer devices to follow their lead, so to say. We chose to order the segments by importance and relevance to the controller itself, however, this was a subjective decision that may be modified by future Wikipedians who visit the Monome page. After segmentation, we continued to make small edits on language and details but also added a section on Aleph, the newest development from Brian Crabtree.

Moving forward, the most beneficial change would probably be the reorganization of the article, because it allows for much easier future contributions and edits. For example, the Aleph is the newest device in the Monome family, and was just announced a couple weeks ago. There hasn't been much coverage on the controller because it hasn't been formally released. As Aleph generates buzz in the music community, however, it will be much easier for Wikipedians to know where to contribute.

Community Experience

Bluntly, there was very little community experience on our talk page. Other than comments made by Prof. Leshed, Keith and myself, we really didn't interact with any new Wikipedians. Our community experience was not limited to Wikipedia, however. Since our article was a niche-type topic, we stumbled upon a very active Monome forum in our research. We ended up applying to join the forum as a team and were able to act first as "lurkers" then contributing community members... Although its pretty safe to say Evan and I are still "newbies"!

Responsibility Breakdown

Choosing to edit the Monome page was Bernardo's brainchild. His knowledge of the device rivals that of most of the sources we found - he's even been to Brian Crabtree's farm Upstate where Monomes are actually made. As far as general Monome guidance and ideas, Bernardo was in the authority. Evan and I would have been lost looking for sources for the Notable Users section if it weren't for Bernardo's deep knowledge of the Monome/electric music in general. He also had experience editing Wikipedia, which came in handy when struggling with source formatting.

Evan managed community interaction. He was the one who discovered and explored the Monome community forum, finding information and sources we may have missed through general research. He also managed our account and interactions within the Monome community (he actually had to go through a pretty strenuous application process to join!). He acted as the team on the forum and reported findings back to Bernardo and I.

Erin was the group administrator, so to say, organizing meetings via email and divvying up project tasks. She did most of the writing and re-organizing on the Wikipedia page, based on research findings from the team.