Editing Cedar Beach on Wikipedia: My First Experience

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The topic I chose to edit on the Wikipedia page was about Cedar Beach located in Long Island NY. I chose this spot because I grew up spending weekends on houseboats there with my friends and family. Cedar Beach has always held significance for me, and, eager to add to its Wikipedia page, I wanted to share the experiences of the people who made it a summer tradition to head over to the Cedar Beach Marina and camp out with their loved ones!

The first step was to vet a good source. I pulled up the town of Babylon’s official website, which contains information about Cedar Beach Marina and campgrounds. Government webpages can be trusted sources on Wikipedia, so I knew this was a safe bet. I wanted to write a few sentences about the marina, season boat slips, how camping on the beach is popular, what is offered to visitor etc.

Before I made the edit, I wrote a brief note on the article’s Talk page. I actually explained that I was a new editor and that I intended to include information about the marina and campgrounds, based on a cited reliable source. I was a bit late on getting started with the assignment but I went ahead and gave the writers a heads up anyway!

After putting it on the Talk page I made the edit immediately. I included a small paragraph in the “Amenities” section talking about the marina, camping, and amenities like picnic tables, rest rooms and fishing piers. I even added reference that goes straight to Town of Babylon’s Cedar Beach Marina and Campgrounds page. I took screenshots of my Talk page comment and the edit, for the assignment.

All in all, editing was far easier than I thought it was going to be. This essay is edited with the Visual Editor or with one of the other editing tools of Wikipedia. The most difficult part was making sure I included the exterior links correctly but I used Wikipedia’s link tool to assist with that. I was shocked at how easy editing was.

It certainly made me look at Wikipedia differently. I never really thought about Wikipedia much except as a place to check an occasional fact before tackling this assignment. I did not really understand the level of collaboration, sourcing and discussion that takes place behind the scenes. Editing showed me that, though Wikipedia is open to the public, it is firmly monitored and quality control is to ensure the accuracy of its articles. I now consider Wikipedia less a “casual” resource and more a serious project relying on the good will of contributors.

In future, I’d be much more happy to make minor changes and contribute in the future if i also see a slight gap or unavailability of content in any article. I’m grateful to have been able to get an up-close look at the process especially since it was a topic that I hold near and dear to my heart!