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==How to write an Encyclopedia article==
==How to write an Encyclopedia article==
Encyclopedia writing is formula writing. It follows a prescribed outline. All BoyWiki Encyclopedia articles should follow this format.
Encyclopedia writing is formula writing. BoyWiki Encyclopedia articles follows a prescribed outline. All BoyWiki Encyclopedia articles should follow this format.


#An article should begin with an introductory lead section, which should not contain section headings.  
#An article should begin with an introductory lead section, which should not contain section headings.  

Revision as of 16:23, 4 May 2016

An encyclopedia or encyclopaedia (also spelled encyclopædia, see spelling differences)[1] is a type of reference work or compendium holding a comprehensive summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge.[2] Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries, which are usually accessed alphabetically by article name.[3] Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries.[3] Generally speaking, unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, encyclopedia articles focus on factual information concerning the subject for which the article is named.[4][5][6][7]

BoyWiki encyclopedia articles are meant to be factual articles written with the goal of preserving knowledge and elucidating ideas pertaining to boylove and contain information about history and historical events, notable individuals, legal cases, the history of the online boylove community, and definitions of some of the terms that boylovers and boys use today. BoyWiki is not an encyclopedia in the same way as Wikipedia. It is not a repository of all information. BoyWiki is the internet museum/archive of boylove history, culture, and heritage and this needs to be reflected in BoyWiki encyclopedia articles (see BoyWiki:Relevance policy).

How to write an Encyclopedia article

Encyclopedia writing is formula writing. BoyWiki Encyclopedia articles follows a prescribed outline. All BoyWiki Encyclopedia articles should follow this format.

  1. An article should begin with an introductory lead section, which should not contain section headings.
  2. The remainder of the article may be divided into sections, each with a section heading (see below) that can be nested in a hierarchy.
    1. References
    2. See also
    3. External links

The lead

The lead should be a concise summary; newly added information does not automatically always qualify as important enough for the lead. Information newly added to the article should preferably be placed in the most appropriate section or sections. The lead should summarize the content of the article. It should prepare the reader for whatever is in the body of the article, get them interested in the content, and inspire them to read the whole article.

A well-written lead (and article) should answer most or all of the following:

  • Who is it about?
  • What happened (what's the story)?
  • When did it take place?
  • Where did it take place?
  • Why did it happen?
  • How did it happen?

Section organization

Referencing

A citation or reference in an article usually has two parts. In the first part, each section of text that is either based on, or quoted from, an outside source is marked as such with an inline citation. The inline citation may be a superscript footnote number, or an abbreviated version of the citation called a short citation. The second necessary part of the citation or reference is the list of full references, which provides complete, formatted detail about the source, so that anyone reading the article can find it and verify it.

Related topics

Further reading

Categorization

Helpful hints

  • When choosing an article's title, the title should be a recognizable name or description of the topic that is natural, sufficiently precise, concise, and consistent with the titles of related articles.

References

  1. ↑ encyclopaedia (online). Oxford English Dictionary (OED.com), Oxford University Press. Retrieved on February 18, 2012.
  2. ↑ Encyclopedia.. Archived from the original on August 3, 2007. Glossary of Library Terms. Riverside City College, Digital Library/Learning Resource Center. Retrieved on: November 17, 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hartmann, R. R. K.; James, Gregory; James, Gregory (1998). Dictionary of Lexicography. Routledge. p. 48. ISBN 0-415-14143-5. https://books.google.com/?id=49NZ12icE-QC&pg=PA49&dq=%22encyclopedic+dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia. Retrieved on July 27, 2010. 
  4. ↑ Béjoint, Henri (2000). Modern Lexicography, pp. 30–31. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-829951-6
  5. ↑ Encyclopaedia. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on July 27, 2010. “An English lexicographer, H.W. Fowler, wrote in the preface to the first edition (1911) of The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English language that a dictionary is concerned with the uses of words and phrases and with giving information about the things for which they stand only so far as current use of the words depends upon knowledge of those things. The emphasis in an encyclopedia is much more on the nature of the things for which the words and phrases stand.”
  6. ↑ Hartmann, R. R. K.; Gregory, James (1998). Dictionary of Lexicography. Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 0-415-14143-5. https://books.google.com/?id=49NZ12icE-QC&pg=PA49&dq=%22encyclopedic+dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia. Retrieved on July 27, 2010. "In contrast with linguistic information, encyclopedia material is more concerned with the description of objective realities than the words or phrases that refer to them. In practice, however, there is no hard and fast boundary between factual and lexical knowledge." 
  7. ↑ Cowie, Anthony Paul (2009). The Oxford History of English Lexicography, Volume I. Oxford University Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-415-14143-5. https://books.google.com/?id=nhnVF9Or_wMC&printsec=frontcover&q. Retrieved on August 17, 2010. "An 'encyclopedia' (encyclopaedia) usually gives more information than a dictionary; it explains not only the words but also the things and concepts referred to by the words." 

External links

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