I don’t make changes to Wikipedia very often. However, when adding links to my new and revised Lake Fort Smith State Park page, I saw that the Wikipedia page for the park was rather weak, with no information at all about the new park.
Lake Fort Smith State Park was closed in 2002 to make way for a larger dam and spillway. The addition flooded the site of the old park, and new facilities were built around the new lake.
After I edited it, that part said:
Lake Fort Smith State Park was closed in 2002 to make way for a larger dam and spillway. The addition flooded the site of the old park, and the new 259 acre Lake Fort Smith State Park reopened in the late Spring of 2008 four miles north of its original location with 30 camp sites, 10 cabins, a group lodging facility, picnic sites, a pavilion, marina with rental boats, a double lane boat ramp, a swimming pool, playground, and an 8,000 square foot visitor center with exhibit gallery, gift shop, a meeting/class room, a patio with an outdoor wood burning fireplace, and an expansive view of the lake and mountains.
Wikipedia is a wonderful tool. I think it’s greatest strength is that is built and maintained by the public. For the most part, I’ve found it to be one of the very best overall sources online, having more information that just about any other source for most general topics. Wikipedia isn’t without it’s problems. It’s not a primary source. However, it will often provide links or references to better sources.
We camped at Lake Fort Smith State Park in October, not long after it opened in its new location in 2008.
The following slideshow has a few photos from that visit. A more extensive slide show and information about the park is available at my improved page, Lake Fort Smith State Park, over at Haw Creek.
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As you would have probably noticed, I make extensive use of Wikipedia and in fact have a “Support Wikipedia” button on my blog. I have not come across any instance when I could gather enough courage to edit or amend and you are the first one that I personally know who has. Thank you and congratulations.
Rummuser recently posted…Joseph Campbell’s “Pathways To Bliss”.
I think this is the most significant change that I’ve made, not that I’ve made a lot. I think the most recent before this, which was in the last month or so, was fixing a simple grammar error.
I love Wikipedia, and I bless people like you who make the articles useful.
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Thanks. Some people put a lot of effort into it. I have only changed a very few things.
Hi Mike .. I made one small amendment years ago .. but since thought ‘no worries’ – I’m not an expert and know some things are definitely not right .. so just use my common sense with using it.
Please tell me has it changed dramatically recently .. I used to be able to find such wonderful information easily … and now each article seems to be reduced in size … I’ll need to check a bit more after the A-Z has finished ..
I preferred the earlier version – that was in situ til recently .. but I’ll be back to see your input .. cheers Hilary
Hilary recently posted…I is for Islands, Inside a rock-pool, Inlet or loch, and Inspiration …
Some changes that have been made might have been due to the article not meeting editorial guidelines. The articles are supposed to be factual and objective rather than subjective. That’s why I changed
“ great view of the lake and mountains” that I used on my page to “expansive view of the lake and mountains” in the text I added to Wikipedia. (Yes, it was basically a cut and paste of something I already had written.)
Well really, what’s to not love about Wikipedia…?
It is a great tool for sure but I am always a bit cautious depending on the material I am researching. I will sometimes double check another resource if something I read on Wikipedia doesn’t compute.
Speaking of editing Wikipedia, I was researching one of the Air Force bases where I was stationed overseas and low and behold down at the bottom noticed the name of a recent editor to be one of my best friends at the time whom I had been stationed there at that base with. Within a couple of hours I had made contact again with him. So that was definitely an unexpected perk of using the resource. 🙂
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That’s great! I’ve connected with a couple of guys that I served with in the Navy through Facebook.
I’ve actually spent a little bit of time on Air Force bases in the US. Most recent was visiting daughter and son-in-law when he was stationed in New Jersey and Texas. Before that, though, in the late 80s and early 90s, I was carpooling to the LRAFB to go to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale classes that were being held on base.