ALA 2019 Poster: The Intersection of Academic Librarianship, Collaboration, and Social Justice: Wikipedia Edit-a-thon & Education Program

About:   The SSU Library hosted a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon highlighting women’s history in Salem, MA; part of a series of events related to the First Year Reading Experience (FYRE) book Bad Feminist. Library & Archives provided Wikipedia editing training and quality sources for participants’ research.

Definition from Wikipedia: An edit-a-thon is a special type of meetup to improve the encyclopedia. It is usually focused on a specific encyclopedia topic, and is a great way to attract new Wikipedians (aka. Wikipedia editors). 

Outcomes:

• Add to the diversity of Wikipedia editors
• Increase awareness of and fill in some of the gap in coverage of notable women, especially women of color, by focusing on women of Salem
• Collaborate with First Year faculty and offices to provide an event tied to the social justice themes of the First Year Reading Experience title
• Increase awareness of notable women of Salem and the library and archive’s related collections

Click to visit the training guide

Boston University Mugar Library. Open Access Week 2017 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. Video.  https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/27025#?

How to run an edit-a-thon.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_run_an_edit-a-thon

Robichaud, Danielle.  "Wikipedia Edit-a-Thons: Thinking Beyond the Warm Fuzzies." Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library & Information Practice & Research, vol. 11, no. 2, July 2016, pp. 1-10.

About:  Embedded librarianship (multiple semesters) in an urban sociology undergraduate course in the Wikipedia Education Program.  Instruction included information literacy & Wikipedia editing. 

Outcomes:

• Improve the quality of Wikipedia articles for underrepresented Boston neighborhoods.
• Add to the diversity of Wikipedia editors, bringing a much-needed perspective.  
• Students learn information literacy competencies in order to complete editing.
• Librarian and faculty collaborate over a semester on a non-traditional research assignment.

Boboltz, S. (2015). “Editors are trying to fix Wikipedia’s Gender and Racial Bias Problem.” Huffington Post. Online. 

Boston University Mugar Library. Open Access Week 2017 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. Streaming video.  

Carver, B., et al. (2012).  "Assigning Students to Edit Wikipedia: Four Case Studies."  E-Learning and Digital Media, 9(3), 273-283.

Robichaud, D.  (2016). “Wikipedia Edit-a-Thons: Thinking Beyond the Warm Fuzzies." Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library & Information Practice & Research, 11(2), 1-10.

Stuart, S.T. (2019). “Wikipedia has a diversity program, but these librarians want to help.”  PC Magazine. Online.