Wikipedia Edit-a-thons

We all use Wikipedia. Either when clicking on the first result when questioning our favourite search engine, or as a starting place for seeking information on a new topic. But many of us aren’t aware of the biases behind this massive collectively-written encyclopedia. Did you know, for example, that less than 20% of the editors of Wikipedia are women? There are many more facts about Wikipedia in this great article by Victoria Leonard. To invite the Guelph community to do its part,  Scholars Studio and THINC Lab are holding a new monthly event: Wikipedia Hackathons.

At these events you will be trained in how to edit and write Wikipedia articles, and provided with a list of starting places to jump in and make Wikipedia a more inclusive, diverse space on the web. We’ve themed the first three meetings hoping to attract a diverse group of scholars*: 

*If you have an idea for a theme for a future edit-a-thon, or are teaching a class in Summer/Fall that you think would benefit from this type of work, please email Kim Martin (kmarti20@uoguelph.ca) to discuss.

Writing Women into History

Thursday, March 28, 10:00 - 12:00pm

We’ll write Women into history as a late homage to International Women’s Day. At these events you will be trained in how to edit and write Wikipedia articles, and provided with a list of starting places to jump in and make Wikipedia a more inclusive, diverse space on the web.

Register here:

All events take place in Scholars Studio, second floor, McLaughlin Library. Participants should have laptops, but can work in pairs with a single computer as well.