Wikipedia:Meetup/Chicago 10/Resources

How to get started writing an article!

Create an account! - This is optional, but it'll allow you to create a username for yourself and track your contributions, which makes it easier to follow-up on articles you've worked on.
Learn a little about editing Wikipedia generally by checking out The Wikipedia Adventure or this excellent primer for new editors.
Decide on a topic you want to work on (and maybe a partner to work with!)
- Use the search tool to see if there's already an article on your topic (if there is one already, see if you can improve it!)
Start a draft of your article in your drafting space called a "sandbox". Be sure to check out the resources below and at the Hull-House event to find sources that discuss your topic. Check out this guide for how to cite sources in your article.
Ask another editor at the event if you're having trouble editing / referencing / finding sources / whatever!
When you think your draft is ready, ask another editor to read it over and provide feedback. Be sure that your topic is notable and that it includes reliable sources like news articles, interviews in major publications, academic papers, and books.

Google Scholar - You can link this up with the UIC Library to get full text of publications through JSTOR and otherwise, and it's vastly more convenient to use than databases themselves.
Google News (newspapers) - A great way to directly check the text of articles in hundreds of U.S. and international newspaper articles.
Google Books - Google Books often allows you to read portions scans of books, so searching within a book for a topic can be a very good way to get coverage on your topic.

Alice Walker - Good bio on authorship and activism work, due weight on personal life. Excellent breadth in sourcing.
Carol Ann Duffy - Another good bio.
Milk (film) - Good film article where a main theme is activism; plot is a little long, however.
Golden Boy (novel) - Decent article on a novel on an intersex teenager.
Attica Prison riot - Longish article on an event with some minor editorial issues. Your article definitely does not need to be this long.