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 [1]. 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*:
- On Thursday, January 31st, 10am - 12:30pm we’ll write the University of Guelph into history with the Our Campus event.
- Register here: https://cal.lib.uoguelph.ca/event/3482874 [2]
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.
*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 [3]) to discuss.
