Wikipedia Shikoku article
Every once and a while I go back and check the Shikoku wikipedia article since that is where a lot of people curious about the Shikoku end up. I think we as Shikoku enthusiasts should strive to keep the article accurate since we have the largest source of information (experience from actual Shikoku owners!)
Problems I see with the article at the moment:
-alt name Japanese Wolfdog? There is absolutely no evidence (that I've found) of the Shikoku being any more related to the wolf than any of the other Nihon Ken. I think this "name" stems from "is that a wolf/fox/coyote?"
-a lot of the information is repeated and poorly worded. I think right now there's a sentence to the effect of "Shikoku look similar to the Alaskan Husky but different"
-the picture of Sacchi (think that's her name) that pops up everywhere. Perhaps I haven't seen enough Shikoku but she doesn't represent a typical Shikoku to me. That picture looks like she is in the middle of blowing her coat, making her look clumpy. If some members were willing to contribute pictures of their dogs, I think that would be great.
I think it would be a good idea to brainstorm what we think should go into the article. Once we get it all together, it can be consolidated into one article to make sure grammar and style are consistant. Perhaps after that, we could take a look at the other Nihon Ken wiki articles.
Is anyone here experienced in Wiki-type articles? I haven't done any myself, though I know that there is a specific format and POV they like you to follow.
Edited because half my post got left out.
Problems I see with the article at the moment:
-alt name Japanese Wolfdog? There is absolutely no evidence (that I've found) of the Shikoku being any more related to the wolf than any of the other Nihon Ken. I think this "name" stems from "is that a wolf/fox/coyote?"
-a lot of the information is repeated and poorly worded. I think right now there's a sentence to the effect of "Shikoku look similar to the Alaskan Husky but different"
-the picture of Sacchi (think that's her name) that pops up everywhere. Perhaps I haven't seen enough Shikoku but she doesn't represent a typical Shikoku to me. That picture looks like she is in the middle of blowing her coat, making her look clumpy. If some members were willing to contribute pictures of their dogs, I think that would be great.
I think it would be a good idea to brainstorm what we think should go into the article. Once we get it all together, it can be consolidated into one article to make sure grammar and style are consistant. Perhaps after that, we could take a look at the other Nihon Ken wiki articles.
Is anyone here experienced in Wiki-type articles? I haven't done any myself, though I know that there is a specific format and POV they like you to follow.
Edited because half my post got left out.
Comments
In general, the thing to do is to remove EVERYTHING that can't be referenced from a primary source. Which would basically be the book on Japanese dogs because there really isn't much primary material out there!
For web sources, I don't think they like you to use non-English language stuff. However, we could conceivably cite stuff from this forum...though it would be best if we had a section on here for articles as opposed to discussions. That way we could do the original research here, and reference it on Wikipedia. Wikipedians really do not like to see "Original Research" in a wikipedia article.
For pics, I believe the main thing is that the photo be in the public domain.
Basically, the wikipedia page on Shikoku should be very very sparse until there is more published material and articles and essays on the web out there about the breed.
Jesse
You can read a bit about them on the archived web page: http://web.archive.org/web/20060208181719/http://koyotekennels.com/shikoku/Shikoku.htm