Jared Tompkins

About me

I'm a student at w:Auburn University, working on a Bachelor's degree in w:Materials Science and Engineering. I became a contributor to Wikipedia, Wikibooks, and WikiSource because I love the idea of free, completely open-source learning resources built by the consensus of readers. Wikimedia projects are not for profit and difficult to use for personal gain; they are pure beneficent resource. And I believe that knowledge is the most valuable resource available to humans today.

I enjoy exercising my intellect, especially indulging my vanity by showing off said intellect. Wikipedia and Wikibooks give me a way to receive the ego-boost I crave — by knowing that potentially thousands or even millions of people read my work — without actually becoming an ass.

My role in Wikisource

I'll help out on any project that strikes my interest; unlike Wikipedia and WikiBooks, one may productively contribute to almost any area of WikiSource without needing expertise or specific resources. Most of the sources for WikiSource are held here, or easily accessible online; most of the work is non-creative, requiring only the ability to manipulate text to match an image of text.

My major personal project is Practical Treatise on Milling and Milling Machines. It's an old machining handbook about milling machines I found online some time ago, and used as a source for creating much of the content in the Wikipedia article, w:Milling (machining). Since it was public domain and freely available online, I figured I'd add it here and start working on it.


Awards for participation

Proofread of the Month
December 2013 (Third work)
How to Play Chess