Wikipedia Special (23 May 2023)

Following our awesome Wiki Scholars training back in 2021 and successful edit-a-thon in summer 2022, from 22-31 May 2023 GO-GN and friends will be working together to improve open education articles on Wikipedia.

To help celebrate all things Wikipedia, we’re delighted to announce our Wikipedia Special webinar on Tuesday 23 May 2023 from 14.00BST.

Look out for post updates shortly, but in the meantime, we’re thrilled to confirm that Ewan McAndrew, Wikimedian in Residence at The University of Edinburgh will be discussing Wikipedia and gender equality (see below) as part of the session.

Our Wiki special will take place at 14.00BST on Tuesday 23 May 2023 via Zoom. All welcome!

Wikipedia and Gender Equality (Ewan McAndrew)

“Historically, knowledge has been concentrated in the hands of the few. Marginalized groups’ histories and perspectives have been excluded by structures of power and privilege. Wikipedia revolutionizes this model, as the world’s largest, free, collaboratively-sourced encyclopedia.” (Wikimedia Foundation, 2020)

This presentation discusses the efforts of the Wikimedia residency at the University of Edinburgh; highlighting its efforts over the last 7 years working with Wikipedia both as an ally in its mission to disseminate verifiable open knowledge and an important tool in its information literacy and digital skills strategy; giving staff and students guidance on 21st digital research skills and engaging in important conversations on how knowledge is created, curated and disseminated online. 

“Don’t cite Wikipedia, write Wikipedia.”

During the pandemic and beyond, in a period of time when many have felt disconnected, alienated and powerless, this presentation will showcase stories of student empowerment; providing exemplars of how staff and students at the University of Edinburgh have engaged with, and been intrinsically motivated by, researching and publishing their scholarship online in a real-world application of their teaching and learning in a wide variety of university contexts.

“I was worried going into the term that the students would dislike the experiment, that they would be put off by the necessity of having to learn yet another new digital tool at an already difficult time. A few weeks into the course they had spoken frankly about the stress of knowing that what they created would be out there in the world as free and public knowledge, their sense of worry and responsibility to do this work ‘right’. 

I was therefore surprised at mid-course feedback that specifically mentioned the Wikipedia project as something that was going well in the course. They appreciated how the editing process had gotten them thinking about knowledge dissemination. Thanks to their efforts Wikipedia’s freely-available knowledge is now a bit more diverse and globally representative. 

In a year that brought pervasive systemic injustices into stark relief, our experiment in applying our knowledge outside the classroom gave us a sense that we were creating something positive, something that mattered. 

As one student commented, “Really love the Wikipedia project. It feels like my knowledge is actually making a difference in the wider world, if in a small way.” – Dr. Glaire Anderson, History of Art lecturer at University of Edinburgh.“

Join the call at 14.00BST on Tuesday 23 May 2023. All welcome!

Image credits: Bryan Mathers/Visual Thinkery for GO-GN and licensed CC BY 4.0.

Post featured image includes GO-GN logo; Wikipedia logo mousepad by Moheen Reeyad licensed CC BY-SA 2.0; oer_logo_EN_1 by Breno Trautwein licensed CC BY-SA 2.0 and Wikipedia by Shawn licensed CC BY-NC 2.0.